CURRENT CLASSES 2024
Classical Yang Style Long Form & Push Hands
Mondays 6 PM - 7 PM, Woodstock, VT
Tuesdays 9 AM - 10 AM, Lebanon, NH
Yang Style Short Form
(Tai Chi for Health)
Tuesdays 6 PM-7 PM Woodstock, VT
*Mondays 6PM-7PM Lebanon, NH
Fridays 9 AM-10 AM, Lebanon, NH
Saturdays (Seasonal) 9 AM-10 AM West Windsor, VT
Qigong for Cancer Patients & Their Caregivers
Thursdays 1:30PM - 3:45 PM
Remote Through DHMC's
Dartmouth Cancer Center
Two Separate Tracks
Tai Chi for Good Health
In the tai chi for health course students will learn the Yang style short form. By practicing the form with a relaxed body and deep relaxed breathing the practitioner will feel calmer and have a feeling of well being.
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Once the student can practice the postures slowly with relaxed breathing they can then start to lead energy through their body using the related qigong (energy practices) for a more internal look at their health. This practice is designed to remove energy blockages that if left stuck could adversely affect their health.
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There is a significant amount of medical research that has shown that there are hundreds of possible health benefits that people experience when practicing Tai Chi daily.
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Some of these reported health benefits include: better balance, bone density, and lower blood pressure. Studies have also reported that practitioners can sleep better than before they had started practicing. Many people with various health conditions such as cancer, arthritis, asthma and Fibromyalgia report less symptoms and side effects from treatment when practicing Tai Chi and Qigong regularly.
Taijiquan
Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan) is an internal martial art that is over 600 years old. Yang style is more than 200 years old.
Unfortunately in recent years many people learn a form (series of choreographed movements) but have no understanding of the meaning of the postures that they are practicing. If you are practicing only the form with little or no understanding about the original meaning of the postures it is not possible to practice correctly.
Paul Mahoney studied Taijiquan with Dr Yang Jwing Ming for over twenty years to learn these ancient practices and to keep the tradition alive.
After students learn the traditional Yang style long form they will be introduced to Push Hands which includes many dancelike partner exercises that show students the meaning of the different postures that they have been performing when practicing the barehand form.
Once students get proficient with Push Hands and understand the meaning of each posture then they will be ready to learn the famous Yang style Fighting Set (Matching Set)
Practicing the Fighting Set is a safe and fun way to practice all the postures in a choreographed dance like routine to give students a deeper understanding of everything they have learned from the form and Push Hands practices.
Some of the other things we practice at Great Bay Tai Chi North include wooden ball, Taiji saber and Taiji sword.
Course Descriptions
Yang Style Short Form (Tai Chi for Health)
This is the most common form of Tai Chi practiced in the world today. This form has 24 unique postures that are practiced in a particular sequence. Beginners and students looking for the health benefits of Tai Chi without delving into the martial practice are usually best suited to this class. This class teaches basic Tai Chi movement and leads students through learning the 24 posture form. This class is suitable for all ages and is focused on exercises that will bring about the physical and mental health benefits of Tai Chi practice. Once learned, the entire form takes approximately 5 minutes to perform from beginning to end.
Classical Yang Style Long Form (Martial Tai Chi)
This class is for students interested in deepening their studies in Taijiquan. All of the health benefits of the Short Form are also gained in the study of the Long Form. The Long Form has 37 unique postures, which are performed in a particular sequence. In addition to the Long Form, students in this class also learn how the postures are applied in martial practice. Many different partner exercises are included as well as the practice known as "Push Hands".