The best way to learn about Tai Chi is to join us for one of our classes. Your first class is FREE and all ages and abilities are welcome. We are excited to help you make a positive change in your health. 

   

   If you decide to take the class the fee is a very low $70 a month. Class Schedule can be found here.

   

   Here in America, as well as many other countries around the world, Tai Chi has gained enormous popularity as a very effective form of exercise for senior citizens and others looking for a low impact form of physical conditioning. A recent Harvard study shows that Tai Chi is also great for people with Parkinson's Disease. In the past Tai Chi Chuan or Taijiquan was a well-respected form of self-defense practiced all over China and neighboring countries.It had at its core a fundamental principle of smooth, flowing techniques practiced in such a way as to emulate the fluid movements of water as it travels along a slow stream with all its ebbs and tides and swirls and rushes. In fact, many of the older practitioners referred to it as “The Water Style” of Kung Fu.The movements in the forms are actually effective self-defense techniques and may be practiced as such with a partner after the students has learned those movements to a degree allowing such practice.The Master Instructor at the H2HCTC, Professor Michael M. Foley, has taken that aspect a step further by incorporating elements of Hung Gar, White Crane, and Wing Chun Kung Fu to add more of the Self-Defense approach to the training.

   

   Some of our forms are taken from the Yang Style of Tai Chi Chuan while others are eclectic blends of all the Kung Fu systems represented in our method of training. All of the movements in our forms are real, effective techniques of self-defense and later in the student’s training repetitive drills will be executed to develop muscle memory to better equip them for a defensive situation.

 

   We practice the basic blocks, punches, kicks and steps needed to perform all aspects of the training, the incorporate them into combinations of self-defense.One of the most important aspects in the practice of Tai Chi Chuan is the slow, deliberate application of all techniques and forms to develop focus and concentration in an attempt to perfect the performance of those techniques. The forms are groups of individual blocks, strikes, kicks, steps and spins combined into a precise set pattern depicting a choreographed fight scene in which the practitioner is always the victor. 

 

   As you improve and advance in ranking, the forms are combined to create longer forms which aid in the fitness side of the training. Speed is also increased as the students learns the movements better which then enables the practitioner to actually apply the techniques with a partner to develop much needed self-defense skills. These skills will only be honed effectively through the use of a partner executing many repetitions of each move.The Yin/Yang symbol has always been used to epitomize the very essence of Tai Chi Chuan. The image of the two opposing colors (Black and White) flowing harmoniously with each other following a circuitous path while being slightly tinted with the other is indeed a valuable lesson for Americans.