The Oaklawn Center on Aging, a program of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, is offering Beginning Tai Chi for Arthritis classes at no cost to participants at 10 a.m. Tuesdays at the CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs Senior Center, 301 Broadway St.
The ancient Chinese exercise/art of tai chi is proven to relieve stress, strengthen muscles and improve balance. The class will use beginning level extension movements, which will complete the entire Tai Chi for Arthritis part 1 form. The extension movements that will accompany the first Basic Six movements are: brush knee and push, parry and punch, block and close, carry the tiger, and push the mountain.
Senior tai chi trainer Jerry Matlock will teach Dr. Paul Lam's Tai Chi for Arthritis program, which is an easy-to-learn, evidence-based way to improve health. Lam is a retired medical doctor and tai chi master who has established the global Tai Chi for Health Institute.
For more information or to enroll in the free program, call the UAMS Oaklawn Center on Aging at 623-0020 or go online at http://www.oaklawncenteronaging.com.
Matlock began studying and practicing Yang 24 form in 1994. He studied William C.C. Chen's Yang 60 movement form at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and began studying Lam's Sun style tai chi program in 2009. A retired science teacher, Matlock continues to teach tai chi on a regular basis in Hot Springs for the Oaklawn Center on Aging.
Not all exercises are suitable for people with arthritis. An effective exercise program should have low risk of injury while increasing flexibility, strengthening muscles and improving cardiorespiratory fitness. Tai Chi for Arthritis can accomplish this and more.
Society on 09/09/2018