TAI CHI

(Or chai tea as a certain bass-playing tea-loving friend prefers to call it), is my new obsession. I can’t remember the last time I went three times a week to anything (except work - and that wasn’t necessarily willingly), especially if it involved a half hour walk through torrential rain (last week) or hurricane-force winds (the latest fun the weather is having with this fine city). And to be honest it’s not like me to do anything AT ALL when even vaguely sick. The toe is much the same, thanks for asking.
I am now into the 3rd week of classes at my gym with Joseph, who is a superb teacher, and I’m loving it more each time I go, (not least because J’s vocal delivery is in the style of  a couple of characters from my all-time favourite movie Glengarry Glen Ross). The class is small and ‘mature’, but they have the ‘24’ off pat and are fast approaching a convincing ‘42.’
My actual 42 can only produce a 3 at the moment, and even that’s not consistent, but there’s no stopping me now.
Bring on those high numbers.

J is extremely generous to me with class time, spending maybe 20 minutes of the hour tutoring me alone. Far from being annoyed about this, the rest of the class are extremely encouraging and keep urging me to come back. I guess that’ll be the ‘chi’ then…..
Today I was told I’m the first new pupil for years who has persisted beyond the first week, and probably because of this, J is now being extra specially attentive and continues to teach me moves on the way to the changing room and even on the street as I leave the gym. Last Friday in my extra curricular street-club time, we went through the martial applications relating to the Tai Chi moves I’d been learning in class. (These have come in particularly handy when the TH is snoring in bed. Though I’m not sure how ‘chi’ it is to attack someone whilst they’re actually unconscious…..)
What struck me as a little odd though, is that whereas I get stared at all the time in the street normally (mainly because black is not the new or old anything here and nobody else wears it), whilst fighting quite convincingly with a man on the sidewalk in broad daylight, nobody stared at all.

But I digress.  I honestly can’t recommend Tai Chi enough - it’s exercise, but so much more- it’s spiritual, it’s relaxing, it’s aesthetic and it’s the thing most likely to make me give up smoking, because you kind of have to breathe and it makes you really want to….

In the meantime, I got ID’d again today. Result!