Tai Chi takes a slow and steady route to fitness

At 8 a.m. in Burback Hall at the Multipurpose Senior Center in Auburn, four men and eight women stand silently in a circle on the wooden floor, eyes closed. Voices can be heard in the hallway, but the only sound in the room is the clock on the wall, ticking away the seconds. "Eyes open," instructor Shirley Hughes finally says.Hughes leads the group, members of the senior center's Tai Chi class, through a series of slow exercises, asking them to rotate their wrists, elbows, shoulders and then advance to more complicated moves like the "prayer wheel," one foot forward, knees bent, hands rotating in a circular motion. The Tai Chi class, which meets 8 to 9 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday, was started three-and-a-half years ago by local instructor Spero Asimos. Hughes and her assistant Will Rogers took over when Asimos was too busy to continue teaching the senior center class. Tai Chi, a Chinese form of martial art with slow, deliberate movements, is especially helpful for seniors, since it improves balance, awareness and agility."It's beneficial in the way that it keeps you limber," Rogers said before Thursday's class. Students wear sandals, tennis shoes, shorts, Capri pants and T-shirts to perform moves with such whimsical names as "Zen walk" and "swimming dragon." Participants are light-hearted as they try to follow Hughes' movements and are willing to be directed when she walks among them to correct their forms."Are you using your tummy muscles?" she asks Art Wells during the Zen walk."I'm holding it out so if I fall, I have a cushion," he shoots back. Class members said they enjoy both the exercise and the attitude of the group. Glady May, who has been to the class about eight times, said the class is fun and improves her balance."We get a lot of laughs out of it," she said. At the end of the class, more complex forms blend together in a fluid motion - at least for the instructor. The class members follow along with varied degrees of accuracy. That learning curve is natural, Rogers reassured several of the participants after the class. Forms can take up to six months to learn completely.Anyone interested in trying the gentle exercise is welcome to drop in. Whatever level the students are at, the Tai Chi class is beneficial, Hughes said. "It's serious exercise, but we do it like it's fun," she said. The Journal's Kate Carpenter can be reached at kbcarpenter@gmail.com.