THE ART OF TAI CHI CHUAN

In 1974, Richard Peck, MBA, was on the business fast track in Chicago when he decided that high pay for high stress wasn’t the way to go. From the fragmented culture of the West, he looked east, where every aspect of life, from cooking to exercise, is unified by Oriental philosophy. He began studying the martial art of Tai Chi Chuan under a Chinese master in Chicago, then went to Taiwan to immerse himself in it. Now, after years of study, Peck teaches the art himself at the Tai Chi Center in Garland (380-9070).

Tai Chi is very low-impact exercise. All the movements are made slowly and deliberately. There’s no jumping around or fast twisting, and no loud music-Tai Chi requires meditating silence. It is the exercise of choice among the older adults of China. They gather in the parks at dawn, forming long lines to perform their seemingly choreographed, eerily silent exercise.

Tai Chi was invented in the 13th century by a Chinese hermit monk who had watched a fight between a crane and a snake. The snake would strike, and the crane would gracefully withdraw, over and over, until the crane finally captured and ate the exhausted snake. The moral is, Peck says. “Persistent softness always wins out over hardness.”

Although it is a “soft” exercise, the sport still yields aerobic benefits. “The first time I did it, I was surprised at how much my heart rate went up,” recalls Glenn Kasparian, a student of Peck’s, who teaches anatomy and physiology at Brookhaven Community College.

Several years ago Kasparian’s wife, Janis, came down with rheumatoid arthritis. She became progressively worse, losing her ability to jog or ride a bicycle; Finally, she was in constant pain and could barely walk. The Kasparians were searching for some kind of exercise Janis could do to keep her muscles strong and her range of motion as wide as possible, but even swimming was too forceful and violent for her. Then she started Tai Chi, and after two years, she now walks more easily, almost normally. She is psychologically stronger as well. “Because Tai Chi is inwardly focused, it is meditation,” Glenn Kasparian says. “I think that has helped my wife deal with her pain better.”

Most of Peck’s students come looking for exercise, or because they have seen television documentaries showing the old ones of China doing Tai Chi. But after a while they begin to stress the spiritual aspects and relish the inner calm that develops with Tai Chi. “After someone has gone through karate or tae kwon do exercises, they feel like kicking down a fire hydrant,” Peck says. “After Tai Chi. they feel like going home and being nice to their family.”