Children and T'ai Chi

**davidmitchel** · 10-19-2006, 01:23

I looked on the Children's Forum for information on Children and T'ai Chi and found none. My son is 6 years old and very interested in MA. I need to know at what age a child can start practicing T'ai Chi?

Thanks
David

**davidmitchel** · 10-19-2006, 16:40

I found that some T'ai Chi instructors accept 6 yr olds, some only from the age of 14 and some from the age of ?20.

I also stumbled accross medical research on ADHD teens who showed notable improvement after 5 weeks.

Now here is the interesting bit. The age restrictions appear to be imposed by western society, not eastern society. I read an interview conducted with Liang Shih-Kan in 1973 when he was 2nd in command of the original Wudang system of "T’ai chi". He then went on to become its leader. He said in the interview that the children joined in from a young age when the "older" villagers practiced their Tai Chi..

Any opinions?

Dave

**Mandeigh Wells** · 10-19-2006, 17:05

Iused to do an after school class...primary 6 and 7's....10 - 11 year olds....we did have an 8 year old who came to the regular class with his mum.

**davidmitchel** · 10-20-2006, 07:01

Thanks Mandeigh, How did the kids cope?

Dave

**Mandeigh Wells** · 10-20-2006, 09:18

some of them were complete and utter little ******, it was a class for kids who had 'slight' behavioural problems....broken homes, over dosed on E numbers that kind of thing. Some of the took to it very well. Others not. Initially I tried to keep the class as varied as possible so they wouldn't get bored.......that was a big mistake, it actually worked much better if they were constantly drilled in small segments of the form. So not starting from move one and then adding to it like I would do in an adult class, but taking a sequence and just going over and over, not paying much attention to the correctness, just getting them to move, we made much more progress that way. The headteacher also said that kids were more comfortable and found learning easier when they were on solid ground. Plenty of reps. They lost interest quickly if there were too many changes.

**East Winds** · 10-20-2006, 10:02

So long as classes are only 10 minutes long. That's about their attention span!!!!!!!!!http://www.budoseek.net/vbulletin/im...es/biggrin.gif

Very best wishes

**davidmitchel** · 10-20-2006, 11:22

Kids are better off in kids' classes, not in adult classes. The kids' classes should not be too long either due to concentration.

My little tiger is not big in the concentration department ..

You are quite right about the repetition now that I remember. The kids were taught additional segments only every two years by Master Liang. By the time they were 14, they had learnt the whole form.

Thanks East Winds and Mandeigh.

Dave

**ggg214** · 11-01-2006, 07:58

as my teacher's opinion, chinese traditional taichi is not so good for a kid.the reason is that taichi will change your internal.if you are too young, your internal is still growing up, these changes will be harmful.
so he advises that the age of kid who wants to practise taichi is no less than 18.