23/09/2025
Because Tai Chi looks slow and not obviously strenuous, it’s often thought of as an easy, non-taxing practice that anyone can do comfortably. But that’s not true.
Yes, Tai Chi is for everyone. But not everyone has the patience, persistence, and sheer determination to truly stick with it.
Tai Chi is called a soft art, but that doesn’t mean mastery of this art is easy. In fact, if anyone were to sincerely train in any traditional martial art, we find, that none of them are easy. They demand commitment, and true mastery often feels almost impossible. If someone says otherwise, they either must already be a master (which has to be super rare)—or not really practicing as the art was intended. The latter is the most common.
So why join our Swindon classes?
Because here, the only real competition is with yourself. Tai Chi asks you to face yourself honestly, and that’s where its meditative power lies. But this is also where many people fall away—because the hardest thing for most of us is to sit or stand quietly and really be with ourselves.
Instead, we often distract, avoid, or project—pointing fingers and making someone else “the problem.” But as Jesus reminded us: “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own?”
That’s why in every class, we begin by simply standing quietly—attending to our own “planks.” It helps us to soften, centre, and approach practice with humility. And at the very least, it makes me a little less of a planker!
So take care, folks.
Stand quietly when you can.
Look inside—and see what’s really there.
https://www.taichi-swindon.co.uk/tai-chi-classes
Graham Pritchard
