The ancient Chinese martial art Tai Chi has increasingly become a form of life for many New Yorkers, thanks to the efforts made by former world martial art champion Chen Sitan and his wife Lin Xu.
Chen started learning martial arts at the age of six. By the age of 30 when he retired from his athletic career, he had already won 32 gold medals in Chinese and international competitions. After having coached athletes in sports team for several years, Chen decided to come to the United States in 2003 in the hope to bring Chinese culture to more people around the world through Tai Chi.
The couple started teaching children Tai Chi and other forms of martial arts in school and later founded Sitan Tai Chi and Martial Arts with the mission of promoting Tai Chi and providing a forum for those interested in the martial art.
Originated from China, Tai Chi's slow, graceful movements are accompanied by deep circular breathing. This gentle form of exercise can help maintain strength, flexibility and balance, and could be the perfect activity for the rest of your life, said a research by Harvard Medical School. It is appealing to people of all ages.
"As an engineer and then a sales manager, I was on phone a lot and thus had poor posture. I needed to get back into some healthy type of lifestyle after I retired, and I found Tai Chi," said Frank Mandarino, who is 81 years old and has practiced Tai Chi for 11 years at Sitan Tai Chi and Martial Arts.
Although Tai Chi is already getting popular in fast-paced New York City and neighboring areas, Chen thinks the current situation is far from satisfactory. He is developing a training program and grading system through which his school could train more qualified teachers. "A standard, effective, applicable, and practical training and grading system could gather all the teachers who are out there promoting Tai Chi on their own to work together for the noble cause," said Chen.
