news&views Winter 2012 | Page 16

To the Editor :

Regarding the Tai Chi article by Steve Burger in the fall issue , it was an excellent review except for the reference to “ signing out a DVD .” You can ’ t learn anything of a kinaesthetic nature by watching a DVD .

My ‘ acquaintance ’ with Tai Chi goes back to 1986 , shortly after retirement , when about a dozen of us met above the bicycle shop on Whyte Avenue , across from Earl ’ s restaurant .

The teaching of the Taoist Tai Chi Society ( now the Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi Society ) has always been very good , and the Society , twice a year as part of Taoist outreach , cooks for and feeds up to 400 people from the Mustard Seed Church and beyond . There are now thousands of people in Edmonton practicing Tai Chi , many in the Taoist tradition introduced to Canada by Mr . Moy fifty years ago .

Tai Chi is now recognized medically , and a physician has always been on the Board of the Taoist Tai Chi Society . In my case ( written up for the National Headquarters in 2000 ), I would not be able to walk if I had not become a constant practitioner ( again , DVDs are for the dilettante ), beginning over twenty-five years ago , since I had Guillane-Barre ’ s Syndrome ( mistaken for polio ) at age twenty-five . I was paralyzed for ten days and in constant pain thereafter , with polymyalgia rheumatica by age seventy-five .

Since I spent fifteen years as a professional physical educator , including supervision and national level projects , I can verify the physical aspects of Tai Chi being curative . Also , as a society , the Taoist movement lends itself to “ The Way ” and reliance on the good work and efforts of the many .

It works . I and hundreds of others are proof of well-being therefrom — but , you have to work at it !

Regards , Jim Lavers

The 2013 spring issue of News & Views will be a special 50 th anniversary issue . We would love to have your input about what it should contain . In addition , we are also looking for original writing , photographs or anything else that you feel might be appropriate for the issue . The deadline for material is January 25 , 2013 .

Contact Robin Carson at newsandviews @ shaw . ca or send a letter addressed to the ARTA office at 409 , 11010 – 142 Street NW , Edmonton , AB T5N 2R1 .