An introduction to Taiji and Qigong in Parkmore

There is a healing relaxation to be found in slowing down.
Taiji and qigong are all about slowing down and feeling energy move through and around practitioners.

Residents from Parkmore got to participate in the community’s inaugural taiji (thai chi) and qigong training sessions held at the Scout Hall parking lot on May 25.

The small group met for the first time under the instruction of Navan Chetty. Through taiji and qigong, Chetty teaches wellness practices of mind, body and energy.

Chetty spoke about how he first became interested in this martial art in his first year of university in the early 1980s.

“I was studying architecture. There was a fellow student who was a kung-fu master, and he took me to my first taiji class,” Chetty said, confessing to having no idea what taiji was at that time.

He recalled arriving at his first lesson to find an old man teaching a young collective of taiji martial artists, adding that the sophistication behind the martial arts piqued his interest.

“I felt it was strange that this seemingly out-of-shape guy was teaching all these martial artists these slow, beautiful moves. After the class, he invited any of the young martial artists to attack him, and he was able to defend himself against them all. He was a French man, who had studied the martial arts in Hong Kong for over 20 years, and could perceive their movement, intercept, and deflect it.”

Chetty’s journey as a martial artist began when he was a five-year-old toddler with karate and later kung-fu. He observed how most taiji practitioners realise the art after spending some time practising other martial arts such as karate, kung-fu, or taekwondo.

“As their practice deepens, they begin to understand the value, and power, of internal arts – such as taiji, and qigong. Regular practice brings a sense of balance and harmony to both body and mind, and that’s its most significant value right now.”
Chetty emphasised that there is a social need to emphasise the healing and nurturing ability of qigong and taiji at a time when communities are experiencing high stress levels, and health complications following the Covid-19 pandemic.

To find out how to become involved, or join Chetty’s taiji class, contact him via email or on WhatsApp: navan.c@gmail.com, or 072 955 0328.

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