A vigorous workout that doesn't cause one to break a sweat sounds like the pitch line of an infomercial airing on television at 3 a.m. However, it's a genuine testimonial about Tai Chi, an ancient Chinese martial art that is a series of slow, focused movements resulting in an all-over, low-impact body workout.
Dr. Michael Carey, a retired medical doctor, teaches Tai Chi at the Chain O' Lakes facility on Monday evenings for the Leisure Services division of the city of Winter Haven. Carey, who does Tai Chi daily for his own health, says the exercises are extremely good for mature people who want to increase their balance, posture, build muscle and mobilize their joints.
"Swimming is considered to be a very good exercise because it moves a lot of your joints, approximately 75 percent of your joints," Carey says, "whereas Tai Chi moves 95 percent of your joints." The unhurried, wider movements are the reason for the increase in joint flexibility and range of motion.
Carey, who did karate for about 30 years, said he switched to Tai Chi because it was less ballistic and healthier. A family physician who retired in 2004 from Bond Clinic, Carey says the benefits of Tai Chi are many when it comes to people who suffer from bouts of arthritis.
"(Tai Chi is) an approved exercise by the Arthritis Foundation and this past two years, the Mayo Clinic and the University of South Florida have been sponsoring Tai Chi for Parkinson's patients, which is a neurological disease," Carey says. Parkinson's disease affects those afflicted with decreased range of motion, stiffness and shaking.
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Tai Chi instructor, David Castleberry works through some Tai Chi forms for a demonstration on Thursday at South Lake Howard Nature Park in Winter Haven.
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"(Parkinson's patients) have difficulty doing exercises, they have trouble stopping and starting movement, so in general, if a Parkinson's patient gets pushed backwards, they continue to go backwards," Carey says. "Whereas with the Tai Chi movements, where it's often slow, they are able to control that." Carey teaches a class specifically for Parkinson's patients for the University of Florida in Lakeland on Wednesdays at the McArthur Center.
At the Chain O' Lakes Complex in Winter Haven, Carey's "Easy Tai Chi" is Mondays at 5:30 p.m. and "Tai Chi Club," which is more advanced, is Mondays at 6:30 p.m. Each class is $4.
David Castleberry, a former student of Carey's and now also is a Tai Chi instructor in Winter Haven, says he began practicing Tai Chi about 10 years ago and currently teaches it within the framework of stress management. Currently, Castleberry teaches Tai Chi at Bok Tower Garden's annual event called "A Day of Healing Arts," and is looking to beginning a regular class soon again somewhere in Winter Haven.
"I have developed my own form, which includes a set of movements or positions, and they're kind of geared toward seniors and elderly people because they are easier. It's a set of about 20 movements and it's fairly easy to learn and practice," Castleberry says. He adds a caveat that Tai Chi takes a long time - sometimes many months or even years - to learn a "routine," which is a series of forms or "postures" strung together.
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Dr. Michael Carey, works through postures for a demonstration at South Lake Howard Nature Park in Winter Haven.
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"There's a lot of memorization involved in the movement because you have to actually link positions together and make it appear to be one movement from beginning to end," he says.
As a stress reliever, Castleberry asserts that certain health problems can be alleviated, and immune systems boosted.
"There have been many studies," Castleberry says. "I recall one that was done with a group of seniors who found that it increased their immunization, and they had fewer problems with certain diseases."
"They say up to 90 percent of the health problems people see their doctors for are stress-related," he continues. "If everyone could learn how to control their stress, can you imagine what would happen?"
Joanne Miknis teaches Tai Chi and yoga at the Regency Medical Center in Winter Haven, which is a division of Winter Haven Hospital. The classes at the Regency are a part of the Sage-ing Program; however, Miknis says they are open to the public and to both the young and the old.
"I take all ages, my youngest student was 8 years old and my oldest, 93," Miknis says.
Both classes at the Regency are on Mondays and Thursdays; Tai Chi begins at 4:15 p.m. and yoga at 5:15 p.m. The fee is $5 per class, and is a "pay as you go" basis.
"You don't sign up ahead of time," Miknis says. "You just come whenever you can."
Miknis, who has been a certified fitness instructor in some capacity or another for 35 years, says she has worked with masters from China and also from India. She says that although Tai Chi is a slower exercise - or perhaps because of this fact - it is a great, overall body workout.
"It takes more muscle and more calories to do something slow than it does to do something fast," Miknis says.
"If you do something fast, say you do a bicep curl, all you did was move your joint, your elbow joint," she says. "However, if you go very, very slowly, you are using more muscle for a longer period of time, hence, more calories burned." She adds that the longer one holds a movement or the slower it's done, more muscle is created.
Miknis says reactions from first timers are usually comments about how they didn't even sweat.
"They say, 'Gee, that was easy, we weren't doing anything,'" Miknis says, laughing. "Until the next day, then they're like, 'Wow, I didn't know that I had that muscle there.'"
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David Castleberry, left, works through some basic Tai Chi moves in his class for beginners.
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Miknis adds Tai Chi is very good for increasing one's breathing capacity, which is vital not just for stress relief, but also for equilibrium.
"As long as you have breath in your body, you will have balance," she says. "Lots of times, people fall because they're not breathing or they're not breathing properly. Also, the breath helps you to relax, so you have better movement, more control."
Having seen people stop using their canes after months of Tai Chi practice, Miknis, who also had students with walkers, on oxygen, or recovering from strokes, is a believer in the benefits of Tai Chi.
Both Castleberry and Carey concurred with Miknis about the benefits of increased breathing, saying the exercise is performed in concert with the meditative flow of one's breath.
"So, when you're breathing out, you're pushing forward, when you're pulling in, your breathing in," Carey says.
Castleberry adds that when breathing deeper is practiced consciously, it will become a subconscious action, extending the stress-relieving benefits to all areas of one's daily life.
For details about the classes with the city of Winter Haven, call recreation supervisor Cindy Marks at 863-291-5656.
For details about Tai Chi, call Carey at 863-206-9991, or Castleberry at 863-325-9714 or Miknis at 863-318-1434. Also, Miknis for details about the classes at the Regency Medical Center.
