At exactly 10 a.m. local time on Saturday, April 26, people around the world in various time zones will celebrate the 10th World Tai Chi and Qigong Day.

Here in Oak Harbor, the event will take place at Windjammer Park Beach. We have two large classes at the Senior Center and I know many have found Tai Chi very beneficial.

Jill Reed has taught at the center for 17 years, holds workshops for Whidbey General Hospital and around the region. This remarkable woman lives with chronic pain resulting from injuries in an automobile accident. She suffered multiple fractures of neck and jaw, two herniated and one ruptured disk in the neck. She freely shares her medical history with class members to help them embrace their own circumstances.

“Living fully within the realm of your limitations amazingly throws open the doors to a limitless life,” Reed said. “Chronic pain, injuries, mental stresses or age need not deter you from making the most of your life and contributing to the lives of others.”

Reed holds the rank of “Sifu,” and in 2001, she received the Tai Chi Instructor of the Year and awarded a life-time position in the U.S. Martial Arts Association Grand Hall of Fame.

She is listed on the Web site, “History of Tai Chi in Seattle,” among some of the first teachers in the Northwest. She has 37 years of study in the Wu Form and Qigong, and has taught nearly 2,000 students to date. Classes cover all aspects of the art of Tai Chi Chuan.

She and her husband, retired high school teacher Marvin Reed, have two adult sons and one grandson.

Classes are held on Monday evenings at 5:30 p.m. and Friday mornings at 9:30 a.m. For more information, call her at 675-1464 or email mjreed@whidbey.net. For more information, visit www.worldtaichiday.org

T’ai Chi Chuan is one of the oldest and most treasured martial art forms. It is known by its soft, flowing movements and many health benefits. Some of the early descriptions date back several thousand years. The practice was originally referred to as the monks “Kung Fu,” which simply means, a skill learned through patience, practice and perseverance.

Its unique movements, referred to as “Exercises for Long Life,” were designed as individual, defensive-style movements for warding off such “opponents” as disease, the effects of injury and aging, lethargy, melancholy, greed, weakness, fear, bitterness, impatience and aggressiveness.

The practice produces balance and harmony between mind, body and nature/the soul. Breathing used for Tai Chi is called Qigong, which means “the study of the breath.” It must be learned to have a complete workout.

Qigong is very easy to learn and helps the mind and body to relax and flex. It can also be practiced alone.

You will quickly discover that Tai Chi can energize your mind and body, in spite of your newness to the sport, or in spite of any health problems. Tai Chi is an individual practice and the only sport whose best “players” are the oldest. That’s because it is not learned in the short term memory, but learned, as all skills, through repetition.

The Tai Chi form is a visual image of the Walk of Faith or journey of the “Most Noble Warrior/Soldier.” In ancient times, the “Most Noble Warrior” was known as one who possessed great inner strength, faith and honest knowledge of himself.

Tai Chi is both medicinal and practical in its effects. Whether you wish to increase physical strength, build a healthy heart, lungs and joints, seek to remedy a mental or physical condition, reduce stress, build character or grow spiritually, it addresses all of those needs. Regular practice of Tai Chi and Qigong will calm your mind and move you to a stronger, more vital life. It will bring flexibility to joints and spine, strengthen and tone muscles, improve circulation, balance, mental alertness and several other health problems can be helped by this exercise.