Chapter Two: People

Chapter Two
- Tai Chi
- The Trainer

With the mind set of my last entry, I went back to my old bookshelves. Despite having moved many times over the years and purged my collection a few times (down to 900 from 1600, I still have a good solid research section. And in there I have a series of Tai Chi books including one on diets used for Martial Arts and what you should avoid. Contrary to most people who start with their doctors, my wife and I eat a lot of veggies, don't do much fried foods, and she is a european so she doesn't like much salt and sugar. I get the impression most medical folks are quite surprised when they hear about her illnesses since they automatically turn to diet points to correct the issues. Learning we were doing all those things for the last five years and quite a bit before this stuff muddles the clear diagnosis down fairly fast. It might be why they have had a hard time figuring out what the cure is going to be as well. In any case, our diet is already very good so the food and martial arts book, although really well written, has no surprises for me on this third reading. I do have a very simple one which just does positions and not all the extra fillers and explanations and this one I decide to use for the time being. With my wife's balance being so off, I can't think of many things that would help more then Tai Chi with that.

Tai Chi has been used for hundreds of years in China where nearly any eighty year old moves with a grace that is astonishing and the flexibility of a teenager. That was my original reason for searching it out in college and many of the same things still hold true. It's simple, not difficult, and unlike many sports, you rarely get injured doing it. Other martial arts can cause knee and ankle weakness over time, but this one strengthens them. Just what she needs. I work a third shift job which is nice as I have a lot of time on my hands so I take the book with me and use it on breaks, working my way through the movements again and reminding myself about it. Why did I ever stop? Mentally I want to kick myself for not keeping it up continuously the entire time as it is one of the best things you can do for your body. Heck, they use it in some nursing homes to help the elderly regain their sense of balance! I go to bed in the morning with a new commitment to begin working this into my life again cause I do find I have missed it -- the smooth movements, flowing lines, and the energy I can feel flowing through my veins again all feel comfortable and right with the world.

The next afternoon, we go in for our trainer sessions. When they asked us for preferences over female to male, neither one of us had one, but we find we have been assigned same gender anyway. Probably a good thing for my wife in particular and we were told they had a few trainers who had worked with several of her issues before. The woman seems confident and careful and I watch her take my wife off to show her what she would like her to do. Brad is a young man, solid seeming although not heavily muscled which suits me just fine. He asks my goals even though he has read the stuff taken down yesterday which I also give him points for mentally. Hearing the way someone phrases things can often tell you far more then what they think they are revealing. I make sure he understand that I think I could lose the pounds without the gym, but I want to be there for her and he nods. He's friendly, but in charge showing me right away to a rowing machine. Wow, have these changed! Being an outdoors type, I take to the rowing machine immediately despite his comment about how most people avoid them cause they look intimidating. In a few seconds, I have a good solid pull going right at chest height and you can tell he's pleased I fell right into the right form. That's what a rowing merit badge can do for you, scouts! Remember that! :D

With that success under my belt on the very first thing, I feel much more at ease with what's happening and he next shows me a stair master. Perfect! I worked at Biltmore House in Asheville for nearly sixteen years where I walked (and sometimes ran large sections of it) an average of three to four thousand steps up and down a day and an estimated six miles on unforgiving limestone. Stairs not only give me no hesitation, they are like old friends come to visit lol. Once again, he seems very pleased with the way I take to this contraption with enthusiasm. The stair master will be an excellent cardio and one to remember, in fact it's easier for me then the rowing machine. Good thing, since it burns more stuff anyway! We've set a goal for me of a long one, since I don't have an urgent need and I want to pace myself off what she can do, so a limit of two pounds a week is what we agree to, I'll start slow and low on most of the stuff to be sure. From there he shows me an elliptical machine which is wild cause instead of just running forward on it, you can do it backwards! He laughs and mentions that you have to think on this one to do it, but I feel kind of determined to work on that one in particular. From there it's onto a device I've seen on TV, the Jacob's ladder. An interesting device, most of the contestants I hear thought it was one of the hardest machines to work on. A few minutes on it, and I can see the challenge. You pick the speed, but you also have to try and stay in the middle of it and it keeps adjusting to how fast you grab rungs. The advice this time is not to look but find something else to stare at and fall into a pattern. It's good advice.

I can see my wife learning how to pull on some rubber band handles, a device I've seen others use and she looks to be in good hands. I heard later the trainer thought she was in good shape for everything that had happened which gives me heart as well, of course. After these machines, he wants to talk things I can do at home when I can't get her to the gym and stuff that will help both of us. Perfect again! I like this guy! He knows my worries exactly. There are days the pain is very bad for her indeed; having things we can both try at home would be great. We spend the next thirty minutes talking about different advantages and disadvantages in a number of different positions until my wife appears and says "Hey guys, the hour was up awhile ago." Needless to say, I was very surprised. So far, this place has beat all my expectations; the staff is friendly and helpful and not pushing me into anything, the equipment is varied and well set, and there is lots of variety. I expected to feel pushed, egged on, and more worried, but instead we both are leaving the gym feeling really good about the place and working out. Huh! This means I have to rearrange some ideas in my mind about how things are going to go.