Tai Chi Chuan Class and the Nankai Gym

After class today we had the opportunity to learn some Tai Chi and visit the university's workout facilities. I had never practiced Tai Chi nor did I know much about it. The short half an hour class was just as informative as it was strenuous. I learned that in order to be good at Tai Chi one must have good control of their body, flexibility, and mental focus. Most of us were ok beginners but our instructor demonstrated for us a few of the variations of Tai Chi and she had obviously spent a lot of time working on her form and focus. As she taught us a few of the easier movements she also gave some background information of what we were doing and what the various movements meant. She described to us how a flat left hand placed next to a fisted right hand in the middle of your chest meant that you enjoy practicing with an individual and welcome them. After this class a few of the guys went to the gym to check out the workout facilities. They had what appeared to be a nice facility from the outside but once we got inside to the actual workout room it was another story. They had a good variety of machines and weights but they all were either worn down and broken or incomplete sets. Despite the bare facilities we got a mediocre lift in and wrapped it up early. On the way out I passed what seemed to be the locker room and I found it to be just as inefficient as the weight room. The urinals were set in a trough style and the showers were directly over the trough so that they shared the same area and everyone stood on a wooden bench. There were also only five lockers in the preceding room as all of the main lockers were housed down the hall just outside the workout room.