What the research uses
Studies showing reduced falls, better balance, lower blood pressure and improved mood typically have participants practising two or three times a week for 12 weeks or more, with sessions of 45 to 60 minutes. Daily practice, even short, tends to produce better results than a single long session, because tai chi and qi gong are skills that improve with repetition.
A realistic pattern
One class a week to learn and be corrected, plus 10 to 20 minutes of home practice on three or four other days. This is enough to feel calmer within a few weeks and to see balance and strength change over two to three months. People who attend two classes a week progress faster.
Qi gong as daily practice
Qi gong sets are shorter and simpler than a tai chi form and lend themselves to daily practice, morning or evening. Many people use qi gong daily and tai chi weekly.
Can you do too much?
Rarely. Tai chi is low impact and self-paced. Beginners may feel leg tiredness from the sustained bent-knee stance; that is a sign of the strength work and settles. Anyone with knee problems should tell the teacher so stance height is adjusted.
Consistency over intensity
The benefits of tai chi come from continuing, not from pushing. Ten minutes most days for a year does more than an hour once a week for three months and then stopping.
At Omnia
Group classes at our Chiswick clinic are £15 a session and one-to-one sessions £50, taught by a sixth-generation lineage holder and a senior practitioner. Attending weekly and practising at home is the pattern we suggest.