Cari Shurman - Tai Chi For Kids (and autistic kids)

[escott]

I have a 13 year old son who is considered Level 1 Autistic. His primary deficit seems to be a non-verbal learning disorder. I also have a 4 year old son who is (in my opinion) very coordinated. On a few occasions I have tried to teach my older son some meditation techniques to help him calm down when he has meltdowns. He has received occupational therapy in the past but his therapist thinks she's taken him as far as she can take him. A few times he participated in a yoga class with other children like him. He really liked it, but they don't do it anymore because of some changes that were made with insurance classification. A few days ago my older son said, "Dad, can we do some meditation tonight?" This time I tried to teach him how to lift a chi ball over his head then let it explode and rain energy down over him. He really liked it and said he could feel the energy. But, at first he was all over the place. I had to get a soccer ball to put in his hands at first to get him to make his palms face inward.

 

This got me thinking, is there anything to teach tai chi to kids? I did find a few things. One was Dr. Paul Lam's 'Tai Chi 4 Kidz'. I'm still a novice but the excerpt on Youtube just looked like he was doing the Yang short form with kids behind him. Then I found Cari Shurman's 'Tai Chi For Kids'. I think this looks good. I was wondering what The Bums thought of it? Here are some links:

 

https://www.taichiforkids.com/

 

Here she demonstrates some of the movements:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_6TuS0ByPU

 

Here is an overview video. It looks like more qigong than tai chi. For instance I saw Drawing The Bow from Ba Duan Jin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=jaZwO3Z8k0s

 

I think this would be good for both of my kids (maybe even the grown-ups in my family).

[windwalker]

Why call it taiji ?

 

I think any type of movement done with focused awareness would be good for what your looking for and have experienced. 

Yoga, qi gong, zen walking, and others might be more accessible and address directly what you might be looking for.

 

Taiji for kids, ect are a kind of marketing....really is far from the point of taiji practice.   

 

Hope this helps,,,just some thoughts reading your post. 

[escott]

I guess I don't want to get too hung up on terminology. There just doesn't seem to be much out there targeted toward kids or autistic kids. I'm hoping somebody is familiar with Cari or checks out her videos or could suggest some other options.

 

I wonder if I could just teach him Daniel Lee's easy version of Ba Duan Jin. Are those movements fun or interesting to kids? I guess that's the main thing, is making it fun for kids, but it also has to be effecive.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJjr_OD8M4A

 

Edited February 7, 2019 by escott
Was trying to insert video

[escott]

I think I may have found what I am looking for.

 

http://www.followmetaichi.com/breathe-book.html#

 

There is a link to "ALL VIDEOS" at the top where all the movements are demonstrated. I like the book illustrations, too.

[Astral Monk]

Shurman: "I simplified the tai chee so it was easy to learn"

 

Youre right escott, looks like modern western qigong, which amounts to mostly physical stretching. It might be helpful to some in context, but its a bit of a misnomer. Even still, qigong isnt useful for young kids...our bodies need to mature before we start actually working with energy. And taiji grows out of that. Before then its just wushu and flexibility, which is fine too.

 

Any martial arts will help deliver focus. My godson is autistic and he's been doing taekwondo for years in a school that had a special needs focus. Repitition, focus, community...all important.

 

In the end, its going to be whatever interests your kid the most. What engages them best. Baduanjin or 5 animals sports are widely available and pretty harmless, since they are pretty low on energy and high on exercise. Ive been seeing kids yoga around, but i think you need to add movement to balance asanas. 

 

8)

[Mudfoot]

You might want to check out Sally Goddard Blythe (The Well Balanced Child). 

 

You can steal ideas from there.