Animals and tai chi

[Anonymous]

I have been taking tai chi for many years. Three years ago, I started the Wu style tai chi and became a disciple. I join the Wu mastery program three months ago. My other interest is in canines, I love my dogs! One of my dogs has had serious medical problems, so I became interested in non invasive procedures and tai chi was an obvious one for me to look to.

I see this as a reasonable extension. We want these animals to move in a certain efficient pattern. In North America, we spend billions in health care for these animals. And this amount is growing. People are looking for alternatives for care, acupuncture is now a frequent veterinary treatment, the use of homeopathic remedies is expanding, doggy daycares for socialization, human grade foods, etc. The list is long, so why not tai chi?

I envision a form including nice wide right and left turns, some narrow turns, obstacles to cross over (cavelitti) and a sharp 360 degree turn. The animal would proceed slowly, the human could give slow clear signals, create focus. I have started tri weekly tai chi class with them, but it is still impossible to determine if I am accomplishing anything.

I am uncertain how we could stimulate their chi. I have had some success passing my chi to them, my master claims that thru the circling we are able to pass our chi, but I am unable to reliably do so.

So, has any other animal lover thought about this and developed or looked at developing tai chi for animals. At least for animals that move with us, like dogs and horses.

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