Tai Chi classes spark seniors
Participants worked on their Tai Chi Chuan lead by Master Tyrone Aranda in Sunset on Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
Martial Arts Instructor for 36 years, Master Tyrone Aranda "grabs the moon" during Tai Chi Chuan lead by Master Tyrone Aranda in Sunset on Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
Dee Coyle, of Eden, moves her fingers as if she is making rain during Tai Chi Chuan lead by Master Tyrone Aranda in Sunset on Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
Herbert Brandt, of Layton, does Tai Chi Chuan for the first time during a Tai Chi Chuan class lead by Master Tyrone Aranda in Sunset on Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
Participants worked on their Tai Chi Chuan lead by Master Tyrone Aranda in Sunset on Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
Participants worked on their Tai Chi Chuan lead by Master Tyrone Aranda in Sunset on Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
Participants worked on their Tai Chi Chuan lead by Master Tyrone Aranda in Sunset on Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
Participants worked on their Tai Chi Chuan lead by Master Tyrone Aranda in Sunset on Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
SUNSET— Tyrone Aranda is applying a principle he was taught early on while learning martial arts — if you learn something, you give it back.
After studying karate for 35 years, Aranda is now giving back by offering free Tai Chi classes in Sunset to seniors in the community. “I saw that they needed some way to exercise, but nothing extremely physical that would hurt or wear them out,” he said. “I know a lot of seniors who are on fixed incomes, so I decided it’s important for them to have an opportunity they may not have been able to afford.”
Walking into the class, sounds of waterfalls, birds chirping and soothing music fill the roomful of community members of varying ages and skills levels, with some even performing Tai Chi seated in a chair, while others exercised while their canes were propped up against the wall.
Tai Chi is a Chinese martial arts known for is relatively slow movement. As the class slowly pushed their arms up to the ceiling and then out to the side towards the walls, 84-year-old Lloyd Stein moved through the motions like a pro, since he has been doing Tai Chi with Aranda for five years.
“I’m retired, so I need things to do that will keep me active, but aren’t too strenuous. This is challenging going through these exercises, but it makes you think while you’re doing it, which is good because when you get to be my age, they are always having us do brain exercises,” Stein said.
His wife, Ogden resident Ginny Stein at 82, says balance is something she struggles with, so doing Tai Chi regularly has helped improve her balance. “Even though you don’t feel like you are working hard, you feel it afterwards in your muscles and those are things that keep you going,” Stein said. “If you don’t, you will just end up sitting there and expiring eventually.”
Aranda has been teaching Tai Chi for six years, and credits the art form to saving him after suffering a heart attack, cancer, a couple back surgeries, a shoulder surgery, and a pulmonary embolism. “Every time something happens to me, I heal really fast because I’ve learned how to control my pain through breathing and I wanted to share that with other people so they can be healthier too,” Aranda said.
Aranda noticed that seniors have a hard time walking around, but after about three months in the class, their balance has improved 100 percent, he says. “They have strength in their legs then and are able to walk longer,” Aranda said.
Sixty-three-year old Lupe Cuevas of West Point recently suffered a second heart attack and was struggling to walk, so it was suggested she try Tai Chi. Cuevas hear about Aranda’s class. Though she first began the class doing the exercise in a chair, now she can do part of the exercises standing up and doesn’t struggle as much walking.
“There must be a reason why I’m still here, so I decided I better do something with my life,” Cuevas said, who admits the class isn’t too strenuous for her. “With this class I can now do my physical therapy exercises longer.”
Any seniors age 55 and over can visit the class every Tuesday at 10 a.m. at 2029 North Main Street in Sunset.
