The Monkey Mountain Story

About the Book

The Monkey Mountain story started in a Canadian community health centre. Over the past ten years, it has been successfully introduced to groups attending community health and recreational centres and in retirement and nursing homes, in diabetes and mental health programs. Presentations at community college activation programs and at the Toronto Island Sunshine Center have resulted in Monkey Mountain being taken to many settings. Tai Chi has real benefits for all ages. But especially as we get older, we can lose the ability or confidence to walk and move about easily. That loss can be the result of physical changes or simply because of life factors such as our constant use of chairs. Consider falls alone. A serious fall in later years is often the event that may begin the loss of independence. People who do Tai Chi and who do the Monkey Mountain story really do improve their balance and flexibility. They avoid or recover from near falls. They gain or regain their ability to walk or to enjoy exercise. Being able to move about with confidence encourages socialization and adds to the enjoyment of living. There is also a calming logic to the moves of Tai Chi and the Monkey Mountain story. The concentration required to learn and play the moves clears the mind and relieves stress. Tai Chi is sometimes called a moving meditation.

About the Author

Michael White first learned Tai Chi In 1977, in Toronto, Canada, as a pupil and disciple of Master Moy Lin Shin, the Taoist monk, and Tai Chi teacher who started the Taoist school of Tai Chi. He began to teach with seniors, using Master Moy’s Tai Chi. Michael White met and learned the 24 Move Short Yang Style of Tai Chi, the most popular Tai Chi in the world, with a young Tai Chi Master, Zu Gwang Ya, a history of architecture professor, who was a visiting scholar from his home, Nanjing, in south China. Then in 1996 Michael began to lead the Senior Wellness meetings a Toronto, Canada, Community Health Center. Over the next 16 years, he evolved the Tai Chi in these classes into the Monkey Mountain Story and Monkey Mountain Tai Chi in this book.