“The martial art of relaxation”</p>
<p>As the sun filtered through the towering trees of Mt. Lebanon’s Bird Park, about 45 people gathered Saturday morning in a clearing to practice the slow, rhythmic exercise tai chi. Some were there for the physical benefits of the ancient discipline, while others sought a more spiritual level in the measured movements.</p>
<p>“It’s relaxing,” said Maxine Bickel, 77, of Mt. Lebanon, who brought her husband, Melvin Bickel, 77, for his first lesson and a low-key workout.</p>
<p>Bone and lung cancer survivor Ginny Nimpfer, 62, of Dormont, who has rods through her bone from the hips to knees, hoped to improve her health.</p>
<p>Mt. Lebanon High School students Kai Guo, 17; Xi Fu, 17; and Binbin Ye, 16, who grew up in China, came to observe and learn the American version of tai chi, one of the major soft martial arts.</p>
<p>The boys view the Chinese version in Chinese-language films.</p>
<p>Tricia Bendis, 44, of Mt. Lebanon, who suffers from a type of muscular dystrophy and who has taken tai chi classes at the Mt. Lebanon Recreation Center, said the exercises helped keep her muscles loose and stretched.</p>
<p>“It gives me balance and inner peace,” said Ute Philipp, 67, of Mt. Lebanon, who practices daily at home.</p>
<p>“Right now, there’s 5,000 of you doing this in Central Park,” instructor David Clippinger said, referring to Saturday being World Tai Chi Day.</p>
<p>Tai chi, with its deep breathing and graceful dance-like movements, is an ancient Chinese form of exercise and meditation designed to boost energy, cultivate physical and emotional balance, and instill a sense of spiritual and physical well-being.</p>
<p>Mr. Clippinger, a Buddhist monk, said the exercise was especially beneficial for seniors because it does not put undue stress on the joints.</p>
<p>His Mt. Lebanon studio, Still Mountain Tai Chi and Chi Kung, the latter being the “umbrella” term under which all soft martial arts fall, hosted the 90-minute free local celebration for the third time.</p>
<p>“You’ll be strong internal soldiers after this,” he said during breathing exercises for the heart and lungs.</p>
<p>“You need to think of samurai movies,” he said during the “bending the bow” exercise in which students cross hands and pull one elbow back as if drawing a bow.</p>
<p>Mr. Clippinger, 38, acquired an interest in martial arts as a teenager. That developed into an interest in the soft martial arts while he was a student at Penn State University.</p>
<p>The Mt. Lebanon man, who has a doctorate in American literature and culture, is a visiting professor of American literature at the University of Pittsburgh. He has written books on Buddhism and Taoism, and the reciprocal influence of Eastern and Western cultures.</p>
<p>He teaches medical chi kung, or stationary exercises, to improve the circulation of the entire body in the Dean Ornish program at Allegheny General Hospital.</p>
<p>He also conducts cancer chi kung workshops at Magee-Womens Hospital for women with breast and ovarian cancer.</p>
<p>After Saturday’s session, Kyle Chizeck, 14, of Mt. Lebanon, who runs track and came to exercise his newly injured hip, deemed his first tai chi experience a success.</p>
<p>“I feel totally loosened up now,” he said.