UAMS Oaklawn Center on Aging Offering ‘Beginning Tai Chi for Arthritis’ Classes
| The Oaklawn Center on Aging, a program of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), is offering Beginning Tai Chi for Arthritis classes at no cost to participants each Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the Hot Springs Senior Center, 301 Broadway Street in Hot Springs.
The Oaklawn Center on Aging is part of the UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and is funded by the Oaklawn Foundation.
The ancient Chinese exercise/art of tai chi is proven to relieve stress, strengthen muscles and improve balance. The class will use beginning level extension movements, which will complete the entire Tai Chi for Arthritis part 1 form. The extension movements that will accompany the first Basic Six movements are: brush knee and push, parry and punch, block and close, carry the tiger, and push the mountain.
Senior Tai Chi Trainer Jerry Matlock will teach Dr. Paul Lam’s Tai Chi for Arthritis program. Dr. Lam’s Tai Chi program is easy-to-learn, enjoyable and evidence-based way to improve health. Lam is a retired medical doctor and Tai Chi master who has established the global Tai Chi for Health Institute. For more information or to enroll in the free program, call the UAMS Oaklawn Center on Aging at 501-623-0020 or go online at www.oaklawncenteronaging.com.
Matlock began studying and practicing Yang 24 form in 1994. He studied William C.C. Chen’s Yang 60 movement form at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and began studying Dr. Lam’s Sun style tai chi program in 2009. A retired science teacher, Matlock continues to teach tai chi on a regular basis in Hot Springs for the Oaklawn Center on Aging.
Not all exercises are suitable for people with arthritis. An effective exercise program should have low risk of injury while increasing flexibility, strengthening muscles and improving cardiorespiratory fitness. Tai Chi for Arthritis can accomplish this and more.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.
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