International students from 14 countries learned tai chi during an introductory course offered by East China University of Science and Technology on Nov 17.
A Mongolian student said she watched a lot of kung fu movies and admired kung fu masters when she was a kid. In Shanghai, she saw many seniors practicing tai chi and learned that tai chi and kung fu can help improve health. She hopes to build a kung fu or tai chi learning center in her country.
"I learned that tai chi can not only be used to strengthen the body and protect oneself, but also to feel how everything in the world operates, and how to be a man and do things," a Yemeni student said after attending the course.
Tai chi, a centuries-old martial art and now a popular form of exercise, has been inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Originating during the mid-17th century in Wenxian county, Henan province, it is now practiced throughout China by people of all ages and by different ethnic groups.
Tai chi's basic movements center on wubu (five steps) and bafa (eight techniques) with a series of routines, exercises and tuishou (hand-pushing skills that are performed with a partner).
