Chiwalking

November 2, 3:13 AMSt. Louis Tai Chi ExaminerViolet Li

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Danny Dryer

Ricki Connor of St. Louis has two master degrees and is a methodical IT professional. When his son wanted to run a marathon, he did some research and bought ChiRunning for him to improve his performance and prevent injury. Later, when Ricki decided to walk as an exercise, his natural choice is ChiWalking.

ChiWalking was developed and written by well-known walking and running coaches, Danny and Katherine Dryer. Danny is a nationally ranked ultra marathon runner. More than ten years ago, he started to learn Tai Chi from Master George Xu. Gradually, he understands the power of the invisible force of Chi which is the essential to health and the foundation of ChiRunning and ChiWalking.
 

Ricki Conor demos Chi Walking

The Dreyers focus on five mindful steps for ChiWalking:
1. Get aligned. ChiWalking emphasizes on proper alignment of head, Dantain(?), and heel.
2. Engage the core which will prevent back and knee pain from walking.
3. Create balance. Danny’s new method teaches walkers how to walk faster, farther and with less effort.
4. Make a choice. The book provides a menu of twelve different types of walks: cardio walk, aerobic walk, hilly walk, loosening walk, upper body walk, chi-gathering walk, grounding walk, energizing walk, calming walk, walking meditation, and race walk.
5. Move forward. With coaching instructions, walkers can learn how to gradually move forward with their own training program.
 

Dannt & Katherine Dryer

Ricki and his friend have been walking every Wednesday night for a few months. Each time, they walk for 90 minutes. Ricki follows the ChiWalking instructions and makes sure he aligns his body before he takes a first step, then he slightly lean body forward and let the gravity take over. He never feels tired during or after walking. Unlike some other forms of exercise, Ricki said that he does not feel hungry after a long walk. He always feels energized afterwards. His stress level has been subsided. He used to have a high blood pressure problem. But he prefers the natural way and opted out of medication. With walking, proper diet and other forms of exercise (i.e. practicing Taichi), his blood pressure is now under control.