Join the freedom movement

An elderly woman slowly hobbles into a tai chi class, barely able to move about even with the help of her Zimmer frame.
For the first four weeks she struggles to manoeuvre around the class.
After 16 weeks of doing soft and graceful movements which promote inner- and outer-strength, she is spotted walking around without even the need of a walking stick.
She is just one of the success stories from tai chi courses the ACC is again offering, free, to Wanganui residents aged 65 and over.
The Accident Compensation Corporation describes the programme as a "falls prevention course" to help older people increase muscle strength, balance and co-ordination - and have fun at the same time.
Tai Chi Chuan, the form of tai chi being fully funded by ACC, literally translates as "supreme ultimate fist". Individuals learn solo routines, involving repeated gentle, controlled, arm and leg movements round a person's centre of gravity.
Emily Potroz, the tai chi instructor for the falls prevention course, says at the beginning of the course the participants are assessed based on their physical abilities.
One of the tests is to step up and down on a step in 15 seconds, and they are reassessed at the end of the 16 weeks. She said one elderly woman struggled to reach up to hang clothes on her washing line before doing the course. However, by the end she could not only stretch upwards, but also had enough co-ordination and balance to bend down and tie her shoelaces.
Sport Wanganui operations manager Karen Bukholt is still taking names for more classes and said there had been much interest in the free 16-week tai chi courses. ACC has two courses running at the Gonville Community Centre on Abbott St, and will be starting another one soon.
"The course helps you get more stability," Mrs Bukholt says.
Ms Potroz says the tai chi participants vary in ability. Learning to regain balance and mobility is a slow process, she adds, as they have to remember the actions and choreography.
"Tai chi incorporates slow, gentle movements a bit like ballet, which help them increase balance."
Fifteen people attend each of the classes held on Monday mornings and Tuesday afternoons. Each class has a one-hour session once a week.
One of the many rewards of her job as a tai chi instructor is seeing the improvements of the each individual, Ms Potroz says.
"When they first come in, for the first few sessions they are wobbly in the workshops, but give them four weeks and they are good as gold."
Participants must be 65 years or over, unless they are Maori or Pacific Islanders, who can be 55 or older. The classes are also available for people who have had a fall or have been recognised by a medical professional as being in danger of having a fall.
Research published in the journal of the American Geriatrics Society showed tai chi's benefits for balance, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness and reduced risk of falls.
It is useful in both healthy elderly patients and those recovering from chronic strokes, heart failure, high blood pressure, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's, the study showed.
Another study published in 2008 found that practising tai chi can greatly reduce pain and improve overall physical and mental health in people over 60 with osteoarthritis of the knee.
Practitioners also say tai chi's gentle, low-impact movements burn more calories than surfing, and almost as much as downhill skiing.
Ms Potroz says it also helps elderly people mentally, because they have to be thinking all the time when it comes to co-ordinating their hand and foot movements.