The Quiet Power of Tai Chi

They move like mirrors — a small group quietly tracing invisible circles in the soft morning light. Their movements are fluid and intentional. Nearby, joggers pass and dogs tug at their leashes while a loyal group of Tai Chi practitioners move through meditation, slowly practicing this Chinese martial art form focused on balance, mindfulness, and health. 

This is where Harmony Phuong begins her weekend: outdoors, surrounded by warmth and the community she and her fiancé, Leo Man, have built. 

“I used to be more into external martial arts — karate, taekwondo, other styles that were very physical,” Phuong said. “But by my twenties, I wanted something that combined body and mind. Something deeper.” 

Years of high-impact training left her with injuries and questions. What began as curiosity about a new style soon became devotion. “Tai Chi helped me develop calmness,” she explained. “Now, it’s part of my weekly routine — not something I need to do, but something I look forward to.” 

Phuong described how the practice became a daily anchor: “I try to adopt Tai Chi in my daily life as much as possible. I feel most calm when I’m practicing and sharing it with others.”

At the heart of Phuong’s teaching is the concept of rooting — staying grounded both physically and mentally. In Tai Chi, rooting means maintaining balance through deep, stable stances and mindful breathing. “Before Tai Chi, I wasn’t a calm person,” she admitted. “But through standing exercises, I learned to root, to connect with the ground, to feel stable no matter what’s happening around me.” 

It’s a principle she’s carried beyond the park. As a nursing student, Phuong applies Tai Chi to the high-pressure hospital environment. She recalled her first learning experience in the operating room witnessing a C-section: “Other classmates had to step out. It was intense — the sounds, the emotions — but Tai Chi taught me how to stay calm, how to breathe, how to stay in the moment.” 

When faced with emergencies, she draws from that same internal balance. “Tai Chi teaches you how to let go, how to flow with what is. You can’t control everything. You just stay rooted.”

Phuong teaches Yang-style Tai Chi, following the lineage of Master Amin Wu, a respected teacher she met in 2017. Yang style is the most widely practiced form of Tai Chi, known for its slow, graceful movements. Phuong and Man’s group practices held in Anaheim, Garden Grove, and Fountain Valley are open, inclusive, and always outdoors.

“I learned outdoors from my first master,” she said. “Under air conditioning, you can’t see the sun, the sky. In the park, you can feel the gentle breeze and hear the birds. Nature helps you get into the flow.” 

Each weekend, Phuong and her fiancé also lead sessions focused on Ba Duan Jin Qi Gong on Fridays, Form 24 on Saturdays, and Forms 42 and 85 on Sundays. Ba Duan Jin Qi Gong (Eight Pieces of Brocade is the formal and complete translation) is a traditional sequence of breathing and stretching exercises, while the numbered Tai Chi forms refer to choreographed movement sets — 24 being the most common beginner sequence. The sessions begin with standing meditation, followed by traditional warm-ups, long forms, and communal practice under the open sky. “We practice under the gentle morning sunlight as much as possible,” she said. “It’s healing energy.” 

Phuong and Man teach Tai Chi for free, driven by a desire to give back to the community and promote goodwill. “We don’t advertise. It’s word of mouth,” she said. “We like keeping it small, like family. We open for enrollment in the winter, then close it in January so everyone can learn together at the same pace.” 

Students range in age from teenagers to elders in their eighties; some have been practicing for more than seven years. “We’ve got moms and daughters, dads and sons, couples,” Phuong said. “They started as strangers walking by the park. Now they’re friends.” 

Some of her students have seen powerful changes: “Everyone relaxes here,” Harmony said. “After a long week of work or school, you can see it in their faces — they’re lighter.” She also recalled, “One woman in her 70s told me she sleeps so much better since practicing. First she came Saturdays, then Fridays too, because she knows now — after Tai Chi, she’ll sleep peacefully.” 

The group celebrates birthdays and Thanksgiving together, sometimes traveling to San Francisco for special workshops and private group lessons with Master Wu. “It’s not just a class,” Phuong said. “It’s a community. Everyone helps each other out.” 

That sense of community is what keeps her returning to the park every week. No matter how busy life gets, you can always count on this place to ground you. “Tai Chi teaches you how to move with life instead of against it. To be calm in motion, rooted in change.” 

Her advice for beginners? “Anything looks intimidating until you give yourself a chance,” Phuong said with a chuckle, as she’s been there. “You’ll never know until you try — and once you do, you might find your balance in the flow too.”

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