For hours after a tai chi workout, Ute Philipp has a lingering feeling of well-being.

"It's just such a complete and nice workout in a gentle way," she said. On top of that, the Mt. Lebanon woman has realized her reaction times have increased. If she fumbles with something, she often can catch it before it hits the ground.

		Listen in Hear staff writer Laura Pace talk with Dr. David Clippinger about the activities at World Tai Chi Day.

Even the colors she sees have become more vivid as a result of the relaxation, proper breathing and good posture she's learned in the 10 years since she began her studies.

And now the curious can get a first-hand look at the martial art during World Tai Chi Day, an international celebration. Teacher David Clippinger will give a free workshop at Mt. Lebanon's Bird Park from 10 a.m. to noon April 28.

The international tai chi celebration will start in New Zealand and conclude in Hawaii, said Dr. Clippinger, an ordained Buddhist monk and college professor who has taught the art for 10 years.

"A lot of people get very nervous about a martial art, but it's an opportunity to try it," he said of the exercises he will be teaching.

Tai chi uses soft, graceful movements and deep breathing, with a goal of "integrating body and mind," he said. Participants strive to be like water while achieving a meditative state. It is a weight-bearing exercise, so it is good for the bones while being low impact because there is no pounding.

"It's good for working muscles," he said.

His voice seemed to echo his art as he spoke in soft, relaxing tones, smiling often and stopping to pet his two springer spaniels during an interview.

Dr. Clippinger, 39, became ordained after years of study with teachers all over the country, especially in Cleveland. Although he has never studied in China, where tai chi began, he said it was easy to find practitioners in the United States.

Known as sifu, Chinese for "teacher," Dr. Clippinger runs Still Mountain, a tai chi and chi kung studio, from his Mt. Lebanon home. He conducts classes at several Unitarian Universalist churches and teaches tai chi to cancer patients as a way to speed healing and promote relaxation.

The name of his studio comes from a saying that a person's tai chi should be "as still as a mountain, supple as a river," he said.

He has about 40 regular students, many of them from the South Hills, where, he said, the climate is good for the practice because, he believes, his students have open minds and a good deal of interest.

"The people who like it, it's some sort of addiction," he said.

He also is the resident teacher for the Mountain Wind Zen Meditation group, and leads about 10 to 12 followers a week, although there are many more involved from time to time.

He occasionally teaches classes at the University of Pittsburgh and is an associate professor of English and American studies, with degrees from Penn State University and Shippensburg University and a doctorate in English from Syracuse University.

This is the fourth year he'll be doing the free workshop at Bird Park.

	John Heller, Post-Gazette David Clippinger leads an interdisciplinary class in tai chi at Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church on the North Side last Thursday. Click photo for larger image.

The father of two, who grew up in Carlisle, Cumberland County, said his wife, Annabelle, indulged his submersion in tai chi but that she didn't share his interest.

"It's not her gig," he said.

Just because tai chi is flowing, he cautioned not to get the idea that it's easy.

"The people who do tai chi well, it looks effortless," he said. But that's part of the goal of creating "internal vitality, external tranquility."

People unfamiliar with tai chi tend to forget that it is a martial art, and, while it does have a spiritual and health side to it, it does have martial aspects.

He said it can be a better option than some other martial arts, such as karate, where sparring and kicking can hurt.

That was true for Ms. Philipp, 68, who switched from karate to tai chi.

"That's pretty hard on your joints. Tai chi is flowing and gentle," she said, noting how much she enjoys working with Dr. Clippinger.

"He's just an absolutely fantastic teacher," she said, because of the amount of laughter and relaxation she feels after a class.

"I just think, for me, I enjoy it because I get a great feeling of well-being doing it," she said.

Registration for World Tai Chi Day in Bird Park is not required.

For more information, visit www.stillmountaintaichi.com or call Dr. Clippinger at 412-480-9177.