Body Balance teaches the ancient arts of Tai Chi, Kung Fu

Photo by Bob Lickter Students and visitors participate in Tai Chi exercises at the The Body Balance studio in downtown Grass Valley.

The Wheelers have come a long way since Eileen was greeted by four students at her first class in a Nevada City dance studio.

  The Wheelers have come a long way since Eileen was greeted by four students at her first class in a Nevada City dance studio.

  Today, some six years later, the couple is leasing a 3,200-square-foot bamboo floor studio for Body Balance, which has taught hundreds of students the ancient arts of Tai Chi and Kung Fu.

   “We’ve learned a lot the hard way about what needs to be done, but it’s really been coming together for the past six months or so,” said Ty, who was able to leave his construction job a year ago to focus exclusively on running the school.

  Eileen brings a lifetime of experience to the family business, which is on the second floor of The Union building on Mill Street in Grass Valley. She was introduced to Tai Chi when she was four years old by her father, Pat Hancock, who has attained the status of master and runs his own school in Maryland.

   For her, Tai Chi puts devotees on a path that has been benefitting others for 1,500 years.

   “I really think it boils down to committing to lifelong health,” said Eileen, who is a Shih Fu or instructor. “It’s really about using your mind to improve the health of the body.”

  The slow and deliberate motions coordinated with deep-breathing techniques do pose physical demands, however. After just a few minutes of the slow-motion workout, the muscles of the uninitiated begin to burn and then ache.

  “It humbled me,” Ty said of his first experience. “To be working out as much as I was at the time and then I couldn’t finish the Tai Chi walk.”

   Body Balance has been in Grass Valley for two years now after leaving Nevada City to find a larger space for the growing business. In that time, the Wheelers have reached out to the community in other ways as well.

  They have worked with the school district to teach students self-defense skills, which includes holding mock drills where children are approached by possible abductors.

  “The kids are involved in this and practice in real-time. They feel it,” Ty said. “It’s an important part of the process to understand.”

  Other activities are planned as well.

   On Oct. 10, Professor Kai Chu, who owns a software development company in China, will speak about the history of the Mandarin language for approximately 45 minutes at the studio. He is scheduled to speak after a Tai Chi with Tea Event, which is when students are tested.

  The Wheelers also intend to hold a winter acoustic concert series this year that features 10 shows in five months. Bill Douglass is helping to make the arrangements for the concerts and will be performing with the band the Hemispheres in at least one of the shows.

  “We don’t make any money from the concerts. This is just something we want to do for the community,” Ty said. “These events add a cultural value with a learning capacity.”

  The school also maintains a sharp focus on its students. Eileen recently took the school’s first students to the United States International Kuoshu Championship Tournament in Baltimore where four students earned medals.

  “That’s a high-caliber tournament,” Ty said. “To take students to Baltimore, you have to be among the best.”

 To Learn More

If you would like to learn more about Body Balance, call 530-478-1412 or visit www.BodyBalanceNC.com.