Wu’s Tai Chi Academy : For Better Health or Martial Arts, Tai Chi is For Everyone

By David Stone

I knew Michael Ashmore when he was an instructor, under the late Steve Britt in the 1990s. Since then, the Detroit location has moved many times. That’s why it was with great joy that I saw their ad in Ferndale Friends and I realized first, that they were within bicycling distance and second, that Michael Ashmore was chief instructor.

So, let’s meet Sifu Ashmore.

Mike was born in Hazel Park. He went to Webb Junior High on Woodward Heights. Then he went to Hazel Park High School. Afterwards, “I went to Oakland University for a couple of years, and also Wayne State University for a couple of years.” From 1975 to 1995, he work-ed at Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital. Since 1995, Sifu Ashmore has been teaching Tai Chi full-time. He has taught Tai Chi in many area hospitals: Beaumont, U of M Hospital, Henry Ford Hospital, and others. Now he teaches full-time at the Ferndale school.

Mike originally studied Tai Chi to help curb the degenerative effects of Legg-Perthes disease, a condition in which the upper leg and hip bones loose Calcium and become very brittle, which can lead to the need for a total hip replacement. He originally studied Yang-style, but moved to Wu-Style when Britt opened the first Wu-Style school in the U.S.

Mike was cured, and continued his study of Tai Chi as a martial art. In our interview, he explained how Tai Chi, a soft-style martial art, differs from the hard-style martial arts, “You don’t use muscular tension to generate force…you use looseness and coordination of the muscles…stretching the muscles out and then coordinating all the joints in a unified way to whatever leverage goal you are looking for.”

Many people practice Tai Chi purely for its health benefits, so Sifu went on to discuss why it is “so good for your health.” The first thing Tai Chi does is relax the muscular-skeletal system. This improves the circulatory system because “your heart doesn’t have to fight to pump blood through a bunch of tense muscles.” Then they work to improve the respiratory system by teaching “an entire system of breathing exercises that in Chinese are called chi gong. These breathing techniques are designed to saturate the circulatory system with as much oxygen as possible…which again feeds back to the original goal of relaxing and loosening up the muscular-skeletal system.” After that, Sifu Ashmore pointed out, ”we can work on various parts of the body as needed.”

Mike is proud to announce that, due to great demand, they have recently increased the number of beginner classes.

So, whether you want to learn an ancient martial art, regain or maintain your health, check out Wu’s Tai Chi Academy. And remember the Sifu’s words: Tai Chi – it’s not just for old people.

Wu’s Tai Chi Chuan Academy, 3140 Hilton, Ferndale, MI
(248)854-3953,  info@wustyledetroit.com