Tango Zen: The Walking Dance Meditation

Sport Dance has become an important part of athletic events such as the Arnold Fitness Weekend and its adjunct events in Columbus, Ohio in the early spring of each year. Sport dance is also nominated to join the Olympic Games. Sport dance and ballroom dance in competition are tough disciplines that require many hours of concentrated work.

Both of these activities can create better health and concentration in participants, yet there is one other benefit and that is centeredness - pose and self mastery of movement. This can be called moving medication and autho Chan Park teaches and writes about it in a small book that is an excellent guide for anyone interested in dance. Especially Argentine Tango. It is more exiting that my second favorite style (if well done and not raggedly violent)  - Apoche or Apache from France.

Tango Zen is full of useful information on how to observe Tango and even life from a meditative attitude. This includes breathing and body awareness more than sweat. Mr,. Park begins new classes with walking and breathing exercises and each couple becomes a sing moving unit. This is beautiful. Relationships should be like this.

Walk and breathing in unison, a couple becomes one with one another and the Dance. Their movements gain power that is hard to ignore, because it suddenly grasps the viewer's attention. Audiences feel invigorated yet relaxed after a performance. To some, watching the Argentine Tango is better than eight hours of sleep for refreshing the body, mind, and spirit.

Chan's book is important, yet light and easy to read and understand. It is fun. Even if a reader does no more than to use it to learn to walk and breathe for exercise and serenity, it has done its job and provided a gift.

Watching Chan's classes and performances is like experiencing the power of the ocean.

Elements of both Tango and Apache have been used on ice for Olympic competition as well, including the video of ice stars Torvill and Dean below.

In learning Tango Zen, students walk together and may trip over each others' feet and laugh at first. Gradually, they become synchronized. Soon they are gliding and when many couples do this together in the same room, a feeling of relaxation and flow is palpable.

As a book, Tango Zen includes practical instructions for dance movements, along with stretching exercises and specific walking techniques. The illustrations are quite good as well and beautiful. The exercises can be used for dance, exercise, and relief of tensions.

In the video below, a meditation class has decided to use Tango as moving meditation. It involves relaxation and concentration on movements and changes of posture.