A very popular sport for seniors in Saint-Pierre who want to maintain social connections while staying in shape

This season the seniors are more than motivated. Indeed, the Hong Sang Nae Club welcomes more than a hundred people aged 55 and over.

Joanne is 61 years old. She has been coming to the dojang for four years now. She is enrolled in tai chi chuan, health taekwondo and gymnastics classes. She even does yoga within another association.

Pour cretired from civil aviation, he is “important to move, to create social connections”.

We’re not preparing for the Olympic Games, of course, but the goal is really to make movements. At our ages we need to move, we shouldn’t stay on the couch. Doing sport means providing physical but also mental stimulation.

Hélène, 70 years old, is also very regular at the sessions offered by the Hong Sang Nae Club. These sporting events ” allow you to stay in shape and share a moment of conviviality, especially since the courses are not really difficult. Just listen carefully to the master’s instructions.“.

During the sessions, there is no question of performing. Corinne Guibert, teacher and president of the Hong Sang Nae Club, adapts the techniques of the discipline so that Seniors are comfortable with the movements and gestures.

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During taekwondo it is about working on balance, motor skills, memory through poomsés for example. Exercises which aim to allow participants to get into physical condition and according to each individual’s rhythms, but not only that.

The most important thing is also that participants can meet and exchange ideas. This allows them to see people they haven’t seen for a long time because they are often alone at home and don’t see many people.

Corinne Guibert, president of the Hong Sang Nae club

The workshops are spread over four days. The Monday class at 9:15 a.m. is devoted to tai chi chuan, that of Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. for health taekwondo and Thursday, 2 p.m. for recreational gymnastics. They take place in the dojang located upstairs in the cultural and sports center.

On Wednesdays, for those who prefer chair gymnastics, everyone meets at the Marie Lescaméla foyer.

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This course is a great success with seniors because the discipline is accessible to everyone and regardless of physical condition.

As Corinne Guibert explains, “ doing exercises in a chair allows them to work much safer and provides them with stability. We must not believe that doing sports on a chair does not work all parts of the body.

In this Wednesday class, there are nearly thirty of them. And among the athletes, Francisca, 72 years old. This is the first year that she has taken Corinne’s classes. She chose chair gymnastics and it was thanks to a friend that she decided to give it a try.

It’s not difficult but we work quite hard nonetheless. It’s easier than standing because you don’t always have balance and on the chair you have good support. I am more confident.

This session takes place in collaboration with the CCAS, the municipal social action center of the Saint-Pierre town hall which makes the Marie Lescaméla foyer room available to the club.

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Another partner: the conference of funders for the prevention of loss of autonomy. The body aims to support actions aimed at people aged 60 and over. It also finances tai chi chuan. As for the taekwondo health workshop, the club receives help from the Sports Office.

If the courses are a success with seniors, Corinne Guibert has only one regret: ” the lack of men. Only two of them are registered. One in tai chi chuan and the second in chair gymnastics.”

And precisely in this group, there is André, 91 years old. As he humorously points out, ” there aren’t many volunteers on the men’s side.”.

Classes are going well. And no it’s not too difficult. It feels good.

André is motivated and does not hesitate to come to the Marie Lescaméla home once a week to “maintain health and fitness“.

An hour of chair gymnastics which has the gift of putting a smile on the faces of the participants.