BY CHERYL SHUMWAY
North Country This Week

A Canton Tai Chi master is now broadcasting his classes around the country, as well as offering in-person instruction in Canton, Potsdam and Heuvelton.

Amid the pandemic, Master Sean Boutin has continued to expand North Country Tai Chi, the company he started in 2013. Remote classes started in 2020 and currently reach students in California, Florida, Virginia, Indiana, Tennessee, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Vermont.

“We stayed open and stayed together during the pandemic. We never missed a day. We adapted with state-of-the-art equipment,” said Boutin.

Tai Chi is a Chinese martial art practiced for health benefits and meditation.

After finishing a recent broadcast from his Trillium Center classroom at the First Presbyterian Church, Potsdam, Boutin explained he had been online with 20 people from Brambletown, Va.

A former Ogdensburg couple wanting to continue with his classes after moving to Virginia organized a group in their new retirement community who also joined his online Tai Chi class.

 “We’re helping people of all ages, but especially seniors, with balance, mobility, flexibility, cognition and memory,” said Boutin. “We are keeping people from stiffening up and helping them become more confident in their bodies.”

“We have a diverse community of Tai Chi students. We train anyone of any age and gender, including non-binary.”

North Country Tai Chi offers 14 in-person classes per week, between the First Presbyterian Churches of both Canton and Potsdam and also at Pickens Hall, Heuvelton. There is a 20 in-person limit per class. Currently there are 80 Tai Chi students in total who are North Country Tai Chi members.

“Everyone gets to know each other in the classes. During warm-ups students interact both in-person and online. They have fun and laugh,” said Boudin.

“It brings out people’s natural joy. Tai Chi gives people a reason to smile and feel good about themselves,” he said.

Master Sean, as he calls himself, teaches three styles of Tai Chi: Yang, Sun and Chen. Prior to his training in Tai Chi, he studied at John Hopkins University and Cornell University. He and his wife, Kristin McKie, live in Canton.

North Country Tai Chi has a free sample library of training videos and Tai Chi forms on its website. It also gives information about enrollment and an on-demand video library with over 100 videos with membership. The website can be viewed at northcountrytaichi.com