SARASOTA, Fla. — As we prepare to enter Asian American and Pacific Islanders Awareness Month, there is a free Tai Chi demonstration at the city recreation center in Bradenton.

We met Brian Nell at Cypress Pillar Healing Arts.

“This is a fantastic little healing center in Sarasota,” he said. “And we are in our indoor movement space.”

The space is devoted to bringing the ancient Chinese martial art Tai Chi to masses.

The World Tai Chi Day celebration at G.T. Bray Recreation Center in Bradenton is part of their mission.

Nell starts with a meditation to get bodies aligned and minds in tune.

He says it’s how to combat stress.

“But now we must honestly look at ourselves, find where we hid it and teach ourselves to relax,” Nell said.

“So I actually was introduced to Tai Chi when I was 17 years-old at a seminar,” he said. “And as a 17-year-old practicing jiujitsu, that’s the last thing you want is to move slow, but it planted a seed.”

After a serious back injury, Nell turned to Tai Chi.

“And as a direct result was able to overcome those injuries and realized this was something I wanted to pass on,” he said.

“Balance is a big one, especially as we get older. This becomes a depreciable skill,” Nell said. “So the more that we train the body, the better off we are in the long run.”

World Tai Chi demonstrations are happening Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The event is free.