Balance your calm and de-stress your anxiety with today's side deal: for $25 you'll get three 30-minute private Tai Chi lessons, plus a uniform, at U.S. Kuoshu Academy. Incorporating stretching and warm-up exercises with calming breathing routines, Tai Chi is meant to relieve stress and improve balance.

The volunteer-based school banks on the enthusiasm and passion of its dedicated instructors. Located in Baltimore County in Owings Mills, Maryland, the 3,000-square-foot studio features two training rooms plus changing areas for men and women. Calligraphy and paintings line the wall space of the spirited studio. Its Tai Chi program also emphasizes the Tien Shan Pai motto, "Virtue, Wisdom, Humility, Martial Arts," and is suited for students of all age and skill levels. Group classes are offered Saturday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday evenings. View a complete course schedule here. Studies have shown the unhurried exercise can help prevent or ease aging ills and may be beneficial for an exhaustive list of medical conditions including heart problems, high blood pressure, and arthritis. Call ahead to schedule your first session.

Reviews

Inside Kung-Fu Magazine has featured U.S. Kuoshu Academy's Grandmaster, Huang Chien-Liang, praising his devotion to the revival of traditional martial-art techniques:

• ...a master who excels in all three areas - teacher, promoter and specialist. Yet his work is linked by common threads: tradition, discipline, respect and integrity. You can see it in the Master just as you can see it in his students...Huang is one Master who was not influenced by the by the [sic] new ways in martial arts - his relationship with his teacher is his link to the traditional martial arts of China from two centuries ago. For Huang, traditional ways do not just mean traditional training but also traditional ethics. – Jonathan Pett Miller