Know what you're doing with the kids this Saturday? April 28 is World Tai Chi Qigong Day, and there's a good chance there's something going on near you.

I've been to one of these events in Ft. Lauderdale, and it was pretty fun. Tai chi people tend to be pretty easygoing, you know. They're professionally relaxed.

And if you were ever curious about what all the waving of hands in the parks and street corners at the crack of dawn was about when you were in China, this event is probably the best introduction. Or, I should say, these events -- World Tai Chi Qigong Day has been recognized (in America) by California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah -- and Puerto Rico -- as well as a bunch of cities in other states.

But it also happens on a smaller scale in most other places. (And 60 countries around the world -- that list is searchable.) Anywhere where there's a tai chi instructor, really, something is likely to be going on -- it's a pretty loose, unstructured thing. Just an excuse to give out some free lessons and enjoy a weekend afternoon. And do a little stretching. It's healthy. And it's a cornerstone of Chinese culture.

The name "tai chi" (or taiji) literally means "supreme ultimate." Taoist monks developed the practice as a way of combining meditation, medicine and martial arts -- contemplating how our bodies move in the natural way (the Tao) and how that can natural way can be applied to self-defense techniques. Or, how self-defense techniques (like kicking, punching and pushing) can be harnessed to improve health and focus the mind in quiet contemplation. The Tao -- the thing that the quiet contemplation is focused on - is the "supreme ultimate," the foundation of reality. But you really don't have to worry about that. Really.

And "qigong" (or "ch'i kung") just means practicing with your qi -- in other words, stretching and moving around to get your circulation circulating, your breath breathing and your inner energy going where it needs to go. It's that simple.

You can read an Eastern perspective on World Tai Chi Qigong Day here, in last year's International Herald Tribune.