WELLINGTON, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of local Tai Chi enthusiasts on Saturday gathered to perform Chinese Tai Chi and Qigong to celebrate the eighth World Tai Chi and Qigong Day at the recreation center of Karori, Wellington, capital of New Zealand.

The event was co-organized by Tai Chi Associates Wellington and China Cultural Centre in New Zealand.

John Young, 88, is the oldest performer on the scene. As an immigrant from south China's Guangdong Province, Young started learning Tai Chi when he was a teenager. Now he insists on playing Tai Chi every day and is the head of Wellington Yang Style Tai Chi Club.

Keith MacEwing led his companions from Wellington School of Tai Chi to perform five-style Tai Chi single fan and sword. MacEwing has practiced Tai Chi for 18 years.

"I love Tai Chi very much because unlike other sports or activities, Tai Chi focuses on how to control your body slow and balance. Being slow is always the difficult part," MacEwing said.

Fern MacKenzie from Tai Chi Associates Wellington introduced that World Tai Chi and Qigong Day is part of an international movement which happens on the last Saturday in April in over 80 countries.

In every time zone around the world, with the idea of "one world-one breath," the event starts off with the eight-form Tai Chi. In Wellington, Tai Chi lovers had a mix of demonstrations including walking stick, fans and swords, some unplanned Wushu demos and plenty of forms for everyone to join in.

Jenny Greenslade has learned Tai Chi in China Cultural Centre in New Zealand for three years. She highly praised the regulated courses and Chinese Tai Chi teachers here, saying "I have never done this before. The teachers here are so professional and excellent. They always corrected me when I was doing something wrong. Now I know a lot about how to use different parts of my body (through the training of Tai Chi)."

During the activity, visiting Chinese martial arts masters Wang Junfa and Zhang Aiguo demonstrated Ba Duanjin, the eight section Brocade Qigong, and Tai Chi Eight Methods and Five Steps to the locals.