THE monkey and the dragon drew a crowd outside The Willis Museum in the centre of Basingstoke.

They were just two of the positions in the ancient art of t’ai chi, a system of exercise thousands of years old that master Justin Marsh was demonstrating to mark the museum’s special exhibition of Chinese treasures.

Having watched kung-fu films, I was intrigued by this mysterious technique from China and went along to take part.

I lined up alongside several children and we started slowly, stretching our knees, which absorb most of the weight. We followed Justin as he contorted into a variety of positions given names such as dragon, monkey and brush knee.

I was glad that I was not wearing tight trousers, as we performed a series of energetic high kicks and stretched our legs as wide as they could go.

It has to be said at this point the crowd had swelled and while performing a particularly strenuous move, I could see I was providing entertainment to some onlookers who were imitating my lumbering moves – more gorilla than monkey.

Not quite what I had in my mind when I imagined Jackie Chan breaking a piece of wood with his palm. However, speaking to Justin afterwards, I found out that t’ai chi is very popular in China and wherever there are large numbers of Chinese people.

He said: “Every morning in China, thousands of people head to the park to practise t’ai chi. Kung-fu favourites such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li all do it because it improves posture, muscles, balance and well-being.

“The Chi is actually inside everyone – it is an electromagnetic force inside the body.

“People of ages can take part, in a way it’s similar to moving yoga or meditation.”

He added that for a first-timer I had not been too bad and I have to admit that afterwards I felt a bit more energetic.