Anyone had experience with it? I just started an introductory class, and so far it’s kind of like non-strenuous yoga (controlled movements, focus, breathing). I’d like to stick with it so I can start learning forms and push hands.
So tell me about it, what did you think?
I dont know. If I wanted to flail my arms around and look cool doing it, I’d rather learn breakdancing instead. does the robot
It takes a while to both enjoy it and look cool doing it at once. 
Of course my old instructor would disapprove of this statement, because “tai-chi is not for the observer’s pleasure but your own”…blah, I think it looks cool. But yes, once you learn a lot of the movements and you can chain them together for longer spans of time it becomes highly enjoyable, or at least it did for me. Definitely worth sticking around for. I spent a few months learning tai chi (for free, woohoo!) from my math teacher last year, and loved it. I’ve all but forgotten it now, sadly…you need to practice a lot to keep the movements in your physical memory. Preferably multiple times a week IMHO.
Mmmyep. And my vote for best movement name goes to Repulse Monkey 
I have had experience with other forms of martial arts, but after a few broken bones, I decided to look into TC.
I took a class at the local college. There are two aspects to it. The martial, and the spiritual. Sadly, a lot of TC in the US is taught for the spiritual instead of incorporating both sides as it should be. I have read that if you practice one side only, you are only getting about 10% total of the art. One may think that each move is just grace and prettiness, but in reality, each is an attack or defense. It is amazingly funny to see the disgust on the student’s faces when our instructor showed that one flowy movement was actually a scrape to the eyes and they a strike to the ears. 
You should hang with it. Learn a form (most likely short form) and practice it. Even if your instructor does not teach the martial aspects, it is still exercise and relaxing.
A few thoughts:
It takes a lot of practice, so you really need to stick with it. You really should spend at least an hour a day practicing. My teacher (who was more traditional, and who studied under both Fu Zhongwen and Ma Yueh Liang) said that if you want to get good, you need to spend somewhere between 4 and 8 hours a day practicing. That being said, you can still get benefits from less practice.
If you want to do some good cross-training, look into Pilates. It’s the same basic mechanisms.
There aren’t very many good teachers around. I hate to say this, but it’s entirely possible that your teacher isn’t all that great. Keep an eye out for other training opportunities; your teacher should be open to your taking seminars and so forth.
You might want to look into a couple of books such as “Mastering Yang Style Taijiquan” (by Fu Zhongwen) or “Lost Tai Chi Classics from the Lat Ching Dynasty” (by Douglas Wile). Since you’re just a beginner, though, you wouldn’t be able to understand them yet; wait till you have some more experience.
It’s a lot harder than it looks, both mentally and physically. If you look at pictures of some of the old masters, you’ll see them wearing old-man pants with the waistline up to here and a potbelly protruding underneath. But that potbelly isn’t fat–it’s a huge mound of muscle. (Okay, okay, Yang Chengfu was also just plain fat.) There’s also a lot of work to do with your legs and arms; once you get physically stronger, things will get easier. But you also need to pay careful attention to the movements and the sequence of actions. The slow motion is there for a reason; you’re re-training your muscles and you need to be careful about it.
You have to focus on the martial applications. If it won’t work in combat, how do you know you’re doing it right? Otherwise, you’re just waving your arms around slowly.
Don’t worry about the breathing at this point. Just focus on getting the movements right and the breathing will come naturally.
I started a tai chi class twice. I loved it but for various reasons had to leave the course both times.
The second teacher had us learn the martial aspects by showing us the moves with a student in the class as the attacker.
I start the movements and I’m in a zone about two minutes later. Very very nice feeling.