No downside to Tai Chi - The New York Times

PERSONAL HEALTH

A Downside to Tai Chi? None That I See

By JANE E. BRODY

Published: September 27, 2010

The graceful, dancelike progression of meditative poses called tai chi originated in ancient China as a martial art, but the exercise is best known in modern times as a route to reduced stress and enhanced health. After reviewing existing scientific evidence for its potential health benefits, I’ve concluded that the proper question to ask yourself may not be why you should practice tai chi, but why not.

Tai Chi in Norwich

It is a low-impact activity suitable for people of all ages and most states of health, even those who “hate” exercise or have long been sedentary. It is a gentle, calming exercise — some call it meditation in motion — that involves deep breathing but no sweat or breathlessness.

It places minimal stress on joints and muscles and thus is far less likely than other forms of exercise to cause muscle soreness or injury. It requires no special equipment or clothing and can be practiced almost anywhere at any time, alone or with others.

Once the proper technique is learned from a qualified instructor, continuing to practice it need not cost another cent.

The many small studies of tai chi have found health benefits ranging from better balance and prevention of falls to reduced blood pressure, relief of pain and improved immunity.

The latest and perhaps best designed study was conducted among patients with debilitating fibromyalgia, a complex and poorly understood pain syndrome.

Dr. Chenchen Wang and colleagues at Tufts Medical Center in Boston reported in August in The New England Journal of Medicine that tai chi reduced pain and fatigue and improved the patients’ ability to move, function physically and sleep. The benefits persisted long after the 12 weeks of tai chi sessions ended.

The study was financed primarily by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a division of the National Institutes of Health. To be sure, documenting tai chi’s purported health benefits is a challenge. As an editorial in the journal noted, it is virtually impossible to design an ideal study of tai chi. There is no “fake” version that could serve as a proper control to be tested against the real thing. Thus, researchers have to rely on less-than-perfect comparison groups. In the fibromyalgia study, for example, the control group was given stretching exercises and wellness education.

And unlike evaluations of drugs, tai chi studies cannot be double-blinded such that neither patients nor researchers know which group is receiving which treatment. Those guided by a tai chi master would undoubtedly know who they are and could be influenced by the teacher’s enthusiasm for the practice.

Still, scientists have come to better understand and appreciate the mind-body connection, which for too long was dismissed as nothing more than a placebo effect, and most doctors are now more willing to accept the possibility that stress-reducing activities can have a profound effect on health.

A Stress Reducer

There is no question that tai chi can reduce stress. As the study authors described it, tai chi “combines meditation with slow, gentle, graceful movements, as well as deep breathing and relaxation to move vital energy (called qi by the Chinese) throughout the body.”

If nothing else, this kind of relaxing activity can lower blood pressure and heart rate, improve cardiovascular fitness and enhance mood. For example, a review in 2008 found that tai chi lowered blood pressure in 22 of 26 published studies.

Thus, it can be a useful aid in treating heart disease, high blood pressure and depression, conditions common among older people who may be unable to benefit from more physically demanding exercise.

Regular practitioners of tai chi report that they sleep better, feel healthier and experience less pain and stiffness, though it cannot be said for certain that tai chi alone is responsible for such benefits.

Yet as Dr. Wang and co-authors noted in an earlier report that analyzed the literature on tai chi and health, a majority of studies have been small and poorly controlled, if they were controlled at all. Therefore, the tai chi practitioners could have been healthier to begin with or could have practiced other health-enhancing habits.

Perhaps the best-documented benefit of tai chi, and one that is easiest to appreciate, is its ability to improve balance and reduce the risk of falls, even in people in their 80s and 90s. The moves are done in a smooth, continuous fashion, as weight is shifted from one leg to the other and arms are moved rhythmically. This can improve muscle strength and flexibility, and enable the muscles in the legs and hips to function in a more coordinated and balanced manner. Thus, practitioners become more stable and sure-footed.

Another benefit, again especially important to older adults, is the apparent ability of tai chi to improve immune function. In a 2007 study also financed by the Complementary and Alternative Medicine center, those who practiced tai chi had a better response to the varicella zoster vaccine that can help prevent shingles.

Talk to a Doctor First

Tai chi is not a substitute for professional medical care, but rather an adjunct to such care and a way to keep debility at bay. As with other forms of alternative medicine, it is best to consult your physician before signing up for instruction.

This is especially important if you are a pregnant woman or have serious physical limitations, joint problems, back pain or advanced osteoporosis. While such conditions do not preclude practicing tai chi, you may have to modify or avoid certain positions.

Although tai chi is a gentle exercise, one can get carried away. Overdoing any activity, including tai chi, can result in sore or sprained muscles. On its Web site, the Complementary and Alternative Medicine center notes that “tai chi instructors often recommend that you do not practice tai chi right after a meal, or when you are very tired, or if you have an active infection.”

Also important is assurance that your instructor is well qualified. Instructors do not have to be licensed, and the practice is not regulated by any governmental authority. There are many styles of tai chi — the yang style is most commonly practiced in Western countries — and there are no established training standards.

Traditionally, would-be instructors learn from a master teacher. Before choosing an instructor, you’d be wise to inquire about the person’s training and experience.

Learning tai chi from a qualified instructor is critical. The Complementary and Alternative Medicine center cautions that trying to learn it from a book or video is no guarantee that you will be able to perform the moves safely and correctly. Reliable sources of instructors include Y.M.C.A.’s and Y.W.C.A.’s, and well-run commercial gyms.

Finally, attending a few sessions or even a 12-week course is not enough to guarantee lasting health benefits. As with any other form of exercise, tai chi must be practiced regularly and indefinitely to maintain its value.

Norwich Tai Chi - Traditional foundations for a modern life

Hours of effort

How does one get better?

How do you get better at your martial arts?

Quality instruction, training partners, and individual practice.

Quality instruction and training from an experienced martial artist provides the knowledge and experience of generations of masters. What works is kept and what doesn’t is either amended or dropped completely. The past generations made the mistakes so you don’t have to, they passed on their secrets and it has accrued to what we all practice, master and evolve now.

Training partners help motivate us to keep progressing through peaks and plateaus. They are on the same part of their martial arts journey and provide insight to what you are going through. They advance, we advance.

Individual Practice is probably one of the most overlooked aspects to progression in the arts. This is because even with the slightest amount of effort, practice is practice and we get better no matter how hard or how light we practice. If one practices a form a hundred times at home, going through the motions, just focusing on getting through the form itself, they will develop a strong memory of the sequence of movements. Knowing which technique follows which, the names of the techniques and when and where to bow. This is an excellent start, but the movements can easily be more refined and developed for both ease and efficiency of motion and martial application. 

Basically, put in the effort when practicing. Ten minutes spent with full focus and concentration is better than an hour of interrupted, and rushed movement. Either way, you will progress…. but the best results come from the focused work.

In the Plum Blossom Federation there are many highly skilled and qualified instructors with state of the art training facilities, and respectful student bodies that provide excellent peers…. so the rest is up to you :) 

Norwich Tai chi and tai Chi breathing.

Norwich Tai Chi school - Great Grandmaster Yang Tai ChiThe ancient Chinese martial art of Tai Chi can help to improve people’s health, research suggests.

Doctors in the United States analyzed 47 studies looking at the impact Tai Chi had on people with chronic health problems, like heart disease or MS.  They found that it could improve balance control, flexibility and even the health of their heart.  Writing in The Archives of Internal Medicine, they said it also reduced stress, falls, pain and anxiety.

Deep breathing

Tai Chi originated in China where it has been used for hundreds of years.  It combines deep breathing with relaxation and postures that flow from one to another through slow movements.  Practitioners say it can have a positive effect on people’s health, improving memory, concentration, digestion, balance and flexibility.  They say it is also helpful for people with psychological problems, such as depression, anxiety or stress.

This latest study by doctors at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston suggests there is medical evidence to back up those claims.  Their findings are based on a review of studies published in English and Chinese.  “Overall, these studies reported that long-term Tai Chi practice had favourable effects on the promotion of balance control, flexibility and cardiovascular fitness and reduced the risk of falls in elders,” the researchers said.  They said the martial art helped to reduce “pain, stress and anxiety in healthy subjects”.

But it also had benefits for people with serious conditions, such as heart disease and high blood pressure.  ”Benefits were reported by the authors of these studies in cardiovascular and respiratory function in healthy subjects and in patients who had undergone coronary artery bypass surgery as well as in patients with heart failure, hypertension, acute myocardial infarction, arthritis and multiple sclerosis.”

‘Well documented’

Bob Weatherall, secretary of the British Council of Chinese Martial Arts, welcomed the findings.  ”The health aspects of Tai Chi are well documented,” he told BBC News Online.  “It is used extensively in hospitals in China to improve the health of patients. Hospitals in England have started using it too.  ”Tai Chi is all about breathing and posture. It’s about getting the mind and body to work together. Some people call it moving meditation.  “Most people practice Tai Chi for its health benefits and for stress relief.”

Should Tai Chi Be Practiced Softly and Slowly?

Tai chi chuan is only one of over 200 systems of kung fu. In China, the people only discuss internal or external kung fu. No one mentions soft styles or hard styles. Normally when the Chinese speak of the soft styles of kung fu, they mean the chin-na or joint locking types of martial arts. Therefore, tai chi chuan is not thought of as a soft style of kung fu. Most of the martial artists who have seen tai chi practiced slowly and in a relaxed manner labeled it a soft martial art. Nowadays, you will see that most of the tai chi chuan practitioners are practicing softly and slowly, only the Chen style has some fast and powerful movements. Why is most of the tai chi practiced slowly and softly? There are three good reasons:

1. Most of the people learn tai chi for health, not as a martial art.
2. While practicing slowly one can learn the movements correctly and keep the mind calm.
3. It is easier to keep one’s muscles relaxed while practicing tai chi slowly .

Tai chi means Supreme Ultimate. Some people erroneously call the tai chi symbol by the name Yin and Yang. Its true that the Yin and Yang are inside of the tai chi symbol, but yin and yang are not tai chi. They are the children of tai chi. In Chinese philosophy, Wu chi produced Tai Chi, Tai Chi produced Yin and Yang. Chuan means fist (style) or hand form. Therefore, tai chi chuan is the fist style using the theory of the tai chi symbol as the philosophy behind its unique fighting concepts. Since tai chi chuan is a martial art, it should have soft movements and hard movements as well. Tai chi is practiced slowly and can be practiced fast also. Because tai chi chuan is based on the theory of yin and yang, it can be practiced relaxed and it can also be practiced tense (or with the muscles engaged). The above statements usually cause disagreements with many tai chi experts and teachers. Some may say “no no no, tai chi chuan is always practiced relaxed, maybe fast, but never tensed.” Let me explain this to you. As I mentioned before, yin and yang are the children of tai chi. Relaxation and tension relate to yin and yang. For tai chi chuan beginners, most of the students are already tense, therefore they must learn how to relax. When the muscles are totally relaxed, the qi (chi) can flow better and the internal strength is much stronger. If you are a practitioner of tai chi for its health benefits only and do not intend to learn tai chi as a martial art then there is no need for you to learn the fast or tense part of tai chi training. However, if you want to learn tai chi as a complete fighting system you must learn how to connect your body and use your intension to focus on the power for striking. After you truly able to totally relax your muscle, you can practice the tai chi form faster. You must learn how to release fa jing. Fa means to emit and jing means force or strength. To emit tai chi internal power, you need to learn how to relax your muscles in the right area and you need to understand how to tense your muscles with the correct timing. However, most people do not know how to relax when it is time to relax and do not know when to engage the muscles when it is time to strike. In this case, you will not be able to release the full power of the tai chi techniques.

To learn tai chi chuan as a fighting art, you need to have a teacher who truly learned from the direct lineage of the tai chi system. The teacher must truly have the knowledge of internal fighting. Otherwise, when you try to practice wrong with stiff and tense strength, it will not only damage your health, you may also be injured during a fight. A true tai chi master can guide you to success in health and self defense.

Starting tai chi in Norwich, basic health movements.

The 8 brocades

The 5,000 year old exercises of Chi Kung are designed to promote internal energy through breathing, meditation, moving exercises, and standing postures.

Chi can be used in various ways, and the Hung Sing Martial Arts School teaches Chi Kung techniques that can be applied to health and healing as well as the martial arts.

Chi Kung helps students calm the mind, relax the body, and develop “rootedness” and better focus. The increase in energy flow helps reduce stress and lower blood pressure. 

For Kung Fu and Tai Chi students Chi Kung training is also necessary for the development of Dim Mak (pressure point attacks) and increases the power of one’s strikes.