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Tai Chi Chuan is the crossroads of martial arts, meditation, health and healing. When one is doing T'ai Chi (the Chinese would say playing T'ai Chi), one experiences these separate areas as the same. Similarly, the specific health benefits of relaxation, circulation, strengthening, balance, and mind-body coordination are deeply connected. RELAXATION The slow, mostly circular movements of the Yang Style solo form consist of 108 movements and can take between 20 and 40 minutes to perform. Doing the movements correctly requires total concentration and total relaxation. When the body is relaxed, the mind is relaxed, and vice versa. When one is relaxed, the mind and body are connected; both are more flexible, sensitive, and responsive. Relaxation reduces stress and increases circulation. CIRCULATION Circulation of blood brings food, oxygen, hormones, immune cells and neuro-transmitters to the cells of the body; waste products are removed from these same cells. Cleansing and detoxifying are most important in prevention of and recovery from disease. T'ai Chi stresses and promotes circulation of the lymphatic system, integral to our health and immunity. Circulation of chi, or energy, occurs in the acupuncture meridians. These lines of energy run through the entire body. They connect organs, tissues and systems. When the energy is unbalanced, the organs are unbalanced, and vice versa. When the energy is flowing and balanced, the body and mind are in harmony and disease-less. Balancing the energy of the meridians can be accomplished through acupuncture, Acupressure, moxibustion or through Tai Chi or Chi Kung exercises. Certain movements activate certain meridians. Generally, movement in the upper body is more calming, while movement in the lower body causes stimulation. BALANCE / ALIGNMENT Tai Chi, as we have noted, has both a calming and stimulating effect on the body; it also adjusts and balances. Studies show that Tai Chi practice will lower the blood pressure of those with high blood pressure, and lower it when the blood pressure is too high. The electro-magnetic system, which science has shown to have a major role in rejuvenation of cells, limbs and organs, can also be stimulated and balanced through these exercises. The physical alignment of the human body, including our posture and how we move, has far-reaching physical and psychological affects. For example, adding both acupuncture and spinal adjustment to addiction treatment programs has increased its effectiveness from (the normal) 10 or 15% to over 80%. T'ai Chi has the potential for even greater benefits, in that it is not a pill or an herb that we take -- not something done to us, but is something we must commit to doing ourselves. STRENGTHENING Tai Chi exercise gradually strengthens the whole body -- not only muscles, but ligaments and other connective tissue, organs, entire systems, and hardens bones. Physical strength itself is not emphasized directly in Tai chi; but a large part of what constitutes physical strength has to do with other things that we develop in this practice. These include connection of the mind and body, balance, coordination, health of the endocrine system and supreme confidence in the body's ability to do things and to heal. PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH The European mechanistic view saw psychological problems as being separate from the overall health of the body. In reality, there is no difference. We tend to feel better and feel better about ourselves when the body and energetic systems are functioning properly. Contrarily, if the body is out of balance, how can one be psychologically balanced? Through Tai Chi practice, we not only achieve physical balance, but we can become more focused and centered mentally and emotionally. In addition, our psyche is gradually aligned differently, as Tai Chi allows us to shift attention away from the self to increase awareness of what's going on around us. This is an example of a useful martial arts strategy that can help us in every day life. Also, a balanced functioning of the human organism includes shifting "control" to the psychic center (the tan tien), located below the navel. The Chinese concept of the tan tien as the 3rd brain has been proved by recent scientific findings that this area contains the same neuro-receptors as the cerebral cortex. The cortex is a highly developed center for storing and correlating data, but the idea that it contains the totality of who or what we are is a superstition (left-over) of the mechanistic age. PREVENTING ACCIDENTS AND SICKNESS Chronic illnesses and injuries, even when not treatable by other means, are often helped by Tai Chi practice. Perhaps more important, certain accidents and illnesses are preventable by maintaining calm, centered attention, by being in tune with one's environment, and by moving correctly, one might also add by being in tune with oneself, or being in the habit of noticing when disharmony occurs. The fact that the body is in a constant state of physical renewal and replacement indicates that sickness does not have a purely physical cause. A disease usually shows up first on a spiritual or emotional level. TAI CHI VS. OTHER EXERCISE T'ai chi will enhance any physical exercise, sport, activity or other physical exercise with which one is involved. Aerobic exercise is excellent for oxygenating the muscles of the body; additionally, T'ai Chi oxygenates the bones, and the bone marrow and internal organs. Yoga emphasizes stretches and breathing; T'ai Chi combines the stretches and breathing into one long, flowing movement. The hard martial arts forms discipline the mind and strengthen the body; Tai Chi does this also, as well as strengthening the inner person, without the competitiveness and risk of injury. Certain forms of Chi Kung have the reputation of being excellent healing vehicles; as we learn more about these ancient arts, we see that Chi Kung is part of Tai Chi practice. Tai Chi Chuan, however, provides the grounding, the centered movement and discipline not taught in other energy-enhancers. Tai Chi Chuan has the advantage that it is good for everyone -- at any age or state of health. In addition, its wide applications to daily life make it practical, psychologically universal and personally involving. This makes Tai Chi one of those personal art forms to which one is likely to stay with over a period of time. There have been no scientific studies on this, but my own belief is that it is very difficult to derive benefit from any exercise one does not do. PHILOSOPHY AND ATTITUDE The slowness of Tai Chi exercise makes it necessary to train the mind to train the body. As the mind becomes trained in the physical principles of yielding, fo-cus, attention and relaxation, one becomes more sensitized to the body's needs as a whole organism. One is able to correct bad habits easier because one is no longer judgmental but sees deviations from "normal" as being part of a homeostatic cycle in which the body is involved to bring one back into better health. As one progresses through one's own efforts towards better health, one becomes more aligned with positive approaches to health and healing; the ideology and need for prescriptive medicine often drops away like the need for the disease itself. NEW STUDIES Recent research has shown connection between practice of T'ai Chi/Chi Kung and improvements in these conditions:
This is just a sample of some of the research that is being carried out in different parts of the world. It is also only a single aspect of Tai Chi Chuan's benefits and influence. Please sign up to for our free e-newsletter. E-mail us if you have any questions. Regular and private classes are available, plus workshops in your area. Call for information: (951) 236-9981 |