Tai Chi for Health True power, when experienced, has nothing of effort or strength in it”
- Lehrman, Fred (New Age Journal, 1978) The Power of Yielding
What exactly is Taichi (Pronounced tie chee)? Some call it “moving meditation.” Others would have you believe that it is nothing more than a glorified dance. Taiji (another spelling of Taichi) means “extreme ultimate discipline” quan means “ fist” or “boxing.”
Taichi is a way to promote healthful breathing, improve your balance and posture, providing a low-stress, weight bearing exercise to improve bone density, circulation, flexibility, and deeper strength within the muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
Without getting deep into the history of the art, let us instead explore how we will apply it to our practice and our lives.
We will be studying Taichi for Health. This means that we will not be exploring the martial implications, or even the implications of each and every movement. Instead, we will focus on the health implications, increasing our body awareness, and using a soft and beneficial form or exercize to improve our lives.
Health Benefits
Recent research has shown connection between practice of T'ai Chi/Chi Kung and improvements in these conditions:
ADD and ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder)
Aging-aspects such as hypertension, brain functions, sex hormone abnormality
Stroke, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes
Kidney functioning
AIDS
Allergies and asthma
Angina
Anorexia/bulimia
Chronic anxiety
Arthritis
Back pain
Balance disorders
High and low blood pressure
Bone loss, brittle bones
Cancer, carcinoma
Chronic pain
Compulsive/obsessive disorders
Gall stones
Gastritis
Hemorrhoids
Infections
Insomnia
Liver disease, Hepatitis B
http://medicalwisdom.com/alternative/tcm/tai-chi-qi.htm
Furthermore:
Tai Chi is rated as a highly effective exercise for prevention of falls in the elderly.
An American organization named the Claude Pepper Foundation, Inc. improving balance in persons over age 65 and thereby decreasing the risk of falls causing injury. In a letter dated March 5, 1997, it states:
"Our pilot results indicated that the Taoist Tai Chi form of exercise was far superior to the traditional American physical therapy intervention to increase strength and enhance balance in older persons".
Dr Richard Lefroy, FRACP, FAFRM, Senior Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Public Health, University of Western Australia.
Copyright © International Taoist Tai Chi Society 1998-2005
Ten Essential Points
1) Relax
2) Sink
3) Drop the Chest
4) Discriminate between substantial and insubstantial
5) Suspend the head from above, Drop the sacrum Plumb
6) Movement has no splice or severence, hollows or projections
7) Move the body with the will, not with force
8) Coordinate the upper with the lower
9) The waist (hips/pelvis) is the source
10) Breathe in conjunction with movement
1) Relax
The chinese word Sung means to slacken. The idea is to release tension, allowing the joints to become “wide open.” The limbs float like the beams of a mobile, as if suspended by the strings on a marionette. We all hold muscular tension. Throughout your practice, you will notice areas of tension. Be aware of them. That is the first step to letting them go. My master in Daitoryu Aikijujutsu (a Classical Japanese martial art) once told me “Ki does not travel through tense muscle.” I liken this to electrical impulse through a wire. The signal has difficulty traveling through crimped or broken wires. But the concept extends beyond the physical - energy does not travel through a tense mind, either.
2) Sink
The chinese word Ch’en means deep, heavy, to sink, and even “to perish.” Allow the heaviness to pour from the upper half of the body to the lower half. Allow the heaviness to sink from the lower half, down into the earth to “root” you, like the roots of a great Oak. Allow the air that you breathe to sink, to the source - the Tan Tien.
3) Drop the Chest
Don’t allow your chest to rise as you inhale. Rather, drop your sternum. Visualize, then allow the air to be sent to the Tan Tien. The Tan Tien is your center of balance, energy, and it is located about 2 centimeters below your umbilicus (belly button), and about 2/3rds of the way into your body towards your spine.
4) Discriminate between substantial and insubstantial
When emptying weight and balance from the right, pour the equal amount into the left. As one side becomes emptier, the other becomes fuller, more substantial.
5) Suspend the head from above, Drop the sacrum Plumb
The head should be held as if a string, decending from the ceiling, holds it upright. The neck should be straight, and not leaning forward, backwards, or to either side.
The same string should follow the path of the spine, and the sacrum (like the head) should not be allowed to shift or to tilt.
6) Movement has no splice or severence, hollows or projections
In the beginning, we must differentiate between empty and full. There may be “splices” or pauses in the movement. Postures may move from one to the next with a mechanical feeling, as our minds will be focused on learning not only movement, but the basic principles of Taichi. But as we progress, the movements should be slow, and even - like a great river, like your breath, like the orbits of a planet - constant and imperturbable.
7) Move the body with the will, not with force
Energy precedes matter, as your thoughts precede your movements. Allow the energy and your mind to be the impetus, and your body will move to fill the voids. In Taiji push-hands, it is said that we use an ounce to move a thousand pounds. As in the Japanese martial arts that I study and teach - we aspire to softness, to yield, and to utilize body, mind, spirit, and breath in unison.
Strength is conquered by greater strength. A hard, brittle twig or tree limb will snap in a strong wind, but a reed will bend and yield with same wind without snapping. Be a reed.
8) Coordinate the upper with the lower
Movement issues from the source, the Tan Tien. The hands and feet don’t lead or follow, but are manifestations of the movement from your center. So - don’t step just to step. Don’t move your hands with a flourish. Rather, allow the upper and lower to be coordinated, synchronized, with the movement of the Tan Tien.
9) The waist (hips/pelvis) is the source
The great axis is the rotation of the hips. The small axes are propelled by the “source” or great axis. Nothing moves independently.
10) Breathe in conjunction with movement
Close the mouth. Place the tip of the tongue on the roof of your mouth, on your hard pallette, behind the top row of teeth. Inhale smoothly through the nose. Let the Chi move downwards to the Tan Tien. Your abdominal muscles may expand, but (as previously stated) don’t allow your chest to “rise.” As you exhale, either through your nose, or your slightly parted lips, allow the bellows of your diaphragm to let you exhale,
slowly and without force.
|
Services 
