TAI CHI 24
What is Tai Chi Chuan?
Tai Chi Chuan is an internal Chinese martial art.
There are different styles of Tai Chi Chuan, although most modern schools can trace their development to the system originally taught by the Chen family to the Yang family, starting in 1820. It is often promoted and practised as a soft-style martial arts therapy for the purposes of health and longevity. It is applied with as much deep relaxation or ‘softness’ in the musculature as possible, to distinguish its theory and application from that of the hard-martial art styles, which use a degree of tension in the muscles.
Tai Chi Chuan’s basic training forms are well-known, as the slow-motion routines that groups of people practise every morning in parks across China and other parts of the world. Traditional Tai Chi training is intended to teach awareness of one’s own balance and what affects it, awareness of the same in others, an appreciation of the practical value in one’s ability to moderate extremes of behaviour and attitude at both mental and physical levels, and how this applies to effective self-defence principles.
For the body
Tai Chi Chuan gives a grounded and balanced drill to the muscles and joints of the body. This form of exercising, done over time, tones up the central nervous system and the cardinal components, and the organs of our body. When you practise Tai Chi Chuan, you work on the respiratory systems through harmonised breathing and diaphragm control, thus improving the circulation of the blood and the lymphatic glands. Moving muscles exerts pressure on the veins, which force blood through the heart and the deep breathing exercises that move the diaphragm, massage the liver and viscera (internal organs), thus improving the functions of all of the abdominal organs.
For the mind
The exercises of Tai Chi Chuan encourage a tranquil state of mind and complete concentration on all movements during the exercise. This is said to be helpful in improving one’s temperament and as an aid in releasing and transforming negative emotional and mental states, both highly significant factors in the elimination of chronic illnesses.
The physical grounding of the Tai Chi Chuan movements acts on the emotional and mental states. The calm and even breathing steadies the mind experiences and endows them with the same qualities; what might be termed “mental balance”. There is a growing medical interest in using Tai Chi Chuan as a therapy for some learning and mental imbalances, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) being one of these.
For the energy … Chi or Qi
Tai Chi Chuan places great importance on cultivating and maintaining energy to strengthen one’s connection with the life-giving universe and one’s own energetic self-awareness. The postures open and undo energetic blockages in energy channels and the slow and gentle movements stretch these energy-connecting pathways, called meridians, and keep them strong and supple. The rhythmic movements of the muscles, spine and joints pump energy through the whole body. Thus, Tai Chi Chuan is an exercise that gives us more energy than it uses up, so after a session, we should feel relaxed and invigorated. It circulates life force or ‘Chi’, which, as long as this flow is uninhibited, a person will remain healthy.
In conclusion
There is significant evidence that shows the practice of Tai Chi Chuan works on every part and every system of the body and that the results of this are beneficial. Other research shows positive effects of Tai Chi Chuan on mental processes. There is less ‘scientific’ research into the area ‘Chi’ or ‘life force’. Traditional practitioners attribute health benefits to the free flow of ‘Chi’, but western-world scientific research into Tai Chi Chuan is looking for other possible explanations for its salutary (health promoting) effects.