John’s Tai-Blog @ Camp Tai ChiTai Chi and anything I can relate to Tai Chi … like life

Tai Chi, “The Real Thing”… No Wait That’s Coke

Well it’s happened again, and no I’m not talking about Coke changing their formula.  Another “rather small” study was undertaken that included tai chi.  Once again the results stated, ‘It appears tai chi helped these people more than anything else did, but more study is needed.’  More study… how surprising. 

This particular study is a little different though.  I’ll get to that in a second.  At this point I’ve seen so many studies, and just about all of them seem to say, ‘tai chi seems to have helped but more study is needed.’  My point is, if you look at any random sampling of studies that included tai chi, nearly all of them say tai chi “seems to be” a good thing, so tai chi must be a good thing.  Ya think?

Now maybe I’m preaching to the choir, but I think this is an important point.  Tai chi is really, really good for us.  I say this not because I’ve read a lot of studies, but because I’ve witnessed a number of students as their health improved.

OK enough pontificating, back to this wonderful new study.  Do you know anyone with fibromyalgia?  If not, maybe you’ve heard of it before.  Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition that is often described as excruciatingly painful, so much so that people say, “It takes all the joy out of life.”  This study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, included 66 people suffering from fibromyalgia.

Those in this study who practiced tai chi experienced less pain than those who didn’t.  Not only did they benefit from regular practice, but also the improvement lasted longer than with anything else tested once they stopped practicing.  I think this point is particularly important.  To me this says regular tai chi practice balances the body in such a way that it tends toward our normal healthy state.  In other words tai chi helps the body heal.

This was brought to my attention by a friend of mine.  He told me about an article that recently appeared in the New York Times, summarizing the study.  I’ve included a link to the article so you don’t have to listen to me rant about this any longer.  Go read it for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/health/19taichi.html

Your thoughts?

John

P.S.  I found this pic here:  http://makehistory.eu/2009/12149/just-feel-better/

Enjoying Tai Chi

The other day I was in a hurry and needed to cut the grass.  I use a regular push mower and really enjoyed running it around the yard, up and down hill.  About half way through I realized I had a pretty good spring in my step and focused on that the rest of the job.  My tai chi practice is the reason I have a spring in my step and I really enjoy this benefit, not to mention the other benefits tai chi gives me.

Since that day cutting the grass, I’ve been looking at others in class and noticing how well most of them move compared to how they moved when they first started.  There are certainly other forms of exercise people benefit from.  The big thing here is that, to an outside observer, when we do tai chi it doesn’t seem that we’re working all that hard.  The benefits sometimes seem a little slow in coming, yet because of this they sneak up on us.  It makes me want to work harder at recruiting new students, to help others feel this way too.

Your thoughts?

John

P.S.  I found this pic here:  http://www.sportsunlimitedinc.com/camp-hike-travel-gear.html

The Reason of Tai Chi

I often hear people say they need to start doing tai chi because they’re not feeling all that well; they’re getting older and don’t want to suffer the consequences.  While this may sound like a good reason for many, most of these folks don’t stick with it.  The ones who stick it out, enjoy it.

“Don’t do things not to die, do things to enjoy living.  The by-product may be not dying.”  ~  Bernie S. Siegel, M.D.

Your thoughts?

John

P.S.  I found this pic here:  http://www.iscute.com/iscute/view.php?g=245&c=Dying+snowman

Tai Chi and The “Dear John Letter”, Part II

This is the second installment of Tai Chi and The “Dear John Letter”, thus the headline.  ;-)>  In the last post I answered the first question asked by Naomi from New Jersey.  I hope she and you find this helpful.

“Dear John”,

I had been wanting to explore Tai Chi, and looked in my area (New Jersey) but were no dojo(s) near enough. I did find a chi kung / kung fu academy.  I started the chi kung classes just this week. I would like to know if as a tai chi practitioner, you can tell me if you are familiar with this form of practice. Is it related to tai chi?  Can you advise of resources which would help me to better discern the differences/similarities?

Dear Naomi,

Tai chi and kungfu are ’sister arts’.  Kungfu is more externally based in the beginning and moves more toward internal; however, it is not quite as internally focused as tai chi.  Tai chi teaches us to first remain “loose with structure” and then works on the martial applications.  If you start into the martial applications first you risk building bad habits that create tension in the body. This part of the art can take years to develop.  Kungfu is also much more acrobatic and physically demanding than tai chi.  Tai chi conditions the body much more slowly, and when practiced with martial intent can lead to good muscle tone, strong muscles, and good health overall without as much stress on the body.  Many kungfu practitioners turn to tai chi as they age because they cannot maintain the stresses of kungfu.

Chi kung is almost always used as a healing art. Although there are a few martial schools of chi kung, there are thousands of styles done for healing, conditioning, and maintaining good health.  My master says “There is chi kung in tai chi, but there is no tai chi in chi kung.”  Chi kung is the movement of energy, where as tai chi is the movement of energy with martial intent and focus.  I believe you will receive health benefits from both as long as you maintain proper body structure and learn to remain loose rather than limp.  The aim is to use only as much muscle as needed at any given time.

I hope this helps.  Many thanks to Naomi for these two good questions.  Your thoughts or advise to Naomi?

John

P.S.  I found this pic here:  http://www.solwerks.net/blog/archive/2006_01_01_index.htm

Tai Chi and The “Dear John Letter”, Part I

I think we’ve all heard of the notorious “Dear John Letter” so I couldn’t resist the headline.  Occasionally I receive emails from people curious about tai chi, and since this email started with the words “Hi John”, the modern day equivalent of “Dear John”, I of course thought this was a great way to entice people into reading.  Yea, my mind actually does work that way.  A bit scary isn’t it?

Naomi from New Jersey sent me this email and the two questions she asked are really good.  I hope I can do justice to them with my answers.  I’ll answer the second question in another post.

“Dear John”,

I have been taking classes in Tai Chi Chih (as I understand it, this practice was created by Justyn Stone about 20 years ago).  I see many benefits in it for folks who find tai chi movements a bit intimidating… has potential healing effects for folks whose health is compromised…  I am curious if those who are masters in martial arts have any thoughts on this type of practice… your thoughts?

Dear Naomi,

Many thanks to Naomi for this question.  Your thoughts?

John

P.S.  Justyn Stone’s style appears to be more chi kung than tai chi and that’s discussed in part two.

I found this pic here:  http://www.solwerks.net/blog/archive/2006_01_01_index.htm

Can Heavy People Practice Tai Chi?

Sometimes I’m asked if tai chi is good for heavy people.  Two words, of course!  It’s great for heavy people and if you’re heavy, you’re in good company.

Yang Chengfu was the master of Tai Chi Chuan who brought tai chi to the masses in China. He was also responsible for the popularity of Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan.

I don’t think Yang Chengfu was heavy in his younger days. It’s said that as he became successful and better known his new life brought with it plenty of food and drink, and he put on quite a bit of weight. I’ve never heard that his weight caused him any problems when doing tai chi. He was always considered a great master.

I’ve seen heavy people show up for classes and I’ve seen them improve the same as anyone else. A heavy friend of mine told me some time ago he doesn’t like going to the gym because he doesn’t want to stand out. He would much rather be able to exercise at home. He tells me this is common among heavy people and I believe him.

The biggest problem I’ve seen new students have is a lack of leg strength, and it’s the same for everyone. It takes time to build leg strength and there are specific exercises for this purpose. Like everything else, the more often you do these exercises the quicker you build leg strength, whether you’re heavy or not.

Heavy people seem to have a harder time with stamina, and seem to overcome it fairly quickly if they come to class a couple of times each week.

On the other hand its seems that heavy people also have an advantage, and this is that they are often stronger than skinny people so they can advance more quickly in areas such as long pole work. Using a 3 meter long pole is a good way to build the types of muscles needed for good tai chi as well as the waist/hip movement that’s so important as you advance.

So if heavy people don’t like going to classes, how can they help themselves? Most exercise tapes are geared toward thinner people and are more difficult for heavier people to adapt.

My goal is to reach people who don’t otherwise have access to tai chi classes and, those who don’t like being in a classroom situation. Tai chi is easily modified for practice in a hotel room or even your kitchen.

It provides people with an alternative and has more health benefits than anything else I know. Some of these health benefits are listed on my website at http://www.camptaichi.com/health-stories-medical-research.

According to a Non-obesity Specific Health Study sited on ObesityDiscussion.com, “Heavy people sit on average two and a half hours more per day than thin people”. This makes tai chi an excellent and very simple exercise for heavy folks. It can be done by simply standing while doing the arm movements for 5 minutes at a time. As people progress they can also do it standing with their legs bent to increase the workout, as well as incorporating the leg movements.

So if you’re a heavy person, don’t let your weight hold you back. Tai chi exercises can provide enormous benefits for your heart, blood pressure, immune system, balance, etc. The main thing is to move a little bit more, a little more often so your body becomes conditioned to the changes and you begin to notice the difference.

Once you get started you may find it hard to stop. To me tai chi is like a drug that makes me feel really good, and if I don’t do it for a while I can feel the difference.

Your thoughts?

John