2023-07-15 09:01:06
“stroking the horse’s mane”. “Wave your hands like clouds”. “Embrace the tiger and return to the mountain”. These are not song titles or poems. Rather they are deceptively complex tai chi movements.
Tai chi, with its 250 million practitioners, might be considered one of the most popular physical activities in the world. It originated in China in the 17th century as a martial art. Unlike karate or taekwondo, tai chi focuses on silent strength rather than combat, making it more accessible to older adults or those who have suffered injuries.
Shirley Chock, 48, started practicing it at age 20, following tearing her anterior cruciate ligament. She had practiced wushu kung-fu, a more acrobatic martial art that caused her injury, but tai chi offered her a low-impact form of rehabilitation. Chock, who worked in finance, was born in New York and spent her childhood in Taiwan, discovered that tai chi was also beneficial for managing stress. After two years, she began teaching it and ended up taking charge of Aiping Tai Chi, the Connecticut school where she had trained.
Since then, “the most I’ve heard from older students is, ‘I wish I had discovered this practice when I was younger,’” Chock said. Here’s what makes Tai Chi so useful and how to start practicing it when you’re ready.
Why practice tai chi?
Tai chi combines mental focus and physical exertion to build strength, flexibility and mindfulness, explained Peter Wayne, director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine and author of The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi.
The poses are done standing up and are less demanding than many of, for example, yoga, another mind-body discipline. “Because Tai Chi has evolved in terms of physical function and interaction, I think it translates better to activities of daily living, such as picking up shopping bags, pushing open doors, or picking up dropped things,” Wayne explains. Tai chi also differs from passive techniques like meditation because it combines deep breathing with movement, which experts say helps calm the nervous system.
Research suggests that tai chi may also improve balance and mobility, even in people with neurological conditions such as Parkinson. It also helps prevent falls in old people. By strengthening the surrounding muscles, tai chi also reduces stress on the joints, said Amanda Sammut, chief of rheumatology at Harlem Hospital and clinical associate professor of medicine at Columbia University.
For this reason, its practice is recommended in the guidelines for the management of osteoarthritis of the knee and hip from the American College of Rheumatology. studies too suggest that two or three sessions per week can lead to improvements in depression, anxiety, psychological well-being and cognitive flexibility.
Depending on your level of fitness, tai chi can be as aerobically challenging as a brisk walk of the same duration. The practice has few risksbut nevertheless it is advisable that you consult your doctor if you have chronic health problems.
How to start?
When we talk regarding tai chi, we mean both the practice and the underlying philosophy of yin and yang: that there is no good without evil, and no darkness without light, Chock explained.
There are several styles—such as yang, chen, and sun—whose names come from important masters or founders. “Although they do differ, there are many more similarities,” Wayne said, and there is no scientific evidence that any one is superior. For beginners, Chock recommends the yang style; it’s the best known, so you’ll find plenty of classes to choose from.
There’s no standard certification for instructors, so Wayne suggests searching the internet for schools and classes. If you’re interested in understanding the philosophy, look for those who have studied it in depth rather than classes that only emphasize physical exercise.
Attend at least two classes to make sure you feel comfortable with the space, the teaching style, and your classmates. “Tai chi is an experience; you have to taste it and feel it,” Chock recommended.
Some schools are expensive—perhaps $25 or more per class—but others offer lower or sliding-scale fees, and you may be able to find free classes through park districts or community organizations. You can also learn onliney some instructors who are also healthcare providers have virtual courses for people with arthritis and other health conditions, Sammut said.
Beginner classes include basic exercises, slowly introducing concepts and principles before moving on to simple choreography so you don’t get overwhelmed by complicated steps. It’s also helpful to look at the names of Tai Chi movements — often references to Chinese literature — as tools that aid visualization, Chock said. For example, if you are doing “The whooping crane spreads its wings”, you can “really imagine a crane spreading its wings”.
Even though it comes from martial arts, chances are you’re not going to fight. Advanced students can do sparring once morest peers, but most classes teach individual moves. Here are four suitable for beginners.
Pouring the Qi
Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees slightly, lift your left foot, and take a big step to the left. Center the weight of your body. Begin rocking back and forth lifting your heels, then your toes, and your heels once more.
Each time you stand on the balls of your feet, bring your arms up to chest height with your palms facing down and your wrists relaxed. As you rock back onto your heels, lower your arms back down to your sides, palms facing back.
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Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, lift your left foot and take a wide step to the left. She bends her knees into a small squat as you raise your arms forward, keeping your wrists and hands relaxed. Then bring your hands down as you slowly straighten your legs.
Wave your hands like clouds
Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, slightly bend your knees as you lift your left foot and take a long step to the left. Straighten your knees, and as you do so, bring your arms up to chest level, palms down, hands and wrists loose and relaxed. Bend your knees slightly until you are in a pseudo squat, with your arms extended in front of you. Turn at the waist so that the stomach and chest face to the right; as you do so, shift your weight to your right leg and raise and cross your right hand, in front of your face, palm facing you. When the hand crosses the midline, lower the arm.
Repeat the same movements in the opposite direction, turning your torso to the left and shifting your weight to your left leg as you raise your left hand up and wave it in front of your face, then lower it down.
Wash with the Qi of Heaven
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, then lift your left foot into a wide step to the side. Slowly raise your arms out to the sides and then up. Circle your hands, palms down, in front of your face and toward the ground. Visualize rejuvenating energy flowing through your body, anchoring you to the ground.
Cindy Kuzma is a journalist in Chicago and co-author of Breakthrough Women’s Running: Dream Big and Train Smart.
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