What’s The Deal Wednesday: Tai Chi

What is Tai Chi?

Tai Chi is a group of exercises originating more than 3,000 years prior from ancient Chinese meditation and martial arts. It was created to enhance mind and body through slow, flowing movements in an effort to coordinate sensory awareness, temporal awareness, and movement.

Tai Chi was developed under 5 traditional practices: Chen, Yang, Hao, Wu, and Sun to organize a set of 8-108 different fluid movements to encourage improved diaphragmatic breathing, musculoskeletal stretching and relaxation, balance, kinesthetic awareness, and meditation.

Over the past 40 years, Tai Chi has been extensively studied in over 2,000 trials and 400 Meta-Analyses following discovery of relevant health benefits in a variety of cohorts.

What Are The Benefits?

IMPROVED

• Functional Mobility

• Balance

• Cardiorespiratory Function/VO2 Max

• Quality of Life

• Mood

REDUCED

• Severity of Pain

• Level of Disability

• Fearfulness of Falls

• BMI

• Fatigue

• Cortisol (Stress) Levels

• A1C/Blood Glucose

• Blood Pressure

What Cohorts Were Studied?

Neurological Conditions: Parkinson’s Disease, Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis

Musculoskeletal Conditions: Osteoarthritis, Fibromyalgia, Low Back Pain

Cancer

Type II Diabetes

Cardiopulmonary: Heart Failure, COPD, High Blood Pressure/Hypertension, Coronary Heart Disease

Cognitive & Mental Disorders: Schizophrenia, Depression, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Dementia

Active v Sedentary Population

Is It Safe?

Tai Chi is generally considered a safe practice with minimal adverse reactions, minor occurrence of muscle ache and pains. However, typically similar to control groups, no exercise intervention, and other active interventions. Seek expert assistance from a medical professional prior to adopting a program to ensure Tai Chi movements are suitable for the individual’s current health condition.

Where To Start?

Use free resources to immerse yourself in the study of Tai Chi via courses online and in-person (fee) at local Cities (Yorba Linda, Costa Mesa, La Habra) via local community centers, typically free for seniors.

https://www.taoisttaichi.org/; 13 Minute Video Clip on all 108 Moves

7 Minute Chai App (Free) on Apple/Android

Other Youtube Videos For Learning

Any Negative Thoughts Regarding Tai Chi?

The only concern related to tai chi is practicing/teaching the art does not require certification. No standardized test is created to acknowledge sufficient accumulation of knowledge within the field and thus efficacy and safety of practice may vary with instructors.

References

Tai Chi for Chronic Illness Management: Synthesizing Current Evidence from Meta-Analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials. The American Journal of Medicine. 2021;134(2):194-205.e12. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2020.08.015

Tai Chi: In Depth. NCCIH. Published March 2022. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/tai-chi-what-you-need-to-know