Tai Chi Illustrated

Characteristics of Tai Chi Movements Tai chi is an exercise with four distinct movement characteristics: Movements are soft and continuous. Movements mimic a slow-moving river. Movements are calm and quiet. While doing tai chi, you pursue a sense or being of calmness. Again, similar to a slow-moving river, often you do not feel the movement but rather the calmness. This sensation is especially true in your mind. The Chinese believe that if you relax your mind, your qi will become calm and quiet. Even while moving, every piece of the movement is felt as if you were static—the movement begins smoothly and slowly progresses through a succession of thousands of static poses. Movements are relaxed. The principle of being relaxed applies to all movements. To relax, you must relax the whole body and move in a natural way. Do not use any extraneous strength or energy. Again, you must have a relaxed mind to have a relaxed body. Mental peace is important because it is often associated with your outlook and attitude toward life. Movements are circular. The movements in tai chi are rarely straightforward or angular, and this is especially true for the arm movements. Instead, tai chi movements follow paths of circles or curves. Tai chi masters often say that all tai chi movements can be summarized by circles, which fits perfectly within the general concept of tai chi philosophy, as we’ll learn later in this book—the movements create patterns of repeated circles. (Location 118)

Note: good summary of the tai chi practices- can use this to reference

The tai chi characters in Chinese represent the Tao philosophy, or Taoism, which believes that, although the world is full of contrasts or conflicts, it can reach harmony by balancing those contrasts or conflicts. (Location 142)

According to the Tao, the contrasts or conflicts in nature can be best summarized using the yin and yang concepts. The direct meanings of yin and yang in Chinese are the bright side and the dark side of an object. Note that the concepts of bright and dark do not have the Western cultural connotation of good and bad in Tao philosophy. The Tao philosophy uses yin and yang to represent a wide range of opposite properties in the universe: cold and hot, slow and fast, still and moving, masculine and feminine, lower and upper, and so on. In general, the characteristics of stillness, descent, darkness, erosion, slowness, and organic diseases pertain to yin, and in contrast, movement, ascent, brightness, growth, energy, and functional diseases pertain to yang. Yin and yang are opposites yet complementary; they do not exist independently of each other but rather are able to change, or morph, into each other. For example, day (yang) turns into night (yin) and winter (yin) turns into spring (yang). The internal forces or rules of nature lead to the harmony of yin and yang and are the Tao, or way. In the Book of Changes, tai chi or Tao is the integration of yin and yang, the contrary forces interconnected and interdependent in nature. (Location 145)

Note: yinyang

Tai chi is part of TCM, and its significant impact on health has been well documented. Although tai chi was introduced to the United States in the 1970s, an interest in its health benefits did not start until Dr. Steven L. Wolf and his team published their balance study in 1996 (Wolf, Barnhart, Kutner, McNeely, Coogler, & Xu, 1996). Their subjects were 162 women and 38 men with an average age of 76.2 who were free of debilitating conditions such as crippling arthritis, Parkinson's disease, and stroke. The researchers divided the subjects into three groups: One group performed a simplified 10-form version of tai chi, one group received biofeedback-based training in balance on a movable platform, and one group received education about falls but no physical training. The tai chi and biofeedback groups were given 15 weeks of training, and researchers kept track of the participants’ reported falls for four months. After the intervention, the tai chi subjects reduced their falling risk by an average of 47.5 percent compared with the other groups. Since the publication of that study, interest in tai chi and its health benefits has continued to grow. Hundreds of studies have now been published and interest has extended to many other health areas, such as the impact of tai chi on physical function, quality of life, and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, many tai chi books have been published, including some with a research focus (e.g., Hong, 2008). (Location 251)