The Benefits of Tai Chi Chuan

I was recently asked to give a presentation on some of the benefits of practicing Tai Chi Chuan so I’m posting a condensed version of that speech. I hope this will give potential students the extra kick they need to finally get up off their butts and start practicing.

          Some of you may have heard about Tai Chi from a friend or a doctor who recommended it for it’s health benefits. Others may have noticed signs for classes at a local gym or seen a group practicing in a nearby park. Maybe you saw Tai Chi being practiced in a martial arts film. This probably led you to ask: “What is Tai Chi? What good can it do me? Is it hard to practice?”

            The usual explanation is that Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese martial art, which uses slow graceful movements to relax the body and tone the muscles while focusing the mind and boosting the spirit. This probably led you to a simple reaction: “What the hell does any of that mean?” Not only did you not get any of your questions answered but now you’re seriously confused. This is where most people say: “screw it!” and forget about the whole thing. I’d like to address some of these questions so you can decide for yourselves whether or not Tai Chi is right for you.

            Tai Chi Chuan is a martial art based on several Taoist principles; which, again, sounds very foreign but let’s take a look at what it means. Taoism is one of the oldest philosophical belief systems in China (and the world). Basically it’s a philosophy that values personal freedom, simple joys, and living a life in harmony with nature. Nothing particularly complicated about that. Taoists believe that the world exists as a manifestation of opposing and complementary forces known as Yin and Yang. The state of harmonious and balanced exchange between these two forces is known as Tai Chi. Tai Chi Chuan (or Taiji Quan) is a martial art based on following this principle of balanced, complementary forces. One way of seeing this in action is during practice when you’ll notice that as we perform Tai Chi Chuan one limb will straighten and the muscles stretch while the opposite limb will bend and the muscles will relax; opposite and complementary.

            This leads me to the second question: what are the benefits of Tai Chi Chuan practice? The benefits are seemingly endless. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners have been recommending Tai Chi Chuan practice for centuries to cure an endless assortment of ailments. Over the past few decades Western medicine has begun to experiment with Tai Chi Chuan practice and been amazed with just how successfully it works as a complementary treatment for an ever-growing list of conditions and diseases[1].

            At a very simple level Tai Chi Chuan is wonderful in that it uses slow focused movements emphasizing balance, posture, coordination, and slow steady breathing. It gently stretches and relaxes the muscles, which helps to reduce stress while strengthening the muscles and joints (which help knee and back injuries). It’s slow movements offers a low impact form of exercise while offering an excellent cardio workout. The deep, gentle breathing helps maximize blood oxygenation and the release of endorphins, all of which help to improve circulation, digestion, and blood pressure.

Practice also helps to improve posture, balance, and coordination while exercising the body and mind. Its gentle, elegant movements look graceful (generally described as poetry in motion) and grant a sense of calm relaxation, while generating a quiet sensation of power that can be readily seen in action when applied to self-defense.

            Lastly Tai Chi Chuan is being used as a component in treating a myriad assortment of diseases and condition such as: hypertension, diabetes, rheumatism, asthma, arthritis, Alzheimers’s, gastritis, Parkinson’s, insomnia, migraines, depression, assorted heart conditions, etc. Science is still actively researching new and unexpected benefits of Tai Chi Chuan. In summation, I can’t think of anyone who would not benefit from Tai Chi Chuan practice.

            In regards to the final question: no, Tai Chi Chuan is not hard to practice. You don’t need special clothes or expensive equipment. You don’t need any special courts or areas; you can practice anytime, anywhere. Practice can be adapted to varying levels of difficulty so that beginners and advanced students can all practice together by using different variations of the same techniques to suit their level of skill. Most often Tai Chi Chuan will be practiced in parks, at the beach or some other place where students can enjoy a natural view to help them relax and focus on their practice, but many practice in their living rooms before starting out their day. It’s truly a wonderful practice that can help any one, whether you only practice for fifteen minutes in the mornings or a few hours by the sunset. There really is no excuse to keep you from reaping the benefits of Tai Chi Chuan practice, so give it a try.

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[1] Complementary means just that, complementary. I’m not espousing Tai Chi Chuan as a magic potion that will cure all your troubles. The medical community is using it as a powerful component of treatment, not as an entire form of treatment in and of itself.