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Here's another article about taiji, taken from the Independent newspaper (UK) today.
I've recently restarted taiji (World Taiji Boxing Association), and like the author, hope it will strengthen my quad, and let me do what I want to do.
Stretching eastwards
The graceful art of t'ai chi can help with conditions from arthritis to MS, doctors now believe. But only if you can find the right teacher, says Clint Witchalls
22 March 2004
It's an unusually warm day in March, and I'm on Clapham Common learning to grasp the bird's tail. "Bend your waist and press down your right palm," says the instructor, Othmar Vigl. No, I haven't taken up ornithology, I'm practising the ancient Chinese art of t'ai chi ch'uan.
When I was 13, I ruptured the cruciate ligament in my right knee. With no ligament to stabilise my knee's movement, the cartilage between the femur and tibia - known as the meniscus - became fragmented. Bits of chipped meniscus floated around my knee, eventually causing the joint to seize up completely when I was 25. After undergoing keyhole surgery to remove the loose bits of cartilage, the hospital's physiotherapist gave me some exercises to strengthen my quadriceps. She told me that arthritis is a given, unless I stay slim my entire life and keep my quads strong (to act as substitute knee stabilisers). She suggested I take up t'ai chi. After 13 years of doing little with this advice, my knee has started to give me trouble again. Time for a bit of preventative medicine, if I'm not too late. Cue the t'ai chi lesson.
The pain in my knee wasn't the only spur that prompted me to take up t'ai chi. Dr Chenchen Wang, of Tufts-New England Medical Centre in Boston, conducted a review of a number of studies that had investigated the benefits of t'ai chi. The studies showed that t'ai chi provides benefits to people with chronic health problems, including arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and acute myocardial infarction. However, it must be noted that Dr Wang was critical of the quality of many of the studies. The findings were published in this month's issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine.
The origins of t'ai chi ch'uan are obscure. In one account, a Taoist monk, Chang San-Feng received t'ai chi teachings in a series of dreams. Others say that t'ai chi was developed by a Ming Dynasty army general called Chen Wang-Ting, and that he based t'ai chi on a Shaolin Temple kung fu style called Red Fist.
T'ai chi consists of many different exercises, but the one that most people recognise is called the "form," ie, the slow, graceful movements that segue from "grasping the birds tail" to "single whip" to "cloud hands," and so on. The form I'm learning is called the Wudang short form, and it's taught by the Practical T'ai Chi Ch'uan academy, run by the formidable fighter, Dan Docherty.
Docherty says that some people confuse t'ai chi with qi gong (a form of gentle exercise). He reminds me that "ch'uan" means fist. Not all clubs teach the martial aspect of t'ai chi, but Practical T'ai Chi Ch'uan offers a full syllabus, including various forms (long, short, round and square), pushing hands, nei kung (for developing strength), fighting application, and sparring. However, he says that not everyone has the same physicality, and that the training must be tailored to the student's abilities.
One of Docherty's students came to the club supported by two walking sticks. He'd suffered a stroke and was looking for some rehabilitative exercise. For a long time the student just worked on the opening sequence of the form. After a while, he was able to progress to other more intricate moves as his condition improved. T'ai chi may also benefit people in ways that have yet to be documented. "I had one chap who was impotent. I taught him some internal strength exercises, and eventually he got married," says Docherty with a laugh.
Valerie Ward has also experienced the health benefits of t'ai chi. She does Lam-style t'ai chi in Camden, London. She is 67, and has osteoporosis and arthritis in her knees. "I started t'ai chi three years ago," she says. "It's transformed my life, really. I had weak thigh muscles and no balance. I did the exercises, which seemed to be quite simple, and I got stronger and stronger. In fact in June, my husband and I are going off to South America, up into the Andes and down into the Amazon rainforest, and I'm sure I couldn't have done that a few years ago." The oldest person in Valerie's class is 97.
Recent research by Emory University showed that practising t'ai chi regularly can reduce falls in the elderly by up to 40 per cent. "For most health authorities, falls prevention is a big area of interest because it costs the health service so much money, and when elderly people fall, the scenario frequently ends in death, but only after a long period of hospitalisation," says Linda Chase Broda. Broda heads up an organisation called The T'ai Chi and Chi Kung Forum for Health and Special Needs ("the Forum"), a network of people interested in widening the availability of t'ai chi to anyone, regardless of age, physical or mental ability or condition of health.
Many people will attest to the benefits of t'ai chi, but how does one go about finding a reputable instructor? Sadly, the field is awash with "failed yoga instructors". They've done a course on t'ai chi or, worse, they've watched a few training videos, and now they're teaching at a church hall near you. One local school, who'd been marketing quite aggressively, wouldn't give the name of their chief instructor, nor would they say where he'd learned his t'ai chi. I asked if it was a secret. The woman said, "No. We just don't discuss that."
"The problem with t'ai chi is that, at the end of the day, there are no 'credentials' as such, and that, if you find someone offering them, you wonder where they've come from," says James Drewe, vice-chairman of the Longfei Taijiquan Association. "In t'ai chi, the credentials are usually your teacher, or the length of time you have been learning for; although, the latter certainly may not mean a lot in some cases."
Drewe offers the following guidelines when looking for a good t'ai chi club: 1) Find out who the main instructor is, and whether or not you are going to be taught by him/her or by a student. 2) Ask who the main instructor has learnt from. 3) Which style and forms are practised? 4) Is the emphasis is on health or martial arts, or a blend, and does this alter as you progress? The catch-22 though is that you need to know a bit about t'ai chi already in order to know whether you're getting sensible answers.
Ronnie Robinson, secretary of the official t'ai chi governing body, the T'ai Chi Union for Great Britain (TCUGB), estimates that a mere 30 per cent of t'ai chi instructors are registered with the Union. That's not to say that any instructor not registered with the Union is a poor instructor, but it at least gives someone looking for a class the comfort of knowing that the teacher's credentials have been vetted and approved by an august panel of t'ai chi veterans. Robinson says that some instructors emphasise the martial aspect and some the health aspect of t'ai chi. He says that a good instructor should emphasise both.
At the end of my two-hour t'ai chi lesson on the common, I feel that both aspects of the art have been well covered, and I don't feel any twinges in my knee. Usually exercise leaves me feeling sapped but, strangely, I feel more energised than when I started the lesson. Perhaps this is the start of something good.
T'ai chi: how to make the right moves
* Don't attempt to learn t'ai chi from a video or book.
* Find a reputable school through the T'ai Chi Union for Great Britain or the British Council for Chinese Martial Arts (see website link below).
* Don't pay upfront. Ask if you can watch one of the classes. If the instructor refuses, go elsewhere.
* If you have joint problems, avoid the more vigorous Chen style, which requires a fair amount of strength and flexibility.
* Not all t'ai chi schools provide an aerobic or weight-training element. Check with the instructor to see if they provide these elements of training. If not, you may want to supplement your exercise regime with some additional training.
* T'ai chi should not cause you pain. If you feel pain while doing any of the t'ai chi moves, stop and tell the instructor.
Some useful t'ai chi links:
* T'ai Chi Union for Great Britain: www.taichiunion.com
* British Council for Chinese Martial Arts: www.bccma.com/about/bccma.asp
* Practical T'ai Chi Ch'uan: www.taichichuan.co.uk (for full-syllabus t'ai chi)
* James Drewe: www.taiji.co.uk (for full-syllabus t'ai chi, as well as classes tailored for those over the age of 60)
* Lam Kam-Chuen www.lamassociation.org (focuses mainly on the healing aspect of the art. Also runs courses specifically for the elderly)
Stretching eastwards
I've recently restarted taiji (World Taiji Boxing Association), and like the author, hope it will strengthen my quad, and let me do what I want to do.
Stretching eastwards
The graceful art of t'ai chi can help with conditions from arthritis to MS, doctors now believe. But only if you can find the right teacher, says Clint Witchalls
22 March 2004
It's an unusually warm day in March, and I'm on Clapham Common learning to grasp the bird's tail. "Bend your waist and press down your right palm," says the instructor, Othmar Vigl. No, I haven't taken up ornithology, I'm practising the ancient Chinese art of t'ai chi ch'uan.
When I was 13, I ruptured the cruciate ligament in my right knee. With no ligament to stabilise my knee's movement, the cartilage between the femur and tibia - known as the meniscus - became fragmented. Bits of chipped meniscus floated around my knee, eventually causing the joint to seize up completely when I was 25. After undergoing keyhole surgery to remove the loose bits of cartilage, the hospital's physiotherapist gave me some exercises to strengthen my quadriceps. She told me that arthritis is a given, unless I stay slim my entire life and keep my quads strong (to act as substitute knee stabilisers). She suggested I take up t'ai chi. After 13 years of doing little with this advice, my knee has started to give me trouble again. Time for a bit of preventative medicine, if I'm not too late. Cue the t'ai chi lesson.
The pain in my knee wasn't the only spur that prompted me to take up t'ai chi. Dr Chenchen Wang, of Tufts-New England Medical Centre in Boston, conducted a review of a number of studies that had investigated the benefits of t'ai chi. The studies showed that t'ai chi provides benefits to people with chronic health problems, including arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and acute myocardial infarction. However, it must be noted that Dr Wang was critical of the quality of many of the studies. The findings were published in this month's issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine.
The origins of t'ai chi ch'uan are obscure. In one account, a Taoist monk, Chang San-Feng received t'ai chi teachings in a series of dreams. Others say that t'ai chi was developed by a Ming Dynasty army general called Chen Wang-Ting, and that he based t'ai chi on a Shaolin Temple kung fu style called Red Fist.
T'ai chi consists of many different exercises, but the one that most people recognise is called the "form," ie, the slow, graceful movements that segue from "grasping the birds tail" to "single whip" to "cloud hands," and so on. The form I'm learning is called the Wudang short form, and it's taught by the Practical T'ai Chi Ch'uan academy, run by the formidable fighter, Dan Docherty.
Docherty says that some people confuse t'ai chi with qi gong (a form of gentle exercise). He reminds me that "ch'uan" means fist. Not all clubs teach the martial aspect of t'ai chi, but Practical T'ai Chi Ch'uan offers a full syllabus, including various forms (long, short, round and square), pushing hands, nei kung (for developing strength), fighting application, and sparring. However, he says that not everyone has the same physicality, and that the training must be tailored to the student's abilities.
One of Docherty's students came to the club supported by two walking sticks. He'd suffered a stroke and was looking for some rehabilitative exercise. For a long time the student just worked on the opening sequence of the form. After a while, he was able to progress to other more intricate moves as his condition improved. T'ai chi may also benefit people in ways that have yet to be documented. "I had one chap who was impotent. I taught him some internal strength exercises, and eventually he got married," says Docherty with a laugh.
Valerie Ward has also experienced the health benefits of t'ai chi. She does Lam-style t'ai chi in Camden, London. She is 67, and has osteoporosis and arthritis in her knees. "I started t'ai chi three years ago," she says. "It's transformed my life, really. I had weak thigh muscles and no balance. I did the exercises, which seemed to be quite simple, and I got stronger and stronger. In fact in June, my husband and I are going off to South America, up into the Andes and down into the Amazon rainforest, and I'm sure I couldn't have done that a few years ago." The oldest person in Valerie's class is 97.
Recent research by Emory University showed that practising t'ai chi regularly can reduce falls in the elderly by up to 40 per cent. "For most health authorities, falls prevention is a big area of interest because it costs the health service so much money, and when elderly people fall, the scenario frequently ends in death, but only after a long period of hospitalisation," says Linda Chase Broda. Broda heads up an organisation called The T'ai Chi and Chi Kung Forum for Health and Special Needs ("the Forum"), a network of people interested in widening the availability of t'ai chi to anyone, regardless of age, physical or mental ability or condition of health.
Many people will attest to the benefits of t'ai chi, but how does one go about finding a reputable instructor? Sadly, the field is awash with "failed yoga instructors". They've done a course on t'ai chi or, worse, they've watched a few training videos, and now they're teaching at a church hall near you. One local school, who'd been marketing quite aggressively, wouldn't give the name of their chief instructor, nor would they say where he'd learned his t'ai chi. I asked if it was a secret. The woman said, "No. We just don't discuss that."
"The problem with t'ai chi is that, at the end of the day, there are no 'credentials' as such, and that, if you find someone offering them, you wonder where they've come from," says James Drewe, vice-chairman of the Longfei Taijiquan Association. "In t'ai chi, the credentials are usually your teacher, or the length of time you have been learning for; although, the latter certainly may not mean a lot in some cases."
Drewe offers the following guidelines when looking for a good t'ai chi club: 1) Find out who the main instructor is, and whether or not you are going to be taught by him/her or by a student. 2) Ask who the main instructor has learnt from. 3) Which style and forms are practised? 4) Is the emphasis is on health or martial arts, or a blend, and does this alter as you progress? The catch-22 though is that you need to know a bit about t'ai chi already in order to know whether you're getting sensible answers.
Ronnie Robinson, secretary of the official t'ai chi governing body, the T'ai Chi Union for Great Britain (TCUGB), estimates that a mere 30 per cent of t'ai chi instructors are registered with the Union. That's not to say that any instructor not registered with the Union is a poor instructor, but it at least gives someone looking for a class the comfort of knowing that the teacher's credentials have been vetted and approved by an august panel of t'ai chi veterans. Robinson says that some instructors emphasise the martial aspect and some the health aspect of t'ai chi. He says that a good instructor should emphasise both.
At the end of my two-hour t'ai chi lesson on the common, I feel that both aspects of the art have been well covered, and I don't feel any twinges in my knee. Usually exercise leaves me feeling sapped but, strangely, I feel more energised than when I started the lesson. Perhaps this is the start of something good.
T'ai chi: how to make the right moves
* Don't attempt to learn t'ai chi from a video or book.
* Find a reputable school through the T'ai Chi Union for Great Britain or the British Council for Chinese Martial Arts (see website link below).
* Don't pay upfront. Ask if you can watch one of the classes. If the instructor refuses, go elsewhere.
* If you have joint problems, avoid the more vigorous Chen style, which requires a fair amount of strength and flexibility.
* Not all t'ai chi schools provide an aerobic or weight-training element. Check with the instructor to see if they provide these elements of training. If not, you may want to supplement your exercise regime with some additional training.
* T'ai chi should not cause you pain. If you feel pain while doing any of the t'ai chi moves, stop and tell the instructor.
Some useful t'ai chi links:
* T'ai Chi Union for Great Britain: www.taichiunion.com
* British Council for Chinese Martial Arts: www.bccma.com/about/bccma.asp
* Practical T'ai Chi Ch'uan: www.taichichuan.co.uk (for full-syllabus t'ai chi)
* James Drewe: www.taiji.co.uk (for full-syllabus t'ai chi, as well as classes tailored for those over the age of 60)
* Lam Kam-Chuen www.lamassociation.org (focuses mainly on the healing aspect of the art. Also runs courses specifically for the elderly)
Stretching eastwards
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). However I am sure we would all defend Sifu's reputation in other fora so you at least know where I am coming from (even if the soapbox was too big!).
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