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Tai Chi
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Reduce stress and improve tone and balance with Tai Chi! This easy to
learn form of exercise is made up of slow and dance like movements.
Tai Chi is based on an ancient Chinese martial art but is currently very popular all
over the world. Tai Chi is said to lower stress levels, increase flexibility,
improve balance and posture, tone muscles, and even slow the aging process!
Since it is easy to learn, easy on joints and can be done standing or sitting, Tai
Chi is popular with all age groups.
This web page is a great place to learn more about Tai Chi.
The first step is to learn what Tai Chi is, and how it can benefit you. Further
down on this page, we present an article called, " TAI CHI CHUAN
FOR TOTAL FITNESS". The article is written by a woman who claims that it
helps keep her coordinated and mobile, despite her minor arthritis. Read the
article and learn how Tai Chi can help you to manage stress, control blood pressure,
reduce arthritis pain, and age well.
After you have read our article, follow the Related Links we provide
to other informative and interesting web sites about Tai Chi. Also, be
sure to buy a few of the Books we recommend below, to
learn even more about Tai Chi. One book is aimed at Seniors and one
book comes with a DVD to help you to learn the movements! After
reading our article, I'm sure you'll want to get some of these books and see what
Tai Chi can do for you!
Related
Links:
Wikipedia, Tai Chi
Wikipedia has a very comprehensive article on Tai Chi. Sections
include Overview, Techniques, History, and Modern Forms. Links included.
T'ai Chi Magazine, T'ai Chi
Information
A list of over a dozen articles on Tai Chi, including "...Find a Good
Teacher" and "What is the Proper way to Breathe...".
Tai Chi Network
According to the site, "The Tai Chi Network is an online community
of teachers and students seeking Tai Chi instructors. This online community offers
a way to easily connect teachers with students."
Arthritis
Today article on Tai Chi
An article on Tai Chi from the Arthritis Foundation's web site. It
discusses Motions, Styles, Good Advice and What Science Says.
Tai Chi articles
A collection of articles on Tai Chi. Categories include History,
Benefits and Style.
Read
These Books:
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The
most popular form of exercise in the world, T'ai Chi can slow the aging process,
increase balance and flexibility, lower stress levels, and enhance the body's natural
healing powers. Now, with over 300 illustrations, this updated #1-selling
guide has been expanded so that readers can create a practice for themselves. Based
on the latest research, this new edition includes:
- A DVD that demonstrates 64 groups of movements that are difficult
to learn from print alone
- A new illustrated format
- An expanded and updated T'ai Chi yellow pages resource
- Expanded health/medical benefits
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Whatever
your level of fitness, Step-by-Step Tai Chi offers a simple but effective
program of exercise and stress reduction, based on the ancient Chinese art
of Tai Chi. In addition to learning the fundamentals of Tai Chi through his carefully
designed four-level program, Master Lam Kam Chuen will introduce
you to Small Circle Form Tai Chi, an original method he has developed - based on classical
Tai Chi styles - requiring a minimum of time and space.
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This
book gives you all the information you need to undertake a safe, health-improving
exercise regimen. These ancient Chinese exercises are fun and low
impact and help to alleviate the pains of arthritis, fibromyalgia, carpal
tunnel syndrome, and many other "senior" diseases.
The book presents an overview of the practice of t'ai chi-from the principles of the
movements to the history of the art itself. It discusses various positions and helps
you understand what you can hope to accomplish. Plus, methods outlined in this guide
can be performed standing or seated with no previous experience necessary,
and taking into consideration limited range of movement.
All exercises are presented in an easy-to-learn style, with true
stories illustrating the benefits that other mature adults have gained from these
practices. Whether you are just beginning t'ai chi or simply looking for a supplemental
text to use out of class, this your guide.
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Author
Stewart McFarlane's years of teaching experience and his extensive theoretical
knowledge will help you learn the physical disciplines of t'ai chi ch'uan, which tone
your muscles, improve circulation, and increase flexibility and posture.
His clear explanations strengthen both the physical and the spiritual practices that
will revitalize your life. All the exercises, movements, and stances are explained
in detail and illustrated with full-color step-by-step photographs. Footprint diagrams
show the correct foot placements and weight distribution essential for each stance.
Precise explanations and photographs enable you to test many positions
with a partner.
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Enjoy
our exclusive Feature Article:
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TAI CHI CHUAN FOR TOTAL FITNESS
by Claire
Richards 4/5/06
Tai Chi Chuan began in fourteenth-century China, but it is very much alive in twenty-first
century America. The patterns of Tai Chi are slow and dance like, deceptively gentle.
In return for dedicated practice, Tai Chi can reduce stress, quiet the mind, and improve
physical fitness; all without shrinks, treadmills or tranquilizers.
Quieting the mind first drew me to Tai Chi. Back in the seventies, people were meditating,
visualizing, analyzing, and otherwise seeking Enlightenment. I failed miserably at
these disciplines. I simply could not empty my mind and chant OOOHMMM for twenty
minutes. Then I discovered Tai Chi. We didn't sit, we moved. We didn't empty our minds,
we focused them on the form. I not only became less distractible, but more graceful
and better coordinated as well.
Over the years, the physical fitness benefits of Tai Chi have assumed new importance
in my life. It keeps me coordinated, helps protect my aging bones from osteoporosis
and enables me to move freely despite some minor arthritis. Yes, it does these things;
it really does work.
Managing Stress
Stress is a daily reality in our hectic, hard-driving society. Under stress, adrenalin
floods the bloodstream, nerves scream, heart rate soars, and muscles tense for fight-or-flight.
This response is warranted if you happen to be running from a pack of hungry wolves;
it is not warranted if you're simply coping with the endless and annoying details
of ordinary life. Chronic stress makes you a prime candidate for heart attack, stroke,
or any number of other serious conditions.
Trying to deal with stress by telling yourself to relax is useless; the very process
makes you more tense than ever. It's a bit like trying not to think of elephants;
next thing you know, a herd of lumbering pachyderms is rumbling through your head.
Tai Chi works so well on stress because it doesn't focus on it. It substitutes positive
behaviors for negative ones, overcoming physical tension with purposeful movement
and mental chatter with concentration on the unfolding pattern of that movement.
Controlling Blood Pressure
Tai Chi's effect on stress raised interest in other possible benefits. Beginning in
the late twentieth century, a number of scientific studies produced encouraging results.
In the mid-1990s, Dr. Deborah Young of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions conducted
a 12-week study to determine how Tai Chi affects blood pressure. She recruited sixty-two
subjects, all overweight and at least 60 years of age. Half participated in an aerobic
fitness program. The other half did Tai Chi.
Dr. Young expected aerobics to produce a substantial decline in blood pressure, and
Tai Chi to show little or none. To her surprise, the numbers were incredibly close:
8.4 systolic (top number) with aerobics; 7.0 with Tai Chi.
Reducing Arthritis Pain
Dr. Paul Lam, a family practice physician in Sidney, Australia, was diagnosed with
osteoarthritis in his late twenties. In searching for ways to control his condition,
he happened upon Tai Chi Chuan. He discovered that it eased away muscular tension,
kept arthritic joints moving, and gradually extended the range of motion.
Lam later created a special Tai Chi program for arthritis, which has been endorsed
by Arthritis foundations in Australia, the United States, and many other countries.
Even elderly, sedentary people can achieve these benefits without undue strain upon
their heart, lungs, or muscles.
Aging Well
With or without arthritis, older people stay healthier with Tai Chi. It helps people
over seventy build muscle strength, increase flexibility, and improve balance. Balance
is especially important in late old age; falls are responsible for many broken bones
and other injuries to the elderly.
A study at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA found that seniors
who practice Tai Chi reduce their risk of falling by more than 47 percent. Of course,
such benefits are not limited to the elderly: "Tai Chi is great for general klutziness,"
said a 30-year-old student with balance difficulties. "Before Tai Chi, I could trip
over thick air."
When all is said and done, perhaps the greatest benefits of Tai Chi are those which
are difficult if not impossible to analyze or quantify: grace, serenity, and a quiet
self-assurance for people of any age or stage in life.
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