Health Benefits

At Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore studies were conducted on T’ai Chi exercises were compared to aerobic exercises. "We were expecting to see significant changes in the aerobic exercise group and minimal changes in the T’ai Chi group." The T’ai Chi group after 12 weeks average systolic blood pressure had fallen by 7 millimeters of mercury, compared with an average of 8.4 millimeters in the aerobic exercise group. Mind-body exercises such as T’ai Chi and Qi Gong may provide an added boost to both physical and mental health, which is why the Eastern healing art is increasingly being studied by Western medical practitioners.

"T’ai Chi is a low-intensity aerobic exercise equivalent to walking at a three-mile-per-hour pace". Harvey Kurland, an exercise physiologist from San Bernadino, California and has studied T’ai chi for over 30 years. Qi Gong is equivalent to T’ai Chi movements; it is easier to learn and remember and can be done by just about anyone no matter what physical restriction may exist.

"Stress is the number one health problem in America, with an estimated 60 to 70 percent of all visits to physicians due to stress-related illness. A daily practice of T’ai Chi can relieve stress and will improve health."
H. Kurland. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 1999 Mar.

Doing T'ai Chi Chuan is very similar to doing meditation while in motion. (ref. Polynesian Magazine, Hawaii, 1974) At first the beginning steps are very mechanical. Gradually you begin to feel more comfortable as you become proficient. Continued memorizing of the steps as your Master has taught is a must. The next transformation occurs when you begin to do the movements with more feeling. This will lead you into the "no thought" process as well as the "just doing" aspects. Swimming on land, this is the Ch'i feeling that surrounds you. You can feel the tingling sensations through your hands and/or your entire body. Do all of the movements as if you were doing it for the first time; again, again and again. When doing as if you were doing for the first time, your movements will become an expression of your inner self; swimming in the sea of Ch'i with feeling.