In several previous articles I have reported on the health benefits of Taiji. Recently a new review paper “Psychological Effects of Tai Chi Chuan” has been published [1]. The paper reports on a review of published literature on the psychological benefits of Taiji. A summary of that paper is reported here.
The journey of my father to the U.S. started in the summer of 1921 when he was not yet 15 in his home village of Gock Chung Village, Taishan County, Guangdong Province in Southern China. It started with sadness by saying farewells to his mother, grandmother, older brother and new sister-in-law, and younger sister. He didn’t know that it would be another nine years before he would see them again. But in the day it took to travel downriver from Guangzhou, the big city near Taishan, to Hong Kong, the sadness of goodbyes was replaced with the excitement and opportunities of looking forward to a new life in America. He was also meeting a distant older cousin from Taishan who was returning to Providence, Rhode Island on the same ship, a cousin with whom his life would later intertwine.
Read More »
Acupuncture is an important aspect of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The exact origin of TCM and acupuncture is not known, but it originated more than two or three thousand years ago. The theoretical basis of TCM is that there is a life-force, call Qi, that resides and circulates within one’s body, and illnesses are due to the deficiency or excess, stagnation, and imbalance of Qi. Acupuncture is the aspect of TCM that uses needles applying at appropriate acupuncture pressure points to generate, circulate, and rebalance Qi. Other aspects of TCM include doing diagnostics by sensing the subtleties of the pulse, examining external features such as the color and texture of the tongue, prescribing herbal medicines, suggesting exercises such as Taiji, and applying special massaging techniques such as Tui Na or Qigong healing. Although the relationship between the theoretical basis of acupuncture and modern scientific understanding of physiology and medicine is unclear, most people do acknowledge that there are a lot of medical benefits associated with acupuncture, although there are skeptics. This article provides a brief introduction to the theoretical framework of acupuncture even though this theoretical framework could be modified as we gain a better understanding of the science behind acupuncture.
Read More »
Profile in Courage and Dedication – Tamaki Matsuoka
One of the most horrific atrocities committed in human history was the Nanking Massacre. During a six-week period beginning on December 13, 1937 in Nanking, the then capital of China, the Japanese Imperial Army slaughtered approximately 300,000 Chinese (most were civilians, including women and children) and raped approximately 20,000 women and girls (including great grandmothers and young girls less than 10 years old). Seventy five years have elapsed since that time, yet the Japanese government still has not officially acknowledged and apologized for this atrocious atrocity, with senior government leaders frequently making comments that the Nanking Massacre never occurred, they were fabricated by the Chinese, and what happened was just natural consequences of war. Since the early 1980s, they have revised their textbooks so that new generations of Japanese do not know the truth about this part of history. Tamaki Matsuoka, a Japanese school teacher, also wanted to find out the truth about the Nanking Massacre, and she has spent 24 years of her life to that mission. This article reports on her courage and dedication in that mission.
Read More »