{"id":98,"date":"2007-04-25T02:00:02","date_gmt":"2007-04-25T07:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dontow.com\/wordpress\/?p=98"},"modified":"2011-11-13T11:47:16","modified_gmt":"2011-11-13T15:47:16","slug":"taiji-and-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dontow.com\/2007\/04\/taiji-and-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Taiji and Health"},"content":{"rendered":"
Taiji (also commonly known as Tai Chi or Taijiquan) was invented several hundred years ago in China as a martial art.\u00a0 Besides being a martial art, it is also an extremely good health-enhancing exercise.\u00a0 Because Taiji is characterized by slow, soft movements that have low impacts on the body, it is ideally suited as an exercise for senior citizens, although it is also a good exercise for people of all ages.\u00a0 This article provides a brief discussion of a few examples of the health benefits of Taiji.<\/p>\n
Unlike many other exercises and sports activities, Taiji can be learned and continue to be practiced by senior citizens in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.\u00a0 Although the Taiji movements are not necessarily easy to learn and remember, they can definitely be learned and remembered by even senior citizens if they satisfy three requirements:<\/p>\n
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There are three components of Taiji:\u00a0 Movement, meditation, and deep breathing.\u00a0 All the major muscle groups are utilized in executing the gentle, slow movements of Taiji.\u00a0 These movements can improve strength, flexibility, coordination, and muscle tone.\u00a0 The meditation aspect of Taiji involves concentration, relaxation, and using the mind to lead the movements.\u00a0 It frees the mind from worries and anxieties, relaxes the mind and body, but at the same time enhances concentration, and contributes to cerebral activities.\u00a0 The deep breathing aspect releases tension, facilitates blood circulation and increases oxygen supply to various parts of the body (for a more detailed description of breathing and Taiji, see the article “Breathing and Taijiquan”<\/a>.<\/p>\n In recent years, there have been more and more scientific and medical researches that have found evidence for the health benefits of Taiji.\u00a0 For example, the January 2007 issue of the Newsletter of the Pacific College of Medicine (http:\/\/www.pacificcollege.edu\/eZine\/2007\/jan\/index.html<\/a>) stated that “in a recent study in Annals of Behavioral Medicine, researchers concluded that the movements associated with Tai Chi helped seniors improve their physical functioning.\u00a0 Study participants who took Tai Chi twice a week for a 6 month period noticed a significant improvement in their ability to accomplish daily tasks such as carrying groceries, walking up stairs, or moving medium-sized objects. \u00a0\u2026\u00a0 Those who took Tai Chi were less likely to fall \u2013 one of the largest causes of serious injury for seniors.”<\/p>\n