Don Tow's Website

It is well known that Taiji exercises have many health benefits. This article discusses that many Taiji-like exercises, including the associated warm-up stretching and Qigong exercises, can also be practiced by people with limited physical handicaps, e.g., people who have to be seated in wheelchairs or people with limited mobility capabilities. It is well-known for hundreds of years that Taiji-like exercises are good for your health. Modern scientific/medical research investigations carried out in the last 25 years are supporting these long-held beliefs, although more research studies with larger sample sizes and by more teams over many more localities are still needed to confirm these preliminary findings. [1]

By Taiji-like exercises we are referring to exercises that include warm-up exercises that we usually do at the beginning of each class or self-practice , and breathing/stretching/meditation exercises like the Eight Silk Brocade Qigong [2] exercises.  We will discuss two types of people with limited mobility handicaps:

• People who are seated in wheelchairs, but can still move their arms and legs
• People who can standup and walk, although slowly and not always steadily

Read More »