Observations on Tai Chi, as Presented in the U.S.

I think I should back up a step first to comment on the Qi or Chi energy flows of the body, which are described in Chinese Medicine, Accupuncture (and Accupressure), and made use of in the Martial Arts (which include the art of healing).

These flows go from point to point on the body. The locations of the points are not random. They are the same from man to man, woman to woman. It is interesting that they are also the same from man to woman. That is, any location of a Qi point on a male body will also be found in the corresponding location of the female body, and visa versa. "Non-believers" assume that these Qi points are imaginary, but actually any such point on the surface of the body corresponds to a scientifically verifiable abrupt, localized change in the resistivity of the skin.

The fact that the locations are not random shows that they must be part of the pattern of Creation. Chinese Medicine uses the maintenance, and in some cases the reestablishment of, these Qi flows as a method of maintaining or reestablishing the health of the body. So, the question is why does Christianity, the biggest proponent of Creationism in the west, not recognize this aspect of Creation which can be used to much effect in health maintenance and improvement? Don't they want strong, healthy people who are able to be pro-active in preventative medicine for themselves?

What I find amazing is that something so beneficial and practical as the Tai Chi exercise forms could have been the result of any sort of government activity (in this case, the Chinese government). Usually government fails when it comes to coming up with, or implementing effective solutions that do not cost much money. Here in the west, anyway, if either a lot of money cannot be spent on the solution, or if it is effective in making the individual stronger and more self-sufficient, then the private sector will have to take over the show.

At some point in the last century the Chinese government was looking at the future of national health. They could have gone down the same, expensive route that western countries have gone down, but they had a resource available to them that the west did not-- their long tradition of Martial Arts. One of the arts in the Martial Arts, is the art of healing and health maintenance. The Chinese government decided to go more strongly into preventative medicine and health maintenance by making a greater use of this national resource. They asked Martial Arts experts to come up with a pattern of exercises that would not take very long to do, but which would stimulate all of the Qi flows of the body. They wanted the exercises to not take much time to perform so that it would not be difficult to incorporate them into a daily routine. In this way large numbers of people would be able to perform the exercises daily, which would result in a higher average level of personal health, and a lesser need for more expensive medical services.

The experts did come up with several sets of exercises, or "forms". One that I have used, and that is commonly used in the west is the Yang-Style Tai Chi Sort Form. It takes only about 5 minutes to do.

What I have noticed in almost all of the western literature and media on these Tai Chi forms, is that they are presented as-is, as though they were just a Chinese Line Dance. (Line Dancing is a type of country-western dance, where a group of individuals perform choreographed steps and movements together). There are a couple of things wrong with treating it this way.

First, as far as I know, there are no additional therapeutic benefits to doing the Tai Chi forms in a group over doing them by yourself. The only benefit I can see is that doing it together with others will increase the chances that the individual will indeed do them on a regular basis. That is the key idea-- therapeutic results depend on actually doing the forms regularly. In most of the western instructional media I have seen there is an unexplained emphasis on doing the exercises as a group. This gives the impression that the group approach is necessary or vital to achieve the benefits of Tai Chi, and that doing them alone as an individual is somehow not as valid. In my experience, that is certainly not true.

Secondly, the exercises are applications of sets of basic principles of proper stance and motion of the body. These principles can and should be used beyond the exercises. If you know the principles you can incorporate them on a self-determined basis into the motions and activities of daily life. The Tai Chi forms are a condensed illustration of the application of these principles. So they are a great opportunity for learning and review. Unfortunately these principles are usually not mentioned at all in western media. If they are mentioned, it is usually only in passing, and on an incomplete basis. The only resource I have come across that completely treats these principles is a small book by Paul Brecher called simple, Tai Chi. It is available through Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tai-Chi-Paul-Brecher/dp/0007103395/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248692299&sr=1-2. It is a small hardback. I just checked, and there is a used copy available today for 49 cents. That is definitely a good bargain.

An interesting thing about the book is that the author does not even try to teach any of the Tai Chi exercises. The author treats the underlying principles of Tai Chi as a subject for study in and of themselves. I found this to be quite a refreshing idea. Most of the benefits of Tai Chi come from the application of these principles. To get the most benefit it should be a self-determined application of them, rather than a rote application designed by someone else. If the individual has the principles in mind as he does the Tai Chi forms, he can acquire self-determined understandings of how the general principles relate to a specific action. When he gains a sufficient amount of such understandings he will be able to easily incorporate the principles into the rest of his daily life activities, with greatly enhanced results. Without the principles in mind he is just doing a Chinese Line Dance-- a set of movements choreographed by someone else. There is still some benefit from doing it this way, but probably not enough to motivate most people to continue with it.