Thank-you for your thought provoking piece on Ta'Chi. Its an area I am
interested in as well. I first came across it in a Vestibular Rehabilitation
course when we were invited to do an introductory hour of it. I couldn't
walk properly for a few days afterwards as I had a considerable degree of
delayed onset muscle soreness! I have just started a course in Ta'Chi as
its merits in retraining patients with balance disorders seem quite possible
(if as yet not evidence based). Having completed a few weeks of it at this
stage I can see how it can condition the body as well as strength training
does. The work is quite static, eccentric (using body weight as a
resistance) and involves a large degree of fine motor control. I would love
to see a PET scan of someone learning Ta'Chi as it involves a considerable
amount of concentration! In terms of aerobic fitness I am sure in more
advanced Ta'Chi places considerable demands on the heart and lungs and this
would be an interesting topic to investigate. For our elderly fallers and
those of us who don't like the gym it would seem a good choice for exercise.
I would be interested in any references you have on the topic.
Regards
Dara Meldrum
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [log in to unmask] [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, February 16, 2001 03:51
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Chi-ward Conditioning & Therapy?
>
> We often argue the merits and weaknesses of different types of strength
> and
> fitness conditioning and rehabilitation, but we have not examined
> something
> that might appear a bit "way out" to those who grace the halls of irondom,
> aerobichood or therapy.
>
> In particular, something that is not often mentioned in sports scientific
> circles is the fact that Tai Chi has been shown by Chinese and Western
> research to increase cardiovascular, strength, speed, power and various
> other
> motor qualities, despite it not fitting conveniently into the standard
> categories of what supposedly constitutes 'aerobic' or strength training.
> As a martial artist who spent a great deal of time with some very close
> Tai
> Chi Master friends, I was always amazed that they managed to develop these
> motor and metabolic qualities despite the fact that they did not seem to
> do
> the same sort of typical Eastern 'training to destruction' that we did as
> karateka.
>
> Then, they gave me translations of Chinese research and later I carried
> out
> my own literature review and learned that these apparently undemanding
> movement forms (including some forms of yoga) were more than adequate to
> offer very significant conditioning for many people. Maybe there is
> something way beyond HIT, Olympic lifting and ultramarathon training which
> lies hidden in the form of some ancient movement forms. It just
> frustrates
> me somewhat that we rarely if ever find out what their capabilities are,
> ostensibly because their Masters stress that competition, egotistical
> superiority and "proving oneself" in conflict are irrelevant in human
> development.
>
> Would anyone else care to comment on this apparent paradox about the
> conditioning and rehabilitating effects of seemingly gentle Tai Chi and
> yoga? Would anyone venture some comments on the physiological processes
> which may be involved in producing different types of fitness under these
> conditions? In doing so, it would be a grave omission to ignore the role
> of
> mental processes in the overall scheme of events. Is there something to
> beliefs about the intangible energy known variously as "chi", "ki" or
> "kundalini" or are these just semantic concepts which have been blown out
> of
> all proportion?
>
> Dr Mel C Siff
> Denver, USA
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Supertraining/
|