He taught me to vibrate the breath and body rather fiercely and loudly like
a growling lion, stretch the tendons, turn the waist like the motions of a
food mixer, hit my own body and then flap my arms in the air.
I started accruing some fa jing, although of a more shocking nature, rather
than the smooth kind that can come from tai chi.
The drawback is that it made my energy jumpy.
(Bruce Frantzis)
Panacea (cure all)
Despite regular media claims
trumpeting tai chi as the 'perfect
exercise' - there is no such thing as a panacea.
There is no miracle cure for aging and ailments.
It is important to avoid foolishness and naivety when it comes to your
health.
Health
Pilates, yoga, swimming, jogging, gym work,
weight training, alexander technique and countless other approaches to
health and wellbeing all have their pros and cons.
The same is true of tai chi.
Everyone is different and their health needs tend to be specific to the
individual. What suits one person may not suit another.
It is important to be open-minded and listen to your body rather than to the
media.
Tai chi
Tai chi differs from
other approaches to health because it aims to move in
accord with nature.
This means no straining,
no forcing anything, no excess and no upset.
Compared to other forms of exercise, tai chi is quite mild. It progressively
improves health without ever
pushing the body.
Change occurs quietly and unnoticed.
Flawless tai chi?
Tai chi as an exercise
system is not without flaw:
(i)
Every school is different
Teaching styles and
syllabuses vary quite radically in tai chi.
There is no real consensus.
The very nature of 'tai chi' is subject to debate.
(ii)
Muscles & joints
Tai chi may indeed exercise every
muscle in the body but it does place emphasis upon certain muscle
groups to the relative neglect of other ones.
This is inevitable in any 'system'.
'Tai
chi knees' is a common ailment.
Diet
If you want to improve your health, start with
diet.
Food and drink represent the chemical constituents our bodies require for
fuel and wellbeing.
You cannot eat a lousy diet and expect good health.
The intake needs to be nutritious, balanced, wholesome and good for your
body.
Do not regard eating as being a leisure activity. Eat what you need
rather than what you want.
Mind
Many forms of exercise neglect the
mind.
Tai chi is quite different.
It has grown out of
taoism and offers an approach to living
that permeates every aspect of your relationship with the world around you.
If you study tai chi and do not read extensively, you are failing to fully
exercise your mind and this will diminish your understanding of tai chi
considerably.
Cross-training
Training a variety of exercise systems may offer a more balanced approach to
health rather than focussing upon just one system.
However, this might also be time consuming.
If you are training tai chi and want to explore something alongside your tai
chi it is important to find a system that is compatible.
By approaching exercise and health from different perspectives, you increase
the diversity of your workout and hopefully the resultant health benefits.
Remember the old cliché, though: A jack of all
trades is the master of none.
Bad habits
Pilates, yoga and alexander technique may work quite comfortably alongside
your tai chi, providing you compartmentalise them and do not mix and
match.
Mainstream exercise requires another level of awareness entirely...
Gym work and weight training can be practiced alongside tai chi providing
you have the sensitivity to avoid adopting bad habits that will hamper your
tai chi.
The danger lies in developing
muscular tension and then maintaining that
tension when training tai chi.
Muscular tension is a serious problem in tai chi.
It ruins the art and makes it very difficult for people to understand or
access the deeper levels of the system.
Not many people can successfully train weights and also get good at tai chi.
If you want to train tai chi alongside something else, do so carefully
and with awareness.
Page created 6 January 2005