THERAPY OF THE MONTH
T’AI CHI CHUAN THE SUPREME ULTIMATE
T’ai Chi was once used in China to help treat TB, but these days it can also help those living with HIV, says practitioner Richard Simpson
When PN first asked me to write about T’ai Chi Chuan I went into my
kitchen and did the ‘Form’. The Form is a series of 37 movements
that make up the execution of T’ai Chi Chuan in its shortened version.
It takes about eight or nine minutes. The Long Form of 128 movements, on which
it is based, takes about 20 minutes. Like most exercise, T’ai Chi is
best performed and not read about. But here are some basis.
Where did T’ai Chi originate?
T’ai Chi was developed in Sung Dynasty China (960 - 1279 AD) by a Taoist
master called Chang San-Feng and has since diversified into different styles.
A man called Cheng Man-Ching developed the Yang style Short Form, which I
practise once at around noon and once again before bed. By Cheng Man-Ching’s
own admission he was too lazy to do the Long Form. He had been diagnosed with
TB and T’ai Chi was commonly used in China to combat this disease. Does
it work? Well, Man-Ching went on to live a long and healthy life.
Why
the ‘Supreme Ultimate’?
It is called the Supreme Ultimate because it is the most powerful of martial
arts known as the Soft Form. There is a Chinese saying: “When you are
young you punch your way out of danger by using a hard form like Kung Fu.
When you are middle-aged you think your way out of danger by using a strategic
form like Ba Gua. But when you are mature enough, you use T’ai Chi Chuan
which means you were never there in the first place.”
How does T’ai Chi work in essence?
In Traditional Chinese Medicine it is held that the body and mind - there
is no split in Eastern Philosophy - falls into disease if the flow of energy
around it is impeded. The slow and flowing movements of T’ai Chi are
designed to stimulate and open the energy meridians, leading to good health.
The concept is the same as in acupuncture, which also seeks to restore the
free flow of energy, or chi.
The relaxed way of moving encourages the body to become sleek and graceful
and is not unlike dancing
And the personal benefits?
When I was very ill, and had just started combination therapy, I was too weak
to leave the house. Having laid on the sofa for a couple of months, I began
to feel I had to do something because my legs were becoming weaker and weaker
and I could hardly walk. I was sitting there one evening when I suddenly remembered
that I had been to night class to learn T’ai Chi (it takes about a year
of weekly lessons to learn the Short Form) and decided to give it a go. That
was the day I began to feel and get better.
Strength
and energy flow is improved
Unlike Western systems of exercise which usually concentrate on muscles, T’ai
Chi concentrates on restoring chi flow. But this doesn’t mean you won’t
develop a nice pair of muscular legs and a shapely bottom. It helps to develop
the larger muscles like the thighs, buttocks and diaphragm. It also concentrates
on little and often, which makes it ideal for people who are feeling unwell.
Over a period of months you will increase your vitality and core strength
and, it is claimed, an improved immune system. It even makes your teeth stronger.
I have never suffered from neuropathy and I put this down to doing T’ai
Chi. It also helps your lymphatic system move the drugs around all parts of
the body and like all systems of exercise, lifts depression.
Even though a year sounds like a long term investment needed to learn it,
once it’s learned, it’s learned. Most local colleges have T’ai
Chi classes these days. I for one would thoroughly recommend you give it a
go.
• For classes near you check out www.taichifinder.co.uk
• Alternatively ask about evening classes at local college.
