Six weeks after open-heart surgery, Jim Funk of Eugene took up tai chi for its therapeutic value. Five years later, the retired employee of the city’s building department said he’s grateful for what the martial arts form has brought to his life.
“It’s a real benign, low-impact form of exercise that has a meditative component,” he said after a two-hour session Saturday.
Funk was joined by about 75 people gathered near the softball field at Skinner Butte Park to recognize the eighth annual World Tai Chi and Qigong Day.
David Chandler of Eagle’s Quest T’ai Chi Center leads a group during the 7th Annual World T’ai Chi Day celebration at Waterford Beach Park on Saturday.
More than 200 people ranging in age from 8 to 80 defied Saturday’s raw fog and drizzle to celebrate the 7th Annual World T’ai Chi Day on the wet grass of Waterford Beach Park.
Aside from the exercise, it’s associated woth a number of tested benefits related to preventing osteoarthritis and improving balance and posture. This gets to be rather a bigger deal as you age.
Who wants yet another annoying Tai Chi idiot trying to steal all the attention in the park when you are trying to get busy with your girlfriend?
I sure don’t.
Every time I, one of my class mates or my friends and relatives have gone to physiotherapy for joint/back trouble, the movements they’ve been told to do are present in tai chi. However in tai chi it will generally be done as a compound exercise, working several components at once, which makes it harder to learn.
The complete set of tai chi exercises should stretch the body through pretty much its full range of movement (the exceptions I can think of at the moment are pushing the shoulders behind the head and arching the back forward) whilest keeping the joints aligned so no shear forces act on them.
I think its one of healthiest ways to do sod all out there and the form is a good warm down if you’ve got a spare 20 minutes.
The slow movementts coupled with the syncronised breathing is “moving yoga” if you wanna call it that, without the over stretching.
Some can call it “moving meditation”, whatever floats your boat.
Fact is, a no impact workout with controlled breathing is 100 times better than nothing, and is still better than just going for a walk.
If you take Chen Taiji, then you also go through soem explosive moves too.
You need to realise that the vast majority of people NEVER coordinate their breathing with their movements, so when they start doing that, it can do wonders fo them.
I am sure someone will roll up a nice “chi spliff” and try to shove it up the ass of this thread, but the health benefits of Taiji have never been in question.
I agree 100% with everything ronin said but picture this: A park filled with nothing but taichi practitioners, nay, EVERY park filled with taichi practitioners.
Remember that hippie in Easy Rider? The one doing taichi and thinking he’s all badass? Yeah.
I’m just sayin I would have to start killing them one by one.
Bring it, you douches! You won’t be so cocky when a 90-year-old grandmother with a plastic femur chops you down and rides your asses like a drunken fratboy.
Probably, but they aren’t as convenient. Tai Chi is pretty good for combining a bunch of benefits in one package. It’s harder to learn than individual movements, but not so hard as to worry about it. Once you head over the hurdle, you have a tool to keep baseline balance and joint flexibility.
