Tai Chi Beats Stretching & Aerobic Exercises for Relief from Fibromyalgia Pain

As reported in the New York Times (2010), a clinical trial at Tufts Medical Center and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that after 12 weeks of tai chi, patients with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition, did significantly better in measurements of pain, fatigue, physical functioning, sleeplessness and depression than a comparable group given stretching exercises and wellness education. Tai chi patients were also more likely to sustain improvement three months later.

It’s easy to see why Tai Chi helps with this condition. Fibromyalgia sufferers report pain points shown in the image above (from MedicineNet.com). Tai Chi targets those exact areas–the base of the skull, the shoulders, the hips, and knees.

Chenchen Wang from Tufts University, says it’s time to rethink our approach to therapy for Fibromyalgia:

  Despite the well established benefits of aerobic exercise as a core standard treatment for fibromyalgia, patients in our trial had difficulty adhering to the aerobic exercise programme. This may not be surprising—many patients with fibromyalgia find performing and adhering to exercise programs hard. Complaints such as “the floor is too hard,” “I cannot stand this,” “I’m too tired,” or “I’m in too much pain” were common. Despite encouragement by study staff, many participants missed classes, and attendance was lower than in the tai chi group. In contrast, people from the tai chi group continue to call our office looking for opportunities for tai chi training now that the study has ended. What we found suggests that patients may be more likely to enjoy, manage, and continue to practice tai chi, perhaps because it involves gentle, low impact movements with minimal side effects.  

Post submitted by J. J. Rein, Assistant Instructor

White Egret stepping through water

Egret Tai Chi

Tai Chi teaches us to “move like the animals.” In this case, an egret! Notice the head is held high and back, the neck is vertical, the movement is calm and deliberate, the legs move with seemingly no effort but are rooted in the sand beneath the water.  Enjoy the video below!

(Video taken by Kirk Talbott.)

Why Tai Chi Is As Good for You As Crossfit

Tai Chi hands holding healthy heartFrom TIME Health: Studies are showing that Tai Chi is as beneficial physically as more more strenuous types of exercise.

It appears that the mental focus on the mind-body connection when coupled with exercise itself enhances immune response, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, balance and reaction time.

TIME Health: Tai Chi As Effective As Crossfit

Post submitted by Gwen N.

The Spirit of Cheng Man Ching

Cheng Man Ching's beautiful lady's handThe following is a tribute to the spirit of Cheng Man Ching taken from the program booklet of the 2nd European Cheng Man Ching Forum and Tournament in 2004.

At All Good Tai Chi we also honor his spirit.

 

The short form according to Cheng Man Ching

By Daniel Grolle

Opinions differ about Cheng Man Ching. Can somebody who doesn’t belong to ancient martial arts family really be a Great Master? Can somebody who didn’t even reach the age of 80 be a Chinese Master? Can somebody really be a Master who is reputed to have drunk, who was one of the first to have transmitted his knowledge to Westerners, who associated with long-haired savages, freaks who opposed the Vietnam war? How can somebody really be a martial arts Master when he obviously had time to write poems, to be one of the most renowned traditional Chinese doctors in Taiwan, and on top of everything, to be a brilliant calligrapher?  An exception in the otherwise rather specialized world of Tai Chi. Imagine a top football player who writes poems, chairs a medical association, and is a nationally known painter! This man breathed a spirit that brought him great admiration and reverence, as well as misunderstanding and contempt. This man captured his spirit in a bottle and threw it, well-corked, into the sea of martial arts history.

When my great-aunt and teacher Christel Proksch first uncorked this bottle for me, it was simply what the label said: Tai Chi Chuan. Only years later, after having met many other players, did I discover an astonishing similarity among those who come from the Cheng Man Ching tradition. It wasn’t just that I knew their form and didn’t know others, it was a remarkable similarity in attitude. At Tai Chi camps, for example, where one exchanges ideas instead of competing, or where people work with openness and a spirit of inquiry on the Tai Chi principles instead of techniques. One often seems to meet students of  Cheng Man Ching at such places.

In this tradition, one isn’t merely confronted with a single great deceased Master, instead one finds a multitude of very highly developed schools and individual teachers, who communicate among themselves, at least to a degree, and who are part of a wonderful common process of growth and development. During the 25 years in which I’ve been practicing Tai Chi, I’ve had the good fortune to meet with a number of experienced Tai Chi players who studied with Cheng Man Ching himself. And in all of these people, the “big bang” of their encounter with the great master still echoes. Some of them, like my teacher Ben Lo, were so affected by the experience, that one might even fear for their identity. Whenever Ben Lo talks about himself or Tai Chi, it’s very likely that he’ll begin the sentence with the name of the “Professor.” Today, Cheng Man Ching’s third-generation students are often completely unaware of this amazing power belonging to their spiritual grandfather. Epi van de Pol is working on a book, in which he wants to collect all of the stories about the master. Wolfe Lowenthal has written two moving books about his experiences with Cheng Man Ching, the first of which, “There Are No Secrets,” I recommend highly to all my students.

And finally, there‘s the Cheng Man Ching Forum, for the second time now, where we students, grandchildren and great-grandchildren try to preserve and strengthen our inheritance.

Let us be gentle and strong in the spirit of Cheng Man Ching!

2ND EUROPEAN CHENG MAN CHING FORUM MEETING AND TOURNAMENT FROM 2004 IN HANNOVER, GERMANY
2004 Cheng Man Ching Forum Program Booklet.pdf

Calories burned doing T’ai Chi

In Response to a Question:  How Many Calories Does T’ai Chi Burn?

It depends upon how much you weigh and how intense your workout is.  The following offers a general guideline.

All data is from the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise journal, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Calories Burned Walking – Moderate Pace ( Approx. 3 mi per hour)

  • If you weigh roughly 130 pounds: 195 calories burned walking per hour
  • If you weigh roughly 155 pounds: 232 calories burned per hour
  • If you weigh roughly 180 pounds: 270 calories burned per hour
  • If you weigh roughly 205 pounds: 307 calories burned per hour

 Calories Burned – Tai Chi

  • If you weigh roughly 130 pounds: 236 calories burned tai chi per hour
  • If you weigh roughly 155 pounds: 281 calories burned per hour
  • If you weigh roughly 180 pounds: 327 calories burned per hour
  • If you weigh roughly 205 pounds: 372 calories burned per hour

So, more than walking at a moderate pace!

Table of calorie expenditures at Nutristrategy.com