Tai Chi originated from China thousands of years ago as a style of martial art from Taoism. It was demonstrated and practised in a slow motion for the purpose of general maintenance of mind-and-body’s wellbeing.
In doing Tai Chi, your mind relaxes and concentrates on your body and begins to flow together with the rhythm of your movements.
Tai Chi has several important and prominent characteristics:
- It is a weight bearing activity. Along with other weight bearing activities such as walking and running, it can strengthen the bone and slow down the degeneration of bone that occurs with age. This effect is not only important for people of older age groups, but has positive effects during puberty for bone strength development thus setting the the individual up for life.
- The movements of Tai Chi involve most of the muscles and joints of the body. It improves flexibility, balance, coordination, posture, strength management of the body. Research has shown that Tai Chi is beneficial for many conditions including lower back pain and fibromyalgia.
- As Tai Chi exercises both the mind and body, it nurtures the nervous system with peace and tranquility which in turn has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system, endocrine system and digestive system. Besides its positive effect on the heart, blood pressure and circulation, Tai Chi also promotes blood flow through the microcirculation system of the body. Oxygen is thus transported to the whole body more thoroughly. This maintains cellular health and thus slows down the ageing process of the body and maintaining a youthful and flexible appearance. With improved digestion, the body is thus able to absorb essential nutrients better and thus perform its bodily functions better. A healthy interior reflects as a healthier exterior.
- Tai Chi is an aerobic activity. Fats, glycogen and proteins are broken down to produce large amounts of energy in the presence of oxygen. Tai Chi can thus be considered a fat-reducing form of exercise.
Practising Tai Chi has major benefits on one’s health which is applicable to the young and elderly, male and female. Thus the Government in China has made it a regulation that everybody (starting from school aged children) has to do Tai Chi in the morning before starting work.