“Tai Chi Chuan, the great ultimate, strengthens the weak, raises the sick, invigorates the debilitated, and encourages the timid.” – Cheng Man-ch’ing

GENERAL BENEFITS: TCC develops inner strength, increases muscle tone and flexibility, boosts immunity, reduces stress, increases energy and body awareness, and improves balance and coordination…Men’s Health Magazine, 8 Mar/Apr ’93 p. 66-69. More: https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/7/1/e000817

PHYSIOLOGICAL BENEFITS: TCC increases heart rate and urine noradrenaline excretion and decreased salivary cortisol concentration during practice. Relative to baseline levels, test subjects reported less tension, depression, anger, fatigue, confusion and anxiety; they felt more vigorous, with less total mood disturbance…Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 1989 V. 33 (2) 197-206.

MENTAL HOMEOSTASIS: Psychological homeostasis refers to emotional control or tranquility. The biological function of human emotion and repression is primarily homeostatic. A feedback relationship exists between forms of homeostasis, and the body-mind type of therapies (including acupuncture and TCC) that have a combined physiological, physical, and psychological effect. American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 1981 Spring V. 9 (1) 1-14.

 IMMUNE SYSTEM: A study conducted in China indicates that TCC may increase the number of T lymphocytes in the body. Also know as T-Cells, these lymphocytes help the immune system destroy bacteria and tumor cells. Prevention Magazine V. 42, May 90, p.14-15.

BREATHING, ACHES, BLOOD PRESSURE:  Study participants observed a “big increase in breathing capacity,” a disappearance of back and neck aches; those with high blood pressure claimed a drop of 10 to 15 mm Hg systolic at rest, and all participants claimed to have more energy in their daily work. Hawaii Medical Journal – V. 51 No. 8 August 92.

MENTAL & PHYSICAL STRESS: Mind & body exercises based on a series of progressive choreographed movements coordinated with deep breathing, such as TCC are increasingly replacing high-impact aerobics, long distance running, and other body punishing exercises of the 1980’s. Mind/body workouts are kinder to the joints and muscles and reduce the tension that often contributes to the development of disease, making them especially appropriate for high powered, stressed out baby boomers. Unlike most conventional exercises, these forms are intended to stretch, tone, and relax the whole body instead of isolated parts. Working Woman Magazine V. 20 Feb. 95.

BEYOND TRADITIONAL CARE: Health practitioners encountering clients who are faced with problems that do not seem to respond to traditional health care may employ some of the health traditions of other cultures that view the body and mind as a balanced whole, such as massage, acupuncture and TCC, which focus on the mind/body connection to facilitate healing through relaxation, pressure points, and movement. American Association of Health Nurses Journal, 1993 July, 41 (7) 349-351.

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS: No significant exacerbation of joint symptoms using TCC was observed. TCC appears to be safe for RA patients and weight bearing exercises have the potential advantages of stimulating bone growth and strengthening connective tissue. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, June 1991, 70 (3) p. 136-141.

PSYCHOLOGY: “TCC is a natural and safe vehicle for both clients and staff to learn and experience the benefits of being able to channel, concentrate and co-ordinate their bodies and minds: to learn to relax and to neutralize rather than resist the stress in their personal lives. This is an ability, which we greatly need to nurture in our modern fast-paced society.” Dr. John Beaulieu, N.D., M.T.R.S. Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, N.Y.C. [Refer to the TCC book “The Supreme Ultimate” for full text]

CARDIORESPIRATORY EFFECTS: The data substantiate that practicing TCC regularly may delay the decline of cardio-respiratory function in older individuals. In addition, TCC may be prescribed as a suitable aerobics exercise for older adults. Journal of American Geriatric Society, Nov. 1995, 43 (11) p 1222-1227. TCC lowers blood pressure almost as well as moderate intensity aerobic exercise, according to a study presented at a meeting sponsored by the American Heart Association. The scientists studied 62 sedentary adults, aged 60 years and older, assigning half to a program of brisk walking and low-impact aerobics and the other half to learning TCC. After 12 weeks, systolic blood pressure (the first number in a blood pressure reading) had fallen significantly in both groups, an average of 8.4 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) in the aerobic exercise group and 7 mm Hg in the TCC group. “You better believe we were surprised by those results,” one of the researchers, Dr. Deborah R. Young, MD, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, said in a statement. “We were expecting to see significant changes in the aerobic exercise group and minimal changes in the TCC group. “It could be that in elderly, sedentary people, just getting up and doing some slow movement could be associated with beneficial reductions in high blood pressure.” High blood pressure is a risk factor for stroke and heart attack. Young cautions that the results of her research need to be confirmed by studying a larger group of people. This was subsequently done and confirmed in a February 2024 JAMA article on a research project with pre-hypertensive adults over a 12-month period.

SUPPORT GROUPS RECOMMENDING TCC: Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s Disease, Lupus, Migraines, Chronic Pain.

The excellent Qialance blog has a lengthy list of health benefits with linked sources here.

For a more complete presentation and discussion of the many medical research studies that have investigated TCC, please refer to The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi: 12 Weeks to a Healthy Body, Strong Heart, and Sharp Mind (Harvard Health Publications) by Peter Wayne.

There is a great deal of information available about t’ai chi ch’uan: how-to videos, photos, diagrams, the various schools, styles, and lineages, history, health benefit claims, and numerous books, blogs, and website courses. True of most information these days, there is an overload. Despite this, the central question of the inquisitive person often remains: Why should I do t’ai chi ch’uan (TCC)? That is a fair question. The benefits are not obvious to the casual observer nor is the rationale for continued practice. Yoga, in the most obvious, simplistic view, is a systematized type of stretching and we all have been told or know from experience that stretching and flexibility are positive things. Those who regularly practice yoga for any length of time know that the practice is much more than that, yet it can be seen and appreciated in that simple context. TCC practitioners, on the other hand, don’t seem to really be doing anything other than waving their hands in the air, performing what looks like a pretty but unchallenging, boring, repetitive, slow dance. Videos and claims of great power, of throwing others across a room with a flick of the wrist are legion, however, and the allure of that possibility intrigues those attracted to this more power-oriented aspect of the martial arts. Generally, older individuals are attracted to the claims of improved balance, stamina, longevity, mental health, and stress reduction. Many resonate with the spiritual, meditative, or philosophical depth of TCC. Regardless of what initially draws a person to TCC, with a focussed, attentive practice, all will find what they seek. And more.

Since individual desires and expectations are many, as are the experiences of those who take up the practice, I can only describe my own experience in learning, practicing, and teaching this incredible art and science. As a chiropractor for 40 years, I have reviewed, recommended, and experimented with many different “health regimes” with both myself and patients. In my opinion, there is no more effective, straightforward, elegant, complete, and unified approach to the recovery and maintenance of optimal health and sense of well being than a TCC practice coupled with health-promoting nutrition (variable/personalized). This is based on observing changes in myself, students, and patients, and my knowledge of anatomy, exercise physiology, and endocrinology, especially stress and its effect on the autonomic nervous system.

Humans swim in two seas: the sea of gravity and the sea of consciousness. TCC is unsurpassed, the perfect dorsal fin, if you will, for enhanced equilibrium and less effortful navigation of both the limitless expanse and confining demands of these two invisible, inescapable realms. TCC views the human body as an energetic phenomenon, not simply or primarily a physical, mechanical one. This alone sets it apart from most forms of western exercise and conventional thinking about muscle development, training, and physical effort. Traditional Daoist thought, and current modern physics, views all matter as condensed energy that is in constant flux despite its static or solid appearance. Thus the essential nature of all manifest “forms” of matter is formlessness and constant change. TCC is considered the highest manifestation of Daoism in human activity and this primacy of change is central to Daoism, witnessed by the title of its classic text, The I Ching, or Book of Changes. While eastern art and culture idealize certain conceptual forms, in eastern philosophy the ultimate is that which has no form. What has no form is a shape in constant motion and flux, and what constantly changes contains the potential to manifest as all possible forms.

One translation of “t’ai chi ch’uan” is “action in the realm where yin and yang play.” The concept of yin/yang is central to this idea of change and the limitless possibilities of manifestation. What we commonly regard as “opposites” – dry/wet, stasis/change, fast/slow, simple/complex, up/down, movement/stillness, hard/soft, chaos/order, dark/light, etc.– all express their qualities in relation to their opposite. You can’t have one without the other and the gradation of qualities or ultimate transformation of one to the other is the natural order. In Daoist thought, all creation fluctuates within this duality constantly and eternally. This is represented by the familiar intertwining, black-and-white yin/yang symbol. TCC shares with some other martial arts the idea of receiving and returning or redirecting force rather than using effort in opposition or to generate force unilaterally. In TCC we play and use yin/yang to explore the ability to engender power and force through yielding and softness and to position and inhabit our body in a manner that allows force and power to manifest through us rather than from us. Daoism is called the “Watercourse Way” because water is the ultimate example of power through yielding–there is nothing in nature more malleable yet potentially powerful as water, and our body is about 70% water.

In the Chinese martial arts, the energetic nature of our physical body is “qi” or “chi.” It is not separate from but inherent to our nature and all the natural world. Personal qi is known as Yuan-Qi. It exists in and simultaneously with the condensed form of energy that IS our physical body, all its tissues, organs, etc. The practice of TCC develops the ability to sense and use qi, in ourselves and in others. We speak of developing or cultivating qi, as though it is a “thing” different or separate from “us” that we must gather and hold onto, but I feel it is more accurate and useful to think of it as a flow or movement, and getting out of the way of this expression of our true energetic nature, and removing blocks to the flow, allows us to utilize the ubiquitous availability of limitless qi for health and effortless being and action. So, what stands in the way? Ourselves and our habit of self-identification with the physical body. I believe it’s really as simple as that. How do you stop doing that? That is not so simple. This is where the practice of TCC is so valuable and unique.

Space and a feeling of expansion is central to the practice of TCC. Muscles contract and qi expands. Where there is effort, where there is muscular contraction, there is reduced qi flow. The goal of acupuncture and all Chinese medicine is the normalization of qi by removing blockages to flow. To that end, the TCC practitioner is constantly investigating “Can I empty more? Can I align myself with gravity better to remain upright and move, yet use minimal effort to do so?” TCC practice is not one of addition, but subtraction; not the acquiring of new skills to add to what one is already doing, but “What am I doing in this and every moment that results in unnecessary effort and/or discomfort (mental or physical)?” The result of this attention is to replace dense matter with less dense energy; to suffuse the body, every cell, with this potentiating qi. This not only creates a pleasant sensation of expansion and lightness, like a lessening of gravity even as we simultaneously surrender to it, but also positive changes in stress levels and overall health. TCC refers to the joints as “gates” to energy flow and we always keep the joints open and uncompressed, thereby creating “space” in the joint. In TCC we try to hold our joints in a neutral position at all times and never take them to end range, an obvious difference from yoga. Yoga takes joints to extreme end-range stretch, often for long periods. While advanced yoga practitioners can ideally do this without compressing the joints, it is still true that end range positions are emphasized. Another difference arises from the philosophy of Hinduism versus Daoism. Hinduism views the body as an impediment to spiritual awakening; something to be disciplined, even mortified, as a means of transcendence. Daoism and TCC emphasize deepening the awareness of the physical body, exploring and developing its physical and energetic nature as the gateway to experiencing one’s transcendental Self.

This Self-Realization through occupying and manifesting the transcendental Self simultaneously with the physical body is the cohesion of mind, body, and spirit associated with TCC. We are not doing something in order to unite them. That relationship already exists. TCC simply helps us embody and consciously manifest that unity and cohesion. This is not experienced as an abstract philosophy or mental “idea,” an internal dialogue or thought process, but as a bodily feeling, as “being there.” Being bodily present in the moment, the Now, is a release from the constraints of time, and the anxiety that arises from dwelling in the regrets or memories of the past and the anticipation or fears of the future. Liberation from the constraints of the past and future, through increasing identification with our energetic form, results in a sense of floating or existing beyond Space and Time. I realize this is quite a grandiose claim for any practice. Nonetheless, it has been my experience and is the natural consequence of a regular TCC practice. It does not happen every time I practice. It is totally dependent on the practitioner’s level of attention and focus and the longevity of their practice. Ten years is not an unreasonable amount of time to spend in order to begin to experience this, but regular practice usually begins to provide inklings of it after one. Nonetheless, it is available to those who practice; it is there for the asking. And the more often I can approach that experience, the more it overflows and permeates the rest of my life. Slowing down, being in the present moment, for its own sake rather than any result, is an important part of TCC. The development of a daily “practice” is essential to the unfolding of this potential. I view my practice as Daoist prayer. I surrender to it without anticipation or attachment to outcome, without judgement, without expectation, only attention. In that state, wonderful, pleasurable, and joyful things happen that transform the physical body, the mind, and the spirit that have positive effects on how I inhabit my own body and interact with those around me that, in turn, effects their behavior and life experience and, as a result, the world as a whole.

This is why I practice.