3 ms·

Health benefits of Tai Chi

52 points by helloplanets 2mo ago

cleansy 2mo ago
I saw ads for tai chi for a long time and thought of a Chinese hearts and minds campaign. That article reads like it was sponsored as well. Anyone else with the same impression?
- io84 2mo ago
  Yes, all of the links seem to go through to shopping funnels, even to get a PDF. I’m not seeing any freely downloadable resources. This is basically just an ad.
- lukan 2mo ago
  You think that ads for Tai Chi in general come from the chinese government? Well, as far as I know Tai Chi was already cool in the west, when the communists were still fighting the practice inside china. I highly recommend it in any case.
  - Freedom2 2mo ago
    But what if it's propaganda and we improve our health and lifestyle just based on that?
    - lukan 2mo ago
      Oh, then I will go back to beer and television of course.
  - cleansy 2mo ago
    I have neither a positive nor negative stance towards that practice. At least the Thai government used Thai restaurants and Muay Thai as a softpower booster. It would not surprise me when China does the same. To (assumingly) spend a lot of money to get Havard of all places to advertise for something that you can also get for free on youtube is a clue in my book.
  - Avicebron 2mo ago
    Yeah, my white relatives were practicing Tai Chi before the modern chinese goverment existed lol
- expedited123 2mo ago
  "Guys over 40 shouldn't hit the gym; do Tai Chi walking instead. In 30 days, people won't recognize you anymore."
- orwin 2mo ago
  Tai chi is pushed by a Chinese organisation considered as a dangerous sect by the CCP. Falong something, I can't remember, basically inheritors from a 1980-1990s movement.
- dentemple 2mo ago
  Many of the true old masters of Tai Chi fled to Taiwan during the Cultural Revolution. So, if you want the best of both worlds (to learn Tai Chi AND avoid modern China's soft-power influence), sign up to a school that traces its roots back to Taiwan from that era.
esperent 2mo ago
> A growing body of carefully conducted research is building a compelling case for tai chi ... And yet this article doesn't link a single one. This is just a marketing post, nothing interesting here. I'd expect better from a university.
Squeeeez 2mo ago
"this gentle form of exercise" - cue Chen Xiaowang (head of one of the major styles of Tai Chi) : https://youtu.be/gj6UaEay5Lg https://youtu.be/gj6UaEay5Lg
- lukan 2mo ago
  Yes, at it's core it is a martial arts, not wellness.
  - adrian_b 2mo ago
    More accurately, it was a martial art in the 19th century, when it was practiced by professional bodyguards, but that did not resemble much what is today called Tai Chi. What is practiced today is a health-preserving exercise derived from that martial art. This is the same as for what is today called "karate", whose origin is from a 19th century martial art practiced by professionals, i.e. bodyguards and law-enforcement officials, but from that in the 20th century health-preserving exercises and sportive competitions were derived, which do not look at all like the original art. There are people who claim that they still know which were the martial art techniques from which the movements of the Tai Chi forms were derived, but at least for most of them the claims are unlikely to be true and if they demonstrate a supposedly original movement there usually exists no evidence that it truly was transmitted from the ancient masters and it is not just a modern guess of how the original movement might have been. As a health-preserving exercise, Tai Chi is indeed one of the best.
    - lukan 2mo ago
      "There are people who claim that they still know which were the martial art techniques from which the movements of the Tai Chi forms were derived, but at least for most of them the claims are unlikely to be true and if they demonstrate a supposedly original movement there usually exists no evidence" Erm, with martial arts it is really easy to find out, if something has any (combat) value simply by trying it out in a (training) fight. So I do lot's of martial arts and I can say with confidence some technics of Tai Chi helped me become better. And I know many other fighters who also do Tai Chi. But .. I also don't know anyone who has done just Tai Chi, but also do it.
mark_l_watson 2mo ago
There are a near infinite number of Qi Gong and Tai Chi videos on YouTube. I prefer to following new videos, and where my wife and I live they have Tai Chi and Yoga classes. A great use of time, and the feeling good benefits are manefest.
tmtvl 2mo ago
Tai Chi basically has the exact same 2 major health benefits which various other sports do: 1. Getting otherwise sedentary people moving. 2. Giving people a way to form social bonds with others over a shared hobby. Anything beyond that is probably speculative and may depend on the school/teacher.
- adrian_b 2mo ago
  It is not so simple. Tai Chi, like many other exercises that have been derived from former martial arts, is a complete exercise, for all muscles and articulations, especially when one of the older long forms is practiced, not one of the modern compressed forms. There are a lot of examples of sports or gym practices that are not very good as a health-preserving exercise if they are the only exercise that is done. Tai Chi is among the exercises that can be sufficient even if it is the only exercise that is done. It is not difficult to compose a routine that exercises all the parts of the body, but those are usually more boring than exercises like the Tai Chi forms.
- deleted 2mo ago
  [deleted]
PrimalPower 2mo ago
Tai Chi is interested. It's essentially a standing form of yoga. IMO, in theory it's even more useful for desk workers than yoga. If you look at the history of Ashtanga Yoga, it was primarily developed for the traditional life. Where even non-laborers spent a significant amount of time on their feet and moving around. This is why doctors, nursers, actors, laborers, retail workers, etc... sing praises about yoga. I struggled to get much out of it, as I found it stretched the stuff that wasn't that tight for me and didn't focus on my problem areas. The martial arts background of Tai Chi, alongside the pivot to longevity focused practices in East Asia, makes Tai Chi uniquely suited to the woes of a desk worker. Unfortunately Tai Chi lacks serious standardization or centralization, so it's hard to know if a particular school/class will work for you nor is it as easy to self-study. Of course, you don't need the Eastern traditions to obtain these same benefits. Dynamic stretching, Pilates, and functional strength training can work too, but I find that the eastern stuff has a meditative/spiritual aspect that regular training does not.

52 points by helloplanets 2mo ago

I saw ads for tai chi for a long time and thought of a Chinese hearts and minds campaign. That article reads like it was sponsored as well. Anyone else with the same impression?

io84 2mo ago
Yes, all of the links seem to go through to shopping funnels, even to get a PDF. I’m not seeing any freely downloadable resources. This is basically just an ad.
lukan 2mo ago
You think that ads for Tai Chi in general come from the chinese government? Well, as far as I know Tai Chi was already cool in the west, when the communists were still fighting the practice inside china. I highly recommend it in any case.
- Freedom2 2mo ago
  But what if it's propaganda and we improve our health and lifestyle just based on that?
  - lukan 2mo ago
    Oh, then I will go back to beer and television of course.
- cleansy 2mo ago
  I have neither a positive nor negative stance towards that practice. At least the Thai government used Thai restaurants and Muay Thai as a softpower booster. It would not surprise me when China does the same. To (assumingly) spend a lot of money to get Havard of all places to advertise for something that you can also get for free on youtube is a clue in my book.
- Avicebron 2mo ago
  Yeah, my white relatives were practicing Tai Chi before the modern chinese goverment existed lol
expedited123 2mo ago
"Guys over 40 shouldn't hit the gym; do Tai Chi walking instead. In 30 days, people won't recognize you anymore."
orwin 2mo ago
Tai chi is pushed by a Chinese organisation considered as a dangerous sect by the CCP. Falong something, I can't remember, basically inheritors from a 1980-1990s movement.
dentemple 2mo ago
Many of the true old masters of Tai Chi fled to Taiwan during the Cultural Revolution. So, if you want the best of both worlds (to learn Tai Chi AND avoid modern China's soft-power influence), sign up to a school that traces its roots back to Taiwan from that era.

esperent 2mo ago

> A growing body of carefully conducted research is building a compelling case for tai chi ... And yet this article doesn't link a single one. This is just a marketing post, nothing interesting here. I'd expect better from a university.

Squeeeez 2mo ago

"this gentle form of exercise" - cue Chen Xiaowang (head of one of the major styles of Tai Chi) : https://youtu.be/gj6UaEay5Lg https://youtu.be/gj6UaEay5Lg

lukan 2mo ago
Yes, at it's core it is a martial arts, not wellness.
- adrian_b 2mo ago
  More accurately, it was a martial art in the 19th century, when it was practiced by professional bodyguards, but that did not resemble much what is today called Tai Chi. What is practiced today is a health-preserving exercise derived from that martial art. This is the same as for what is today called "karate", whose origin is from a 19th century martial art practiced by professionals, i.e. bodyguards and law-enforcement officials, but from that in the 20th century health-preserving exercises and sportive competitions were derived, which do not look at all like the original art. There are people who claim that they still know which were the martial art techniques from which the movements of the Tai Chi forms were derived, but at least for most of them the claims are unlikely to be true and if they demonstrate a supposedly original movement there usually exists no evidence that it truly was transmitted from the ancient masters and it is not just a modern guess of how the original movement might have been. As a health-preserving exercise, Tai Chi is indeed one of the best.
  - lukan 2mo ago
    "There are people who claim that they still know which were the martial art techniques from which the movements of the Tai Chi forms were derived, but at least for most of them the claims are unlikely to be true and if they demonstrate a supposedly original movement there usually exists no evidence" Erm, with martial arts it is really easy to find out, if something has any (combat) value simply by trying it out in a (training) fight. So I do lot's of martial arts and I can say with confidence some technics of Tai Chi helped me become better. And I know many other fighters who also do Tai Chi. But .. I also don't know anyone who has done just Tai Chi, but also do it.

mark_l_watson 2mo ago

There are a near infinite number of Qi Gong and Tai Chi videos on YouTube. I prefer to following new videos, and where my wife and I live they have Tai Chi and Yoga classes. A great use of time, and the feeling good benefits are manefest.

tmtvl 2mo ago

Tai Chi basically has the exact same 2 major health benefits which various other sports do: 1. Getting otherwise sedentary people moving. 2. Giving people a way to form social bonds with others over a shared hobby. Anything beyond that is probably speculative and may depend on the school/teacher.

adrian_b 2mo ago
It is not so simple. Tai Chi, like many other exercises that have been derived from former martial arts, is a complete exercise, for all muscles and articulations, especially when one of the older long forms is practiced, not one of the modern compressed forms. There are a lot of examples of sports or gym practices that are not very good as a health-preserving exercise if they are the only exercise that is done. Tai Chi is among the exercises that can be sufficient even if it is the only exercise that is done. It is not difficult to compose a routine that exercises all the parts of the body, but those are usually more boring than exercises like the Tai Chi forms.
deleted 2mo ago
[deleted]

PrimalPower 2mo ago

Tai Chi is interested. It's essentially a standing form of yoga. IMO, in theory it's even more useful for desk workers than yoga. If you look at the history of Ashtanga Yoga, it was primarily developed for the traditional life. Where even non-laborers spent a significant amount of time on their feet and moving around. This is why doctors, nursers, actors, laborers, retail workers, etc... sing praises about yoga. I struggled to get much out of it, as I found it stretched the stuff that wasn't that tight for me and didn't focus on my problem areas. The martial arts background of Tai Chi, alongside the pivot to longevity focused practices in East Asia, makes Tai Chi uniquely suited to the woes of a desk worker. Unfortunately Tai Chi lacks serious standardization or centralization, so it's hard to know if a particular school/class will work for you nor is it as easy to self-study. Of course, you don't need the Eastern traditions to obtain these same benefits. Dynamic stretching, Pilates, and functional strength training can work too, but I find that the eastern stuff has a meditative/spiritual aspect that regular training does not.