Archive for August, 2010
August 28th, 2010 | 
Author: In movement, flexibility is so important and more so in the practice of the Tai Chi Fitness program. The program will aid in joint mobility making you more supple, relieving joint pains and aiding in the recovery of joint injuries.
Tai Chi practice can either be done at a high, intermediary or low height depending on the intensity of the workout required. Stepping wider or longer will intensify your stances improving leg muscle strength, flexibility and also improving the amount of blood flowing through the arteries to the heart, making the exercise more cardiovascular. This non impact activity is easy on the joints.
Consult your doctor or health practitioner before embarking on any exercise program and also inform your trainer of any problems you might have.
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Hands, eyes and feet co-ordination is important for the smooth transition of movement from one stance to the other as Tai Chi’s health benefits lie in its continuous flowing movements from beginning to end.
Coordinating the above with correct breath awareness will help in understanding left and right brain activity to enable you to move fluidly on either side in any direction that the Tai Chi form will take you.
Being able to co-ordinate hands, eyes and feet will assist greatly in learning the different Tai Chi forms. It’ll be just a matter of time as in a class you are given the building blocks to the form.
You are given three to five blocks per session as the brain cannot absorb more. With daily practice and the regular attendance to classes additional building blocks will be learned until the entire form is complete.
In our classes the energy flow of movement is explained and felt. The ability to relax and feel the flow is an exciting aspect of Chi Kung and Tai Chi training.
Tension in the muscles and joints hinder the feeling of the energy flow. One must learn to relax and with continuous practice of Tai Chi and Chi Kung, the energy flow will be felt.
Our bodies have what is called muscle memory and blockages must be eliminated gradually. We do not have to tell our bodies to stress, the body automatically goes into stress mode out of habit and it is this habit that needs to be changed. A habit is hard to break.
Good posture, correct breathing and a positive attitude have to be learned. Our internal dialog has to alter before change can take place.
Attending Tai Chi Fitness classes regularly will be invaluable.
As part of our Tai Chi Fitness program we learn to isolate and strengthen different body parts to enable us to practice endurance. As Tai Chi is a continuous flowing full body program, we need to firstly strengthen our legs so that we can flow smoothly and without effort from one posture to another.
The slow movements enable us to strengthen our balance while moving which in turn will strengthen our feet, ankles, knees and hips.
Balance is another important factor that is concentrated on. Improved balance aids in many other sporting activities as well as for our elderly who are more prone to falling which could be fatal.
As a form of weight reduction our Tai Chi Fitness program focuses on the abdominal area with it’s twisting, turning and bending movements. It helps one to become aware of how to control this vital area where our Chi centre (life force energy) is housed.
Working up the body Tai Chi teaches us to become aware of how we breathe, as we unconsciously sometimes hold our breath or stop breathing, Tai Chi helps us to overcome this bad habit and in time we learn to breathe continuously and rhythmically.
Tai Chi Fitness teaches you how to become aware of each breath and how to co-ordinate upper and lower body movements with correct breath awareness and posture to enable Chi flow from being blocked at energy centers.
Moving further up the body we reach the shoulders that need to be kept relaxed at all times in order to alleviate upper body tension due to stress or the pace of life these days or just habit.
Tai Chi fitness teaches us the correct way to breathe and to control the breath, slowing it down and becoming conscious of how we think in times of stress. Mental focus and improved memory capacity will help in remembering movements of the forms. The program also uses left and right brain co-ordination exercises which will also give you a better sense of health and well being.
The key to your success is daily practice of the program which helps us to be in the moment.