Tai Ji Quanis a major division of Chinese martial art. Literally, Tai Ji Quan means “supreme ultimate fist”; Tai means “supreme”, Ji means “ultimate”, and Quan means “fist.”
Tai chi chuan is an internal Chinese martial art often practiced for health reasons. Tai chi is typically practiced for a variety of other personal reasons: its hard and soft martial art technique, demonstration competitions, health and longevity. Consequently, a multitude of training forms exist, both traditional and modern, which correspond to those aims. Some of tai chi chuan’s training forms are well known to Westerners as the slow motion routines that groups of people practice together every morning in parks around the world, particularly in China.

Tai Ji Quan has its philosophical roots in Taoism and is considered an internal martial art, utilizing internal energy, or Qi, and following the simple principle of “subduing the vigorous by the soft”. Taoism is the oldest philosophy in China which is represented by the famous symbol ofYin and Yangwhich expresses the continuous flow of Qi in a circular motion that generates two opposite forces, plus and minus, which interact and balance each other to bring existence to the physical and metaphysical world.

Health benefits

Before tai chi’s introduction to Western students, the health benefits of tai Ji chuan were largely explained through the lens of traditional Chinese medicine, which is based on a view of the body and healing mechanisms not always studied or supported by modern science. Today, tai chi is in the process of being subjected to rigorous scientific studies in the West. Now that the majority of health studies have displayed a tangible benefit in some areas to the practice of tai chi, health professionals have called for more in-depth studies to determine mitigating factors such as the most beneficial style, suggested duration of practice to show the best results, and whether tai chi is as effective as other forms of exercise.

In September 2009 the National Institutes of Health will hold its first ever Mind-Body Week, and among the invited keynote speakers is Roger Jahnke (co-founder of the National Qigong Association), and Bill Douglas (Founder of World Tai Chi & Qigong Day), who will speak on the usefulness of tai chi and qigong as part of modern healthcare, and how it may save society huge sums of money in future health costs by spreading the use of tai chi and qigong in modern society at all levels.

Chronic conditions

Researchers have found that intensive tai chi practice shows some favorable effects on the promotion of balance control, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness and reduced the risk of falls in both healthy elderly patients,and those recovering from chronic stroke, heart failure, high blood pressure, heart attacks, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and osteoarthritis. Tai chi’s gentle, low impact movements burn more calories than surfing and nearly as many as downhill skiing.

Tai chi, along with yoga, has reduced levels of LDLs 20–26 milligrams when practiced for 12–14 weeks.A thorough review of most of these studies showed limitations or biases that made it difficult to draw firm conclusions on the benefits of tai chi.[16] A later study led by the same researchers conducting the review found that tai chi (compared to regular stretching) showed the ability to greatly reduce pain and improve overall physical and mental health in people over 60 with severe osteoarthritis of the knee. In addition, a pilot study, which has not been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, has found preliminary evidence that tai chi and related qigong may reduce the severity of diabetes.

A recent study evaluated the effects of two types of behavioral intervention, tai chi and health education, on healthy adults, who after 16 weeks of the intervention, were vaccinated with VARIVAX, a live attenuated Oka/Merck Varicella zoster virus vaccine. The tai chi group showed higher and more significant levels of cell-mediated immunity to varicella zoster virus than the control group which received only health education. It appears that tai chi augments resting levels of varicella zoster virus-specific cell-mediated immunity and boosts the efficacy of the varicella vaccine. Tai chi alone does not lessen the effects or probability of a shingles attack, but it does improve the effects of the varicella zoster virus vaccine.

Stress and mental health

There have also been indications that tai chi might have some effect on noradrenaline and cortisol production with an effect on mood and heart rate. However, the effect may be no different than those derived from other types of physical exercise.In one study, tai chi has also been shown to reduce the symptoms of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in 13 adolescents. The improvement in symptoms seem to persist after the tai chi sessions were terminated.

In June, 2007 the United States National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine published an independent, peer-reviewed, meta-analysis of the state of meditation research, conducted by researchers at the University of Alberta Evidence-based Practice Center. The report reviewed 813 studies (88 involving Tai Chi) of five broad categories of meditation: mantra meditation, mindfulness meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong. The report concluded that “[t]he therapeutic effects of meditation practices cannot be established based on the current literature,” and [f]irm conclusions on the effects of meditation practices in healthcare cannot be drawn based on the available evidence.

The Online Tai Chi & Health Information Center funded by the U.S. Government

In 2003, the National Library of Medicine, the largest medical library in the world and subdivision of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, awarded a grant to build a website titled “The Tai Chi & Consumer Health Information Center”. The information center was officially released in 2004 and has since then been providing scientific, reliable and comprehensive information about various health benefits of Tai Chi – for arthritis, diabetes, fall prevention, pain reduction, mental health, cardiovascular diseases, fitness and general well being.