Tai Chi, health and longevity

Origin and philosophy of Tai Chi

Tai Chi is the ideal martial art for the improvement and restoration of health and thereby improves our physical condition. It builds on the inheritance bequeathed by the Taoists of ancient China and consists of a series of gymnastic exercises based on ancient traditional medicine and the experience of the Daoyin, which was transmitted within the Huashan sect.

• Martial art of ancient China to improve health and our physical condition.
• There is the Yang and Chen style, based on combining three fundamentals: body movement, concentration and conscious breathing.
• Beneficial for: handicapped people, long-lasting and difficult-to-heal injuries, joint mobility and flexibility, coordination and balance, blood circulation, respiratory system, digestion, nervous system ...

They are body movements designed to channel vital energy in order to maintain good health and achieve longevity. It is a gymnastics aimed at channeling the meridians, the circulation of energy, the Chi.

Its particularity consists in harmonically combining its three fundamentals:

• Body movement
• Concentration
• Conscious breathing

There are several main styles, two of the most widespread are the Yang style and the Chen style. Depending on our physical condition, we can be inclined to practice one style or another. In the Yang style, long, smooth movements predominate, without alteration of breath or strength. In the Chen style, you work from relaxation to explosion in the same continuous movement. This is why the first style, Yang, is one of the most suitable for beginners of our second or third youth. This does not mean that its practice is easy, since all relaxed movement has its complications. Novice practitioners have seen how the simple one-arm extension movement can take hours of practice to achieve the fluidity of the relaxed movement.

The movement

• Mind and concentration. Tai Chi should never be practiced, according to Chinese teachers, automatically, as if we were reciting the alphabet while thinking about anything else. It is a very complex composition of different exercises. The activity passes from one part of the body to another without excessive effort in any area and the mind is fully active.
• Softness and lightness. In Tai Chi, the movements are smooth, continuous, light and fluid; it gives the feeling that no effort is required to perform them. However, to be able to practice them, the body must be firm, stable and strong. The mind has to be alert and active. Tai Chi movements are circular, forming arcs and spirals. According to Tai Chi masters, moving in circles helps conserve energy, creates security, and relaxes the nerves.
• Force and movement. During the exercise process, the muscles never become fully tense. The amount of effort and tension used depends entirely on what the position or movement itself requires. muscles are shared in a natural way. Force is never added to the movement, as much force is applied as is necessary to perform the movement.
• Balance. Balance is an essential element in the practice of Tai Chi. Through the control of each movement, the muscles and joints are strengthened. A body balance naturally produces correct posture and lightens movements. Physical balance also contributes to mental and emotional stability.
• Fluency. Tai Chi is continuous and fluid. Each movement, each unit of exercise, is chained to the next without a visible pause. Calm and lightness are manifested in that fluidity. Resistance increases as the ability to maintain that continuity develops.
• Slowness. This is a slow exercise. Breathing must be natural. Slowness helps develop patience and strength. But this does not mean that Tai Chi is unchanged or dynamic. Delicate changes in strength, stillness, and activity alternate constantly throughout the exercise. Variation in dynamic flow produces flexibility and resistance in the practitioner.
• Diversity. The energies dispersed in the body cause diseases when they circulate in a disorderly and chaotic way. Tai Chi helps to feel, unify and guide these energies. Traditional Chinese medicine attributes diseases to an imbalance between Yin and Yang, to remedy it it is necessary to reduce the excess of one and avoid the insufficiency of the other. The exercise was designed to generate what they believed to be the two vital energies of life, ying and yang. The yin represents all things receptive and calm. The yang, all things active and energetic. The various forms oppose yin and yang in the exercise of Tai Chi.

Tai Chi and its therapeutic effects

In the treatment of people with motor disabilities, the contribution of Tai Chi can be very beneficial. Two important aspects appear related to this topic: the globality of the movement and the postures help the person to feel a part of the body in relation to his entire body. On the other hand, the practice awakens a sensitivity that helps to integrate the diminished body part. For long-lasting and difficult-to-heal injuries, Tai Chi exercises can develop a more unified perception while contributing to improvement. It awakens body awareness and facilitates body exploration, thus benefiting joint mobility and flexibility, muscular strength and endurance, coordination and balance.

The circular movements performed without breaks activate the circulation of the blood and regulate it. Abdominal breathing keeps the abdomen flexible and the chest relaxed, turning it into a deep, slow, uniform and smooth breath, providing a greater balance in the functioning of the respiratory system.

Likewise, Tai Chi, since its movements activate intestinal functioning.

The influence of Tai Chi on the nervous system is as tangible as it is obvious. The balanced toning of the nervous system by the unified performance of the movements, exerts an extremely beneficial effect on the whole body, favoring the capacity for attention and calm.

The inhibition of the body can express grief, anguish and mistrust of oneself, etc. The practice of Tai Chi can contribute to favor harmonization, the progressive liberation of movement, breathing and attention. The practice teaches to feel the fluidity of the gestures and to discover the smoothness in the activity. Influence our mind and we will discover how we become less rigid and more flexible.

Attention to breathing allows images and thoughts to express themselves little by little without being invaded by that inner activity. The practice helps to perceive the movement of the inner energy, to feel, to contain the wave of mental activity without fleeing or fighting, It develops the ability to perceive unconscious images and feelings that also correspond to the principle of attention and not fighting which is the basis of Tai Chi. It has a therapeutic benefit when one practices it consistently.

Its practice progressively guarantees a greater harmony with oneself and with the environment, allowing to remedy the imbalances of the conditions in which we live, product of agitated and rigid walking, externally and internally.

«Informative note: the contents included in this section offer information related to existing therapies explained by specialists with experience in the field with an informative objective. MAPFRE does not intend under any circumstances to position itself on its suitability or expressly promote its use. "