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"Recently, Joseph Audette, professor of physical rehabilitation at Harvard medical school has found that practice of the long forms of Tai Chi Chuan over a period of half an hour uses up the same amount of energy as brisk walking. When he compared the overall benefits of these two forms of excercise in a group of previously sedentary 70 year olds, the Tai Chi group did better on several counts, with stronger lower limb muscles, greater flexibility and improved balance".
This is the kind of information that is being reported by Tai Chi instructors working with people who have suffered from falls, are recovering from hip operations or who have recently started practicing Tai Chi. The positive improvements in balance, strength and flexibility are really tangible with Tai Chi and Chi Gung practice and often over a short period of time. What's more these physical improvements help to create a much more positive outlook for the practitioner.
A study at the Emory School of Medicine reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1995
The study compared the effects of three types of exercise regime, including Tai Chi, on the likelihood of falls in older people.
* The first exercise programme incorporated strength, balance and endurance exercises and reduced the risk of falls by 10%.
* The second programme used balance training alone and reduced the risk of falls by 25%.
* The third programme, consisting of Tai Chi exercises, reduced the risk of falls by a massive 47%.
From a study at the National Taiwan University Hospital
This study found that 30 minutes of Tai Chi daily for six months increased leg muscle strength in the 50 to 60 year old volunteers by upto 20%.
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