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Origin

From the Land of the Sleeping Giant, China. One of the legendary and respected founders who created the idea of imitating the flow and motion of the different martial art techniques is Chang San Feng. He is said to live during the year 1391 until 1459. Back then, he was living in a monastery named Wu Tang as a monk. By combining the different principles of Taoism, kung fu, and the theory of Yi Jing, he created the ever popular form of meditation, Tai Chi.

Some researches indicated that traces of a wide acceptance of Tai Chi were found in the village of Chen. This was the time of Chen Wang Ting during the early 1600s. Documents have it that this is the place where Tai Chi was born.

Characteristic

Tai Chi, in a word, literary means One. In another sense, it means “Supreme Ultimate Fist”. So, with the words combined, Tai Chi is done as one, with or without a partner, with the use of hand gestures and different slow motions. Tai Chi stresses to its practitioners that they must observe proper breathing, and correct posture so as to facilitate the pattern of the flowing Chi. However, Tai Chi can also be used as a form of self-defense but as time moves forward, it is less stressed.

Schools

Today, there are four popular schools of Tai Chi – Yang, Wu, Sun and Chen. These four are all unique in appearance and method of instruction but all follows the fundamentals of the basic principles applied in ancient Tai Chi that consists of cultivation of chi, correct posture and principles of breathing.

Yang Style

This is the most famous and popular form of Tai Chi. In this kind of style, the body emphasizes a consistency regarding its movement speed, smoothness and slow but refined motion with continuity through the entire session. There are no moves that will isolate one part of your body, thus, enhancing every part and move at the same time. Relative to stances, they are wide and high. You back foot must maintain a 45 degree form in a front stance.

Chen Style

May be quite similar to the traditional style of kung fu wherein stances are opposite to that of the Yang and Wu styles. All stances are often done in a low state and have a bit of an external feeling.

When the Chen style of Tai Chi is performed, it features a motion that is in slow portions but then builds a stronger inner chi. it also exhibits a more explosive form with a fast turning when attacking. The back foot remains the same with the Yang style but as to being straight, it maintains a bent back knee.

Sun Style

This type of Tai Chi was created in the year 1914 by Sun Lu Tang. He was already renowned in the world of martial arts at that time. He trained extensively in Hsing I, Bagua, and Shaolin Kung Fu. By combining the three together with the theory supported by Yi Jing, principles of Taoism, and Qigong, he created a new and unique style of Tai Chi.

Wu Style

As believed, Tai Chi can increase the flow of energy thus increasing the strength and promoting the serenity and harmony in every system of the body. It’s the meditative and calming aspect of Tai Chi that makes the movements useful in every aspect that can reduce or otherwise eliminate anxiety and stress forming inside the body. It was confirmed by those who underwent sessions of Tai Chi that it really works for personal well-being.

As an exercise, Tai Chi can increase the strength of muscles and enhance the flexibility and balance of a person. Those who practice Tai Chi is exploiting the powers of yin and yang therefore the exercise are designed to especially express the forces in a harmonious and balanced form.

Not only can Tai Chi relax the mind and the soul but also prevent the extent of certain illnesses to spread through the body. It is a very good way of maintaining health. Tai Chi is not a disease curing technique but can be complemented as a form of therapy.

Balance

One of the major causes of disability and death among the elderly is loss of coordination or in more ways than one, falling. By practicing Tai Chi, balance in older people can improve thus reducing the risk of falling.

Arthritis

Tai Chi can be used to increase the range of motion without even causing a twinge of pain to the arthritic joint plus improving the flexibility of the bones and strengthening the surrounding muscles. It is not to be addressed that Tai Chi can cure the disease itself but it only lessens its severity and the contributing pain by working on those joints as early as possible.

Circulation

Problems regarding the circulatory process of the heart can be remedied by involving oneself in Tai Chi. By practicing Tai Chi, it can enable the heart to pump enough blood throughout the body and thereby improving the system’s circulation.

Multiple Sclerosis

Through Tai Chi, a person can reduce the risk of having, in time, multiple sclerosis. This was stated under foremost studies that Tai Chi can improve the mental and physical well-being of a person.

Stress

Studies show that stress is one of the major causes of numerous diseases and disorders that is why there have been ways used to lessen a person’s stress. One of which is engaging in Tai Chi. As a meditation function, Tai Chi can reduce the production of toxins and hormones that contributes to stress reflected into the organs in the body.

For your Tai Chi experience to become more reproductive and effective, choose a practitioner that is a master of the different aspects and knows what is best for your present day situation.

There are no age limits when it comes to practicing Tai Chi. Everyone is welcome to join. Although, if you are really old and can no longer take such vigorous activities, better consult your physician on what is best before engaging in Tai Chi.

Derived from the Taiji symbol which, in the Western areas know as the yin and yang, Tai Chi was said to be the practice that preserved the oldest schools of learning which study the receptive and active principles.

Core training has two features primarily: the solo form, which emphasizes slow sequence of movements maintaining a straight and firm spine, range of motion and fine abdominal breathing; and the Push Hands which involve training of the principles of movement in a more practical and convenient way.

As the word implies, the solo form of Tai Chi, requires only the one person to conquer the movements. It would take the students through a natural and complete range of motion over gravity’s center. If repeated accurately, the practice of the solo form can retain posture, maintain honest flexibility going through the joints and muscles, encourage proper circulation from any point of the student’s body, and let students be more familiarized with some of the important martial art application sequences that are usually implied by the different forms.

Major styles of traditional Tai Chi have forms that somewhat differ from the others, cosmetically. Some differ in the wave of the hands, in the position of the legs, the reaction of the body and the pace of the movement. But these are all irrelevant because what is important to Tai Chi training is that it benefits not only the body but the mind as well. Although, there are many similarities coming from the point of their common origin that are obvious enough to recognize.

Solo forms, weapons and empty-hands  are movements that are commonly practiced individually in martial arts application and pushing hands. Scenarios like these are intended to prepare the students for training of self-defense.

The philosophy goes: if one becomes stiff and equally uses hardness in attending to violence, otherwise resisting it, then it is expected that both sides can be injured at a certain degree. An injury like that is a Tai Chi theory that coincides with the consequence of fighting brute with brute, which, in Tai Chi is far beyond the right attitude and style.

Unlike in other martial arts wherein force is applied to some measure, in Tai Chi, students are taught that instead of battling it out or directly resisting an incoming force, they should meet it with the must subtle movements and softness, following every attacking motion and in the end, exhausting the attacking force. This is all done while remaining at a close contact manner. This is the principle wherein the yin and yang is applied. If this method is done correctly, the yin-yang balance in combating is the primary goal of training Tai Chi.

Aside from that, Tai Chi schools also focus their attention on how the energy of a striking person affects his opponent. For example, the palm can strike physically looking the same and performing the same but has a different and dramatic effect on the target.

A palm can strike and push the person either forward or backward. It is done in such a way that the opponents are lifted vertically from the ground thus breaking and deforming their center of gravity.

Practicing Tai Chi is not merely a swing of the arm and the movement of the feet. There is a reason behind every movement and style that is made. These concepts paved the way to building every form of Tai Chi. So you have to pay close attention on the things that are not brought up every once in a while because even though if things seem so basic, they are indeed important.

Here are 10 of the most important concepts of Tai Chi that you should never take for granted. Remember these and it will make you appreciate more the forms that are performed.

Concept #1

Tai Chi is done with emphasis on every movement and the fashion of every pattern must be in connected with one another. Meaning every motion made must always start from the spine, going down to the waist, then moving lower to the legs and the feet, then it is simultaneously going up to the body then the arms, hands and last, the fingers.

Concept #2

Maintain your shoulders dropped so that any tension will be eliminated. Shoulders that are always propped are said to have overflowing tension.

Concept #3

Your wrists must always be straight in order to form a lady’s hand if you are performing the Cheng form. All points apply to all forms of Tai Chi but the lady’s hand is basic and a very important trait of the Cheng form in order to cultivate the energy flowing in the body.

Concept #4

Moving slowly should always be done every step of the way. It can never be overemphasized because the slow smoothness of your motions will improve the connection of your body and your environment.

Concept #5

Never let anything disconnect you. You should always stay connected with every instruction. If you have been disconnected, continue to perform the movements and listen carefully to the instructions so that you can overcome any distraction.

Concept #6

Your knees must always be bent during the entire form. Your height must not bob down and up. There are some considerations but all the while, your height must always be maintained at a level that is constant.

Concept #7

The power of Tai Chi travels differently from the movement of Tai Chi. Power of Tai Chi will start from the feet going up to the legs, controlling the shoulders, and will be expressed by the fingers and hands.

Concept #8

Your head must be maintained as if it was suspended on air.

Concept #9

Your chest must be depressed and your back should be raised but this must be done without exerting any force.

Concept #10

Your breath must be focused on your dan-tien but force must not be exerted. As time in the program may pass, there will be accomplishments that will fulfill you like synchronizing your breathing with the movements that you make.

Yoga has been described as a science which seeks to achieve the harmonious and balanced development of the body, mind and soul.  It is a system which allows us to bring culture, balance and happiness to ourselves.  It works via a need for strong mental discipline and the ancient theories, which it is based on regarding the interconnection between the mind and body, are now being regularly supported by modern scientific theory.  Yoga consists of a number of different exercises or poses.

Examples of these poses are the cat and cow poses.  Both are connected and begin with you on all fours on the floor.  Arching the back upwards like a cornered cat places you in the cat pose and the reverse, lowering the back puts you into the cow pose.

Another common form of exercise is a forward bend that will help in the stretching of the lower back and hamstring muscles.  There are a number of other advantages to forward bends:  They release tension in the back neck and shoulder as well as increasing the flexibility of the spine.  Forward bends can be uncomfortable if you have any injuries in the next or back area, but regularly performing will help assists in the recovery of these injuries and even strengthen the area for the future.

The counterpart of a forward bend is a back bend.  These open up the chest, hips and rib cage area.  As well as strengthening the arms, they also provide increased strength and flexibility to the shoulders.  This type of exercise is fantastic at increasing the stability of the spine, but is also useful for relieving built up tension along the front of the body and the hips.  The relationship between back and forward bends is a perfect example of the importance of the bodies balance in Yoga.  

Hatha Yoga poses were developed in India during the fifteenth century.  They are designed as an aid to relaxation and healing and usually introduced with a concept of "the contemplation of one reality".  The result of using these exercises properly and in conjunction with suitable breathing exercises and meditation is an increase in vitality, physical health and a stronger mental health. Hatha Yoga exercises have become a part of numerous different Yoga disciplines over the years and it's quite common to see exercises such as the half moon posture, the bow posture of the salutation posture even if it is not Hatha Yoga you are practising.  This is because the principles of Yoga and the movements and balances required are fairly consistent from one discipline to another.

Another simple Yoga exercise is doing the twist.  Twists will strengthen and stretch your back or abdominal muscles and help to increase the flexibility of your spine.  They also aid in increasing your bodies circulation that brings oxygen supplies to your cells.  This fresh blood and oxygen supply that is released as you twist will improve the functioning of your bodies internal organs.

For a lot of people the first image that will pop into their head when they think of Yoga is a little old man in a loincloth sitting on top of a stone pillar with his legs crossed and his arms on his knees.  He's probably chanting, humming or got a look of relaxation and serenity on his face.  I'm not a person who likes to sit still and I hate any minute that I feel is wasted so this idea of sitting around doing nothing all day was not something that appealed to me.  I've changed that initial perception quite a lot and in this article I want to tell you about the personal journey that taught me about the benefits of yoga for a very non-spiritual person.

The first yoga class I ever went to I spend a lot of time sitting in silence with a bored expression on my face and thinking, "This is so dumb".  I listened to the instructor drone on about inner peace and harmony and balance and energy flowing through my body and I was pretty close to never going back again.  Then I got lucky.

One of the guys in the class was a professor at the local university and it struck me as a little strange that a professor of biology would be doing this spiritual Yoga thing.  I got an opportunity and speak to him briefly.  Actually he singled me out and observed I looked bored.  He explained he had felt the same way when he began and then he translated the instructors talk into biology terms and it was all very sound.

That hit me like a ton of bricks.  As I thought on it more and more I could see this from a purely scientific point of view.  For instance take the 'energy' that flows through our body.  A lot of people are turned off when they start to hear talk like that, but it's a very core component of Yoga.  I substituted 'blood' for energy and looked at this thought process again.

I know that blood carries nutrients and oxygen around our body.  I know that if our cells don't receive these nutrients and supplements they become weak and we can become ill.  I know that people can become sick if they have high or low blood pressure.  The regular healthy flow of blood is clearly a very important factor in us staying healthy.  Of course, Yoga was first used many hundreds of years ago and while it would be arrogant to assume that we know everything about circulation and blood flow, we certainly know more than the average Chinese peasant from that time.  "Energy" is just a nice word that anyone can understand for blood flow.  

Yoga stretches out certain muscle areas and allows our blood to flow more freely and bring the nutrients to all parts of the body which need them.  That is a nice scientific explanation I am quite happy to accept.  You can do the same with the other 'alternative' terminology you don't relate to when you hear the instructor talking about it.  Inner peace, oneness, emotional calm - it's all just a very dressed up way of saying concentrate on one thing - your blood flow and the health it is bringing you, or your breathing and the supply of life giving oxygen it brings you.  Concentrate on that just for this one small part of the day and make being alive and healthy your only goal.  Forget about what's happening at the office because you cannot do it from here.  Forget about what your husband or wife is doing or whether the kids are being bullied at school and just concentrate on being you, being alive and being healthy.

Now stress has been attributed as a major factor in over 40% of all medical issues.  Stress, in a nutshell is caused by thinking too much.  This practice shows us how to let all those worries be something we can think about later and leaves the brain free to concentrate on doing all it's vital health giving functions.  

Yoga is different things to different people, so what it means to you will depend greatly on how you were introduced to it and how you enjoyed your initial experiences with it.  For some people Yoga is simply a method of exercising that ensures they have a healthy supple body.  For other people Yoga transcends a method of exercise and is a spiritual experience that allows them to find the balance and centring their lives need.  This type of Yoga comes closer to a life philosophy than any other.

Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga is often placed in this final type when assessing it's place as a Yoga discipline.  It descends from a document known as Korunta Yoga which deals with the 8 spiritual movements which are described by Patanjali in Sutra Yoga.  Today most Yoga disciplines are directly descended from the descriptions of Yoga exercises in these documents, and so most forms of Yoga are variations of Ashtanga Vinyasi.  

Getting a complete understanding of Ashtanga Yoga is important as it's proponents treat it as more that a form of exercise.  While it's base is in physical movement it is suggested that it's power in fact comes from the strength of spirit that is developed from regular and disciplined practice of the 8 stages of Yoga. Through the eight stages of Yoga the body and mind become pure, and so they are seen as a purifying discipline.  

Furthermore the discipline of Ashtanga Vinyasa deals with a profound and deep way of relating to others.  The closest word to describe this aspect of the Yoga discipline is manners, but it really does go beyond that.  Yoga is a discipline of balance, and the physical balance required to complete many of the exercises should be mirrored by an internal balance or harmony of the soul.  It is said that a hyperactive person canot be successful with Yoga and this is true on several levels.  Firstly they lack the discipline to sit calmly through the exercises, but they also lack the mental calm to focus wholly and completely on a single task. Yoga requires deep concentrating on the simple act of breathing and feeling the breath bring life to different areas of your body.

The power of Yoga is found in it's combination of the physical strength and flexibility needed to complete movements and the mental discipline that is required to maintain them.  Yoga is not just a form of exercise but most often it is thought of as a form of meditation.  Meditating successfully with Yoga requires a pureness of thought and singularity of focus that is not found in most modern exercise programs.  It seeks to bring the body back into balance and focus on maintaining that balance.

There are a great many people who are in the unfortunate position of having to live with painful aches and pains caused by severely damaged or inflamed joints.  For some people it is a discomfort, and that is bad enough, but for others arthritis can turn them into a virtual cripples.  Arthritis has been something that has affected people throughout history since prehistoric times, but it is only recently that we have begun to understand it.

Arthritis is a join disease that can cause problems in any area of the body where two or more bones intersect.  The arthritis itself can affect the join in a number of different ways, targeting different areas such as the synovium, the muscles or tendons or the cartilage.  Cartilage is the soft protective material that protects the ends of the joints from rubbing against each other and the entire join is encased in a type of capsule that is lined with the tissue synovium.

Arthritis is a broad term which we use to describe a group of over 100 disease that effect these area of the body.  Wherever there is a problem involving inflammation around the joints and associated discomfit in movement we refer to it as arthritis despite the multiple different causes that can lead to this.  The other common name that is used in the same broad fashion is rheumatism.

Because it affects so many people arthritis is a very public problem and is discussed openly and frequently.  Roughly one in every seven Americans is thought to have arthritis in some form and relieving the pain of Arthritis is a primary concern for all people suffering from it.  Some people take medication, but others have found relief from the pain in exercises performed at a gentle pace and intensity.  Yoga is the perfect example of this type of exercise.

Yoga is a very old art originating in India up to 4000 years ago.  It uses poses or postures along with deeply controlled breathing exercises that lead to benefits to the body mind and spirit.  Yoga is a very versatile form of exercise and meditation and it is used, in different forms, to treat a very wide range of medical conditions and injuries including such diverse areas as fibromyalgia, arthritic, migraine headaches, chronic pain, and sports injuries.

The common misconception with using Yoga for arthritis pain is that it will mean contorting and bending the body in unnatural ways in an effort to force the body to accept the pain and develop some level of comfort.  The core attributes of a Yoga for Arthritis Program are still going to be breathing and meditation but the exercises are specially catered to the individuals level of movement and comfort. Stretching will still be involved but they are a part of Yoga's core statement of developing balance and harmony between the body and mind and enhancing the bodies strength and flexibility.  Each pose or position assumed during a Yoga workout has a specific purpose and a specific physical benefit. Sometimes the poses will be done in rapid succession to create heat in the body, a style known as Vinyasa Yoga, and sometimes they are performed more slowly to increase the level of stamina, perfection in the pose and core strength through holding the pose.  The poses themselves remain the same but how they are entered and approached will vary greatly from discipline to discipline and teacher to teacher.