No Pain, No Gain: Togetherness Counts

Tai chi players take note! Researchers are finding that athletes do better when training with others. Emma Cohen at Oxford University found that rowers' pain thresholds were higher when working out in a group, as opposed to in isolation. "Data in other studies suggest that co-ordinated physical exercise can heighten social bonds....As the rowers had been teammates for nearly a year it is possible that the mere presence of friends explains the observed effect." (Reported in The Economist, 9/19/09).

Getting to Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is presenting a fabulous festival of Chinese culture this fall in New York City: everything from the Shanghai Orchestra to the Zhang Family village band and puppets, Lang Lang to Yo-Yo Ma, urban to rural, secular to religious, traditional to contemporary, art, dance, percussion, pipa, qin, calligraphy, films. Not to be missed!

"Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture pays tribute to a vibrant culture and its influence around the globe with 21 days of events and exhibitions at Carnegie Hall and partner institutions throughout New York City. It features leading Chinese musicians, including artists and ensembles traveling outside of China for the first time, performing myriad genres of music. This festival also includes traditional marionette theater, dance, exhibitions, and much more—a true immersion into a world that mixes ancient and modern, familiar and new."
For information, see their site.

Tai Chi for Dizziness

Dizziness is no fun for those who suffer from vestibular disorders. Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery reports on a study "Tai Chi as a form of vestibular rehabilitation" by Paul S. Lee MD, that used tai chi to help people with dizziness who've not been helped by conventional treatments.

"Researchers conducted a questionnaire study from April 2008 to March 2009 at an outpatient rehabilitation program, utilizing the activities-specific balance confidence scale and dynamic gait index survey, both prior to therapy and at the conclusion of an eight-week course. A total of 21 patients (18 females, 3 males) completed the study to date. Patients reported subjective improvements in their vestibular symptoms. Researchers theorize that the technique may be effective because Tai Chi promotes coordination through relaxation, rather than muscular coordination."

The findings were presented October 2009 at a conference of the American Academy of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery.

The Brain-Power Workout

Tai Chi for health? You betcha: balance, relaxation, lower blood pressure, coordination...the list goes on. Now here's what one article says: "Studies have long shown that tai chi improves balance. Now research demonstrates it may also protect the area of the brain responsible for the sense of touch. In a recent Harvard study, 50- to 60-year-olds who did tai chi had a more acute sense of feeling in their fingertips, equivalent to that of people nearly half their age." The article offers a one-week "brain-power workout" to help brain function. ("The brain-power workout" India Today 9/16/09).

International Taiji Symposium a Great Success

"More than 400 Tai Chi masters, scholars and practitioners from across the world came to Vanderbilt this summer for a special symposium sponsored by the Vanderbilt Center for Integrative Health." Read the article at the Vanderbilt Medical Center's Reporter and a report by a participant at the Yang Family Bulletin Board
. Taijiquan Journal's editor Barbara Davis' findings on creating short forms for special populations was presented.

Tai Chi is "Medicine in Motion"

Around the US, people continue to discover the benefits of tai chi practice. In New York City, there's a plan to "overhaul or build new [seniors' centers], which would offer a range of activities and services, including tai chi classes and bloood pressure checks." (New York Times 8/26/09).

Meanwhile, in nearby Baltimore, the newspaper extolled tai chi in a lengthy article, calling it "medicine in motion. The story in the Baltimore Sun, for the full story that outlines research in the field from tai chi's use in arthritis, fall prevention, Parkinsons, breast cancer, and more. (8/25/09)

New Books--August 2009

Two books on taijiquan:
The Complete Taiji Dao: The Art of the Chinese Saber by Zhang Yun (Blue Snake Books). "The dao, a single-edged sword with a curved blade, is one of the most popular weapons in traditional Chinese martial arts. The art of Taiji Dao is a set of skills for using the dao, derived from the popular martial art Taijiquan. One of the most important aspects of Taijiquan practice."

The Philosophy of Tai Chi Chuan: Wisdom from Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Other Great Thinkers by Freya Boedicker and Martin Boedicker(Blue Snake Books) "The essence of Tai Chi Chuan lies in the rich philosophy of ancient China. While most Tai Chi practitioners are aware of the value that studying Chinese philosophy can bring to their practice, it is often difficult to pick out those texts that are most relevant to Tai Chi...."

Two new books from Three Pines Press focus on Daoism:
Beyond the Daode jing: Twofold Mystery in Tang Daoism by Friederike Assandri
"Developing at a time of intense interaction and debate among Daoists and Buddhists, Twofold Mystery integrates many originally Buddhist concepts into a Daoist theory of salvation based on, yet going beyond, the Daode jing. Heir to the philosophical tradition of Dark Learning or Mystery Study as well as to Daoist devotional and immortality schools of the Six Dynasties, Twofold Mystery is key to understanding medieval Daoist thought."

Internal Alchemy: Self, Society and the Quest for Immortality book coverInternal Alchemy: Self, Society, and the Quest for Immortality edited by Livia Kohn and Robin R. Wang
"Internal alchemy (neidan) has been the dominant system of Daoist spiritual practice since the Song dynasty, when it was defined as the complex integration of multiple forms of Daoist self-cultivation. Its practitioners transform body energies into subtle levels of spirit and pure cosmic being, hoping to find illumination by returning to the fundamental order of the cosmos and in the process reconcile physiological training with intellectual speculation."