Spotlight: Tai Chi

by Colleen M. Quinn

For many people with a job, family, and a life, the usual recommendation to relieve stress by relaxing is easier said than done. “Relax!” “Work out!” “Do something fun!” is the usual advice that often goes unheeded, not because it’s untrue, but often because these are goals that are difficult to obtain in such a hectic life.

Fortunately, there is a solution to this dilemma, an effective practice that anyone can do, regardless of age or athletic ability. Doctors and advocates alike name it as a great part of a healthy lifestyle. The practice is tai chi, and is a 2,000 year old Chinese martial art, observed the world over for its remarkable health benefits.

The word “martial” means “warlike,” and seems suitable for fast-paced arts such as karate or taekwondo. For tai chi, however, it can seem like a misnomer. Watching tai chi in action is to see a carefully measured series of graceful movements, performed with the same purposefulness an artist uses in the sweep of a paintbrush. Depending on the style of tai chi, these movements can number anywhere from 26 to over 100, but all are distinguished by a grounded stance and an unhurried pace, as the tai chi student executes a series of movements that involve the whole body.

Yet, tai chi is aptly named – it is in fact an effective form of both defense and attack, a long-established purpose of many martial arts. But its more important meaning can be found in the name itself. Loosely translated, “tai chi” can mean “supreme ultimate” or “supreme martial art,” among other definitions.

Tai chi can certainly be considered one of the best forms of exercise available, as regular practice results in significant mental and physical improvements. It is often described as an internal martial art, because it focuses primarily on cultivating and honing the body’s energy.

Like the many dialects and accents of a spoken language, tai chi has a variety of different styles of practice. However, they all share the common ground of using the body’s energy to enhance health and vitality. This is one of the primary reasons so many people start tai chi in the first place – it has definite, positive effects on physical health as well as mental well being.

The Yang Style

Elizabeth Yelen, a tai chi instructor in Boulder, Colorado teaches a style of tai chi called the Yang short form, and has been studying this art for more than five years. Tai chi has always interested her, she says. “I went through a year of change in my life, and the opportunity to take a class came up,” says Elizabeth, “I found tai chi at the perfect time. It’s like the old saying, ‘When the student is ready, the teacher will appear!’”

It quickly became an important part of her life, and she now teaches classes at the Broomfield Recreation Center in Broomfield, Colorado. One of the greatest things about tai chi is that it “challenges me in unique ways,” Elizabeth says. As a teacher, Elizabeth has entered a new stage as a tai chi student herself. “My teaching definitely helps me to become better in tai chi,” she says as she observes different students and different learning styles.

Professor Cheng Man Ching developed the Yang short form after studying the original long form from Yang Chung Fu, a tai chi master whose family had passed down the original Yang form. The Professor eliminated many repetitive movements, shortening the time to complete a movement from roughly 20 minutes to just 8 to 10. However, the Yang short form still has more movements than most other styles of tai chi.

The Professor is credited with introducing tai chi to Westerners when he moved to the United States in the 1970s. His tai chi tradition has been carried on by one of his most well-known students, Master Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo, or Ben Lo for short. Ben first met the Professor when he sought out his medical advice, and the Professor recommended tai chi for his ailments.

After moving to the United States in 1974, Ben started his own tai chi school, teaching tai chi the way the Professor taught him. Having taught thousands of students personally, Ben has helped spread the Yang style in a way that has preserved it as the Professor originally developed it.

In this way, Elizabeth’s knowledge of the Yang short form is taken from a direct, unwavering lineage of teachers. Ben’s style of both teaching and learning tai chi is marked by constant dedication and an attention to fine details. “Ben would spend months on one movement,” in order to fully study and perfect it, says Elizabeth, who has taken several workshops taught by Ben.

The Huang Style

Cynthia Ghiron, also a tai chi instructor in Boulder, practices a more modern form of tai chi developed by master artist and dancer Chungliang Al Huang. She first learned of tai chi at a conference in 1982, shortly after graduating from college with a degree in counseling. She happened to attend a seminar about tai chi, which was being given by Chunliang Al Huang himself.

Hearing a master talk about the art he loved had a great effect on Cynthia as she realized tai chi was an effective way to do what she wanted with her counseling work. “It was so incredibly graceful,” she says of the movements. “I realized this was a great way to spread peace to others.”

Chungliang Al Huang is a man of many talents. He is a philosopher, a dancer, and a musical artist, but he is most widely known as a master of tai chi. Huang’s style of tai chi is one he developed personally, drawing on his studies of traditional tai chi, as well as his knowledge and experience as a dancer. The sweeping movements of this style are very graceful and dance-like, and are more animated than other forms of tai chi.

As for what this style is called, Chungliang writes in his book on tai chi, Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain, “… I say, ‘I practice the Huang style.’ My style comes out of all these other styles, and I have to develop to the point that it becomes me.” Students in Huang’s tradition, then, often call it simply, “tai chi.”

The dance-like movements of Huang’s tai chi appealed greatly to Cynthia. She studied under Chungliang Al Huang’s guidance at the Lanting Institute in China and completed her teacher’s training with him. She has taught tai chi, along with other stress management techniques, for more than twenty years.

Cynthia says that much of tai chi is based in Taoist traditions, and focuses on being in harmony: “In the East there’s more focus on staying connected with nature and the self,” she says, an aspect she says is particularly important to maintain physical and mental health.

Meditation Through Movement

Cynthia says that Huang’s form is about “calming the mind through movement.” Its dance-like movements help to focus the mind on the beauty of nature and life. In fact, many tai chi movements imitate things found in nature: a bird’s flight, flowing water, a tree swaying in the wind. “You have these movements that imitate such beautiful imagery,” notes Cynthia, “It really helps you to focus on beautiful things, and find that peace.”

While this form seems in many ways to be faster than other types of tai chi, there is still a major focus on slowing down and taking in each movement as it comes. Cynthia explains that one major benefit of tai chi is that it makes a person slow down and tune in to their own body. This is incredibly important, as it’s so easy to be physically and mentally drained by the many demands of life. “Especially with our jobs, this is about coming back to your body and nature,” says Cynthia.

The return to a more natural state of being, physically and mentally, is more beneficial that most people probably realize. For starters, tai chi is often described as a “moving meditation” – the physical movements of tai chi require a person to develop a sense of mindfulness that grows and strengthens over time.

Elizabeth says that one of the most important things about tai chi is that it requires one to be in the present, and aware of each movement of the body. “We spend so much time thinking about the past and the future,” she says, “To practice tai chi, you really need to be in the moment.”

Awareness is perhaps one of the most important things in the art of tai chi, because a place of inner peace and strength can’t be reached without it. “You need to be aware of your surroundings, but not distracted by them,” explains Elizabeth.

She stresses the importance of this awareness, which requires acknowledgement and acceptance of the present moment, instead of a purely emotional or instinctual response to it. “It’s about knowing that things are just there,” Elizabeth says, adding that simple acknowledgement is all that is needed in a meditative practice such as tai chi.

For those interested in or just starting tai chi, the act of meditation can seem a bit daunting, recalling images of monks or yogis meditating for hours on mountaintops. “It really helps to learn how to center yourself,” Elizabeth recommends if a person has trouble quieting their mind at first.

Centering means focusing inward, bringing the mind and body together in a grounded state. Scattered thoughts and surrounding distractions are shut out as concentration is brought inward to the self. “Centering quiets the mind more easily,” Elizabeth says, which in turn allows practice of this moving meditation to begin.

With a similar sentiment, Cynthia says that one of the great things about the slower and measured pace of tai chi is that it requires a person to slow down and concentrate on their relationship with their body. “When you slow down like this, then you find where you’re tense,” she says, referring not just to tension in the body but in the mind as well. “Tai chi opens hearts and minds as well.”

She adds that by being mentally present in tai chi, you will learn to respond to rather than react to situations – either while practicing tai chi or in life outside of it. Cynthia writes in her Stress Reduction and Deep Relaxation pamphlet, “The key to stress reduction… is the knowledge of how to respond to stress in our lives. The stressors in our lives often don’t change, but our response to them can.”

An active form of relaxation like tai chi is a perfect way to strengthen one’s awareness and response approaches. Using tai chi as an everyday way to manage and lessen stress is what Cynthia calls “waking up tai chi” – turning off the autopilot and being present in body and mind.

Heart Health and Seniors

As it helps to calm the mind, tai chi can also strengthen the body, including the immune system, the heart, and improve bone health. “By bringing in this mindfulness, we’re more able to moderate our stress response,” says Cynthia, “It really brings down the threshold of stress.” And by lowering stress, our response to it, and how it affects us overall, the body will reap the benefits – a healthy heart, to name one of many.

Cynthia’s past work includes collaboration with the Boulder Medical Center’s H.E.A.R.T. Institute, a program for people recovering from heart attacks, bypass surgery, and other heart-related issues. Working with H.E.A.R.T., Cynthia’s patients were able to use tai chi as a very effective form of stress management, and also helped lower some students’ blood pressure by as much as 30 points. The hugely positive effect on the body is one reason why tai chi can easily become a lifelong practice.

Much of Cynthia’s current work with tai chi centers on working with seniors, who stand to gain much in terms of health from this gentle martial art. Tai chi can help manage shingles and Parkinson’s disease because it strengthens the immune system and helps to improve fine motor skills. It’s also one of the few exercise routines that are both aerobic and anaerobic, because it strengthens muscles gently and is good for cardiovascular health.

Because tai chi improves balance and overall muscle strength, it’s been proven to reduce the risk of falling for most seniors. “It’s very gentle and easy on joints,” Cynthia adds, “That’s why this can be a life-long practice.” Elizabeth notes that seniors can benefit from tai chi also because it’s a weight-bearing exercise, which is essential to preventing osteoporosis. This also builds muscle throughout the body, a benefit for both the young and old. “Tai chi strengthens your legs and core muscles incredibly,” Elizabeth says.

Why Tai Chi Works

Tension means that one’s muscles are actually working against each other, which exhausts the body. Instead, tai chi requires a relaxed fullness – muscles that are loose but not uncontrolled. Describing one of the main principles of the Yang style, and a concept applicable to any tai chi practice, Elizabeth says that being relaxed helps a person to build a strong foundation for their body. “Relaxing helps build a good foundation,” she says, “It creates a good connection between your feet and the ground.”

Elizabeth points out another principle of the Yang style that emphasizes the importance of turning the body without twisting the spine. This strengthens the core muscles, which in turn better support the spine. Not twisting the spine leaves it neutral, Elizabeth says. “It keeps the body and spine in the correct alignment. There’s more strength behind each move because the energy is coming from your whole body,” she says, “You really avoid injury that way.”

A straight, neutral spine also provides a solid foundation for the body, and when practiced again and again through tai chi, this will be a natural way to carry oneself on a regular basis, too. This forms another principle of the Yang style, which is to keep the body upright as well.

The body must also be kept upright to maintain the spine, with hips pushed forward to prevent the back from arching. Holding the body in this manner helps build strong back muscles and helps improve posture. “This is why tai chi can really help with back pain,” Elizabeth says.

Another defining characteristic of the Yang style is the use of a straightened wrist, which reduces the risk of injury during striking movements. It also serves to maintain the flow of the body’s energy. Elizabeth likens the flow of energy through the body as a hose full of water. “You need a straight, relaxed hand so there’s no kink in the hose, and the energy can flow more freely,” she says.

Where many tai chi styles use big, sweeping movements, the movements in the Yang style are kept close to the body. “The Yang style isn’t as expressive or flowery as other styles – it’s very internal,” she says. From a teacher’s perspective, Elizabeth notices that many beginners start off with very large movements, but those movements become smaller as the student progresses. “A student’s form gets smaller over time naturally, but all that energy is still there in the smaller movements,” she says.

A Practice to Last a Lifetime

The physical and mental health benefits may be more visible, but it is the passion that Elizabeth and Cynthia share for this art that speaks to its deeply positive effect on one’s life. Cynthia’s personal philosophy towards tai chi is making the experience about the journey, not the destination. She sees it as a way to truly embrace one’s self, and to learn how to move and change with life. “Tai chi can teach you something new every time,” she says, “The moves are different every day. It’s about what meaning they hold for your life at that point in time.”

Cynthia says that there is no such thing as “finishing” tai chi; she explains that one’s relationship with their body is constant, so also is the need to maintain it. The beauty of tai chi is that it can’t be rushed through, but must be savored moment to moment in practice. Cynthia says that as a person slows down with tai chi, “You can observe what’s going on with yourself, and the mind is quieted. That awareness of the moment is so healing.”

“Tai chi is not a fast-food martial art!” adds Elizabeth, quoting one of her teachers’ attitude towards learning the art. Elizabeth says that tai chi has taught her much about herself, too, a gain she describes as completely invaluable.

In his teaching of the Yang short form, the Professor described the value of being fearless. He named “Three Fearlessnesses” – fearlessness of ferocity, of taking pain, and of suffering loss – as the most important to learn in the study of tai chi.

By learning to be fearless, the Professor believed that the tai chi student gains progress and understanding. In some ways, the student learns to learn, a skill that’s personally helpful as well. Elizabeth says that her personal life as benefited from tai chi as much as her physical health.

“Tai chi makes you adaptable. You relax more, and you’re more in the present,” she says. “Tai chi will challenge the areas you’re unbalanced in. Sometimes it can be hard, but it’s really worth it.”

You may visit Cynthia on her website at www.cynthiaghiron.com.

Elizabeth Yelen is also Sound Healing practitioner, and a member of our Referral List.

Colleen Quinn graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Mass Communication. A writer for most of her life, she has been writing for Whisperingtree.net for over two years. In that time, she’s had the opportunity to meet with many practitioners and masters of the healing arts. Using her years of customer service experience and time as an intern reporter, Colleen provides a unique means of expression for each practitioner she meets. She believes that honest interest and open ears are paramount for learning and understanding the world around us. Through her writing, Colleen offers readers a valuable insight into the work of those who are doing so much to help others.