FREE Tai Chi – Health Qigong Workshop – Harmony in Mind and Body
Master Han Jin Song is conducting an interactive demonstration of some gentle Tai Chi – Health Qigong exercises at Federation Square for the Sustainable Living Festival 2010.
Australia Day Celebrations Bring the Crowds
Tai Chi Australia was very proud to provide a day of demonstrations and activities at this year’s RACV Australia Day Picnic in King’s Domain Gardens, Melbourne.
Tai chi helps stroke patients
The Australian Women’s Weekly
Pamela Allardice
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Topics: Stroke
In a study published in Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, Hong Kong researchers have discovered that tai chi can significantly improve quality of life in survivors of stroke.
Stroke victims are often left with balancing problems which may not be addressed by conventional physiotherapy.
However, the particular skills taught in tai chi — especially the ability to maintain balance while shifting weight and leaning in different directions — was shown to be of special benefit in helping these people face real-life challenges, such as standing in a bus or coordinating head, torso and limb movements while reaching for an item in the supermarket.
As a bonus, tai chi classes cost less than conventional physiotherapy and provide an opportunity for social interaction.
For more details of the research please go to read the Abstract from the Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair.
Another Reason for doing Tai Chi
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic have uncovered a new physiological reason why for some suffers, arthritic knee pain might not be so bad. Dr Shreyasee Amin and her team followed 265 arthritis sufferers for 30 months, and monitored their quadriceps strength against cartilage loss. The people with good quadriceps strength (top third of the group) showed a 60 percent lower risk of losing cartilage, had less knee pain and better physical function.
We all know that correct practice of Tai Chi should help to develop and strengthen your quadriceps (those muscles that run down the front of your leg from your hip to your knee). Now there is even more reason to sink down in to a horse stance!
Dr Amin did go on to say “Having a qualified physician or therapist work with you is important for you to do the exercises correctly and so you don’t injure yourself in other ways.” At Tai Chi Australia we always encourage you to consult your doctor or specialist before starting Tai Chi and never to do anything that hurts or feels uncomfortable. If you want to develop your quadriceps and help combat arthritic knee pain, please talk to your instructor at your next class.
The Margaret Young Place
Margaret was known to thousands of Tasmanians as the person who gave Tasmanians Yoga and Tai Chi. Margaret Young Place is an outdoor rest and exercise area at Ockerby Gardens adjoining Launceston General Hospital. It will be a great place for rehabilitation patients, other inpatients and their visitors at the hospital to sit and get some fresh air.
Tai Chi a good sleep strategy
THE PULSE: Compiled by Dr Christine White | June 28, 2008
CHINESE martial arts could help overcome insomnia in older adults, finds a new study in Sleep.
The study involved 112 healthy adults aged 59 to 86 randomly assigned to one of two groups for a 25-week period. One group practised 20 simple moves of tai chi chih -- the "westernised" version of the ancient art -- while the other group participated in health education classes covering sleep habits, diet and stress management.
At the start of the study, 58 per cent of participants reported having difficulty sleeping at least a few nights each week. After 25 weeks, the tai chi chih group reported significantly improved sleep quality and duration compared with those receiving health education. The slow, gentle movements of tai chi chih make it an attractive exercise option, say the authors.
Sleep - 2008;31 (Irwin M, et al)
