T'ai Chi Proven to Give Better Health

The Guardian writes:

Traditional Chinese exercises such as tai chi can offer wide-ranging benefits for people with musculoskeletal disorders, improving physical function, pain, mental health, sleep quality and bone mineral density, according to the largest review of its kind.

More than 1.7bn people have musculoskeletal conditions worldwide. While prevalence varies by age and diagnosis, people of all ages in every country and every continent are affected.

Musculoskeletal conditions significantly limit mobility and dexterity, leading to early retirement from work, lower levels of wellbeing and reduced ability to participate in society. They are also the leading contributor to disability worldwide, with low back pain being the single leading cause of disability in 160 countries.

My first time doing tai chi: ‘It feels like my brain is solving a Rubik’s Cube’

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There was already evidence indicating traditional Chinese exercises were associated with beneficial health outcomes in people with musculoskeletal disorders, but much of it was fragmented and contained inconsistencies.

The overarching review of pooled data analyses of systematic reviews by researchers at hospitals and universities in China, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, drew on 92 data syntheses from 1,744 randomised controlled clinical trials.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/aug/24/largest-review-of-its-kind-confirms-benefits-of-tai-chi-and-other-chinese-exercises?CMP=share_btn_url

Sage Principles by Cheng Man-ch'ing

 

Professor Cheng Man-ch’ing (Zheng Manqing, 1902-1975) was known as a “Master of Five Excellences” for his skills in poetry, calligraphy, painting, t'ai chi ch'uan (taijiquan), and Chinese medicine. He was a well-known artist in Beijing and then Shanghai in the 1920s, where he headed the department of traditional painting (guo hua) at the Shanghai Art College, and was involved with leading art societi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the 1930s, he began in-depth study of Chinese medicine, and he began studying t'ai chi with the famed Yang Chengfu. In 1949, at the fall of Republican China, he and his family moved to Taiwan, and in 1964, to New York City, where he taught t'ai chi--being one of the first masters to openly teach outside of the Chinese--and prescribed herbal remedies to students.

Sage Principles is one of his last works, translated by his long-time assistant Ed Young, assisted by Dr. Steven Cowan, a pediatrician and acupuncturist. Great River's Barbara Davis supplied an introductory biography. The book weaves together Professor Cheng's deep knowledge of Chinese philosophy, medical theory, and self-cultivation. These unique insights will be of interest to all t'ai chi students and practitioners of Chinese medicine. Sage Principles includes reproduction of Professor Cheng's original calligraphy, recollections by several patients, a lecture on health from New York, and an explanation of Chinese words used in the text.

The book is available on Amazon, and will hopefully soon be available via Redwing Books.

For a list of Professor Cheng's books, visit https://chengmanching.wordpress.com/writings/