Tai Chi for Heart Health Study

 A recent study reported on in US News found that tai chi "could boost heart patients' quality of life. Researchers split 100 patientswith heart failure into two groups: Half participated in a 12-week tai chi program, while the others spent 12 weeks in an educational program learning about heart-related issues, like low-sodium diets and heart-rhythm problems. At the end of the study, the tai chi group reported improvements in mood, less , less fatigue, and more energy than the others—and those in the first group were more likely to continue with some type of physical activity, according to findings published Mondayin the Archives of Internal Medicine. "Maintaining an exercise regimen is important in heart failure," study author Gloria Yeh of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center told HealthDay. "Tai chi may be a suitable alternative or adjunct exercise for these patients."

While studies such as these help integrate tai chi into the health care system (such as it is), tai chi is much more than sheer exercise. Yes, those who do take up tai chi find it has many unexpected benefits: improved balance and gait, mental focus, straightened posture, lower stress, improved immune system, and more. But tai chi is also "philosophy in motion," a martial art (improved balance and posture do wonders for "standing up for oneself"), and it can be a window into understanding more about Chinese culture. It is a calming, yet is exercise, and can be modified to fit anyone's physical needs, regardless of age.

Tai Chi Helps Fibromyalgia

Tai Chi has been practiced for hundreds of years, and has been studied scientifically for several decades. Medical reserachers have clearly demonstrated tai chi's usefullness for treatment of numerous conditions: arthritis, diabetes, balance problems, fall prevention, bone density loss, high blood pressure, shingles, stress, anger management, schizophrenia, and for improvement of general well-being.

"The ancient Chinese practice of tai chi may be effective as a therapy for fibromyalgia, according to a study published on Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine.

A clinical trial at Tufts Medical Center found that after 12 weeks of tai chi, patients with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition, did significantly better in measurements of pain, fatigue, physical functioning, sleeplessness and depression than a comparable group given stretching exercises and wellness education. Tai chi patients were also more likely to sustain improvement three months later."

Read the complete New York Times article here.

Tai Chi: Your Gateway to Health

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 brain-power workout" India Today 9/16/09).

So here's your chance to try it out: Great River T'ai Chi will be offering a beginner's class starting this Sunday, September 20th, from 7-8 pm. Let this class be your gateway to health! Ten weeks for only $140. Register at door. New students will be admitted through mid-October; tuition will be pro-rated.

Great River has been offering tai chi classes for 30 years!
1940 Hennepin Av. S. 2F (at Franklin), Mpls.
For further information, call 612-822-5760.

Great River Director Article Published

Great River T'ai Chi Ch'uan's director Barbara Davis writes about the nature of t'ai chi in this month's issue of the Edge Magazine. She writes: "T’ai chi creates a space not just of one individual’s internal being, but rather, at the same moment, you are in a connection beyond your self, to the room you’re in, to the people around, to the world outside." You can read the complete article online, or pick up a copy at Present Moment, Tao Foods, The Wedge, or other locations throughout the Twin Cities and Minnesota. Davis was a participant in the International Taiji Symposium in Nashville this summer.

Edith Davis Memorial Acupuncture Access Bill Passes Minnesota Legislature

The Equal Access To Acupuncture Act and as a Memorial to Edith R. Davis, Minnesota’s pioneer acupuncturist passes and has been signed by Governor Pawlenty! This act requires health insurers who cover acupuncture delivered by doctors and chiropractors to also reimburse for acupuncture by licensed acupuncturists. The importance of this bill was in allowing the consumer fair access to the practitioners who are most highly trained in the field, the professional licensed acupuncturists. This bill was supported by the acupuncture association, acupuncture schools and the Minnesota Chiropractic Association.

Edith Davis, mother of Great River T'ai Chi director Barbara Davis, was one of Minnesota's pioneer acupuncturists, a founder of the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Association of Minnesota, founder and President of the Minnesota College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, on numerous national acupuncture commissions, founder of the Healing Point Traditional Acupuncture Clinic, and most recently served on the legislative committee of the acupuncture association.

The association wrote, "This bill is dedicated to honor the memory of Edith R. Davis, a pioneering acupuncturist in Minnesota who for the safety of the public, the benefit of the profession and her love of people deemed it necessary that education, certification and licensing of acupuncturists be a fundamental requirement for practice. Edith labored tirelessly until her death at the age of 87, in May 2008. We are forever grateful for her inspiration, her support and her life."

Tai Chi for Balance

A recent New York Times article (4/7/09) reported that just six weeks of Tai Chi helped improve balance in people who'd had strokes. "While the exercise group showed little improvement in balance, the tai chi group made significant gains when they were tested on weight-shifting, reaching and how well they could maintain their stability on a platform that moved like a bus." Read more....

Tai Chi for Golf!

Did you know that tai chi practice can help your golf game? A Wall Street Journal article recently covered the topic of practice and mastery—and lo, and behold, some golfers are using what they call the "tai chi swing" to help straighten out their golf technique. The slow pace of tai chi helps golfers analyze swings that would otherwise be done at high speeds that don't allow time for observation of accuracy. (Wall Street Journal 3/19/09)
Join us at Great River Tai Chi to polish up your golf game before the snow stops flying!

Professor Cheng Tai Chi Videos Available

Curious about who Professor Cheng Man-ch'ing was and what his t'ai chi looked like? A new authorized site shows clips of Professor Cheng's tai chi and information about ordering materials.

August Practice Notes—Olympic Inspiration

If the Olympics serve any purpose, it's to inspire and awe. The same kind of honing of skills of body and mind go into t'ai chi practice. If you haven't tried t'ai chi yet, now's your chance to learn some of the basic movements and enjoy the good feeling and health benefits that the very accessible and adaptable art of t'ai chi can offer. If you've practiced for a while, use the Olympics to study how high-level athletes incorporated some of the identical principles into their work.

For more Olympic coverage, see the Taijiquan Journal blog.

"When will China host the Olympics?"

"Reaching for Gold: The YMCA and the Olympic Movement in China from 1895-1920"
Commemorating an achievement 100 years in the making, "Reaching for Gold" chronicles the answer to a question posed by a YMCA Secretary in China in 1908 while promoting physical culture in China.
Please join the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, the University of Minnesota China Center, and the Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries for the exhibit's opening reception on Friday, August 8, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Elmer L. Andersen Library, on the U of M's West Bank campus.
The China Center also invites you to stay on campus to watch the 2008 Olympics opening ceremonies in the Coffman Union theater, beginning at 7:00 p.m.
For directions and accessibility information, please visit http://special.lib.umn.edu/ymca/visit.phtml or call 612-625-3445.
The exhibit will be on display in Andersen Library through September 27, 8:30-4:30 Monday through Friday, and after Labor Day on Saturdays 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.