T’ai Chi in the Media

Synopsis: This article appeared in the San Jose Mercury News (CA) recently. It contains interesting documentation on research comparing the effects of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise with t’ai chi (“moving meditation”) with regard to lowering of blood pressure and reduction of stress. Since T’ai Chi Chih is a “moving meditation”, we thought the article would be of interest to our readers. (Staff)

Article Title: Practicing Tai Chi Lowers Blood Pressure and Stress, Carol Krucoff, Personal Fitness (Carol Krucoff’s column on fitness runs every other Wendesday), San Jose Mercury News, SV Life Health & Fitness section, April 29, 1998.

Often called “moving meditation” or “the art of creating energy”, t’ai chi began as a martial art in China about 2,000 years ago. Over the past century, it has become extremely popular as an exercise for older adults and is practiced by millions of Chinese each morning in parks throughout the country.

But t’ai chi’s graceful movements are so slow and deliberate that researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore assumed it wouldn’t have much impact on blood pressure. So in a study of the effect of moderate exercise on hypertension, they assigned the control group to learn t’ai chi.

To their surprise, t’ai chi appeared to lower blood pressure in older adults nearly as much as moderate-intensity aerobic exercise.

“We were expecting to see significant changes in the aerobic exercise group and minimal changes in the tai chi group.” Assistant professor of medicine Deborah R. Young reported at a recent American Heart Association conference. After 12 weeks, however, the t’ai chi group’s average systolic blood pressure had fallen by 9 millimeters of mercury, compared with an average of 8.4 millimeters of mercury in the aerobic exercise group.

The researchers studied 62 sedentary men and women, ages 60 and older, whose systolic blood pressure was in the “high normal” to “mild hypertension” range. Half the group was randomly assigned to a 12-week program of brisk walking and low-impact aerobics. The other half, which was the “control” group, learned t’ai chi. Both groups exercised four times a week for 30 minutes per session. And in both groups, blood pressure began to drop after just six weeks of exercise.

Extensive evidence indicates that regular aerobic exercise can decrease resting blood pressure by approximately 10 millimeters of mercury, and that mild exercise may reduce blood pressure just as much or even more than strenuous activities, such as jogging.

Mind-body exercises such as t’ai chi may provide an added boost to both physical and mental health, which is why the Eastern healing art is increasingly being studied by Western medical practitioners.

A growing body of research suggests that practicing t’ai chi has many benefits for seniors, including a reduced risk of falling and a significant improvement in quality of life.

T’ai chi is now being used in some cardiac rehabilitation programs and by people with diseases such as fibromyalgia, arthritis and multiple sclerosis, notes Harvey Kurland, an exercise physiologist from San Bernardino, who has been studying and teaching t’ai chi for nearly 30 years. His research, published in the journal Sports Medicine Training and Rehabilitation, found tai chi is used as a way to relax the body and let the chi (vital energy) flow throughout the body,” says Kurland, who credits the 1993 [Bill Moyer’s] PBS-TV series, “Healing and the Mind” with sparking an explosion of American interest in t’ai chi.

Physical activity is considered an essential component to health by the Chinese, who believe that without daily movement the body’s “chi” can become stagnant and lead to illness.

T’ai chi can strengthen the legs and arms, improve balance and flexibility, Kurland says. “But the stress reduction benefit is probably the best thing tai chi does for health,” he notes. “Stress is the number one health problem in America, with an estimated 60 to 70 percent of all visits to physicians due to stress-related illness. A daily practice that can relieve stress will improve health.