Varying the Formats

During the last session of last year’s conference, Pam, Sandy, and Antonia challenged us to find new ways and venues to offer T’ai Chi Chih classes. The traditional one-hour-per-week-for-eight-weeks format was not working for folks in my area. Fewer people seemed unable or unwilling to devote eight weeks to learning TCC. My classes often dwindle towards the end of eight weeks, even when students really want to learn TCC. This past winter I offered a beginning class at our local YMCA, but midway through, one person had surgery, another started a new job, and another moved.

Since 2006, I have offered different formats for beginning classes. The weekend sessions start on Friday evenings and run through Sunday at a retreat center at my convent; this format attracts out-of-towners and commuters. I also offer an eight-hour class for one Saturday on two consecutive months. I tend to go on-site to teach this format.

When I offer these intensive formats, I expect participants to purchase Justin’s DVD so that they can continue their practice. Most do. I found that students taking these intensive classes actually learn the movements better than those who take once-a-week classes. I think that happens because I include a lot of practice time during the intensive schedule, and I am able to fine-tune the student’s movements. Students are also more focused during these sessions.

I’ve learned a few things from using the above formats. It calls forth creative ways to package my teaching so as to vary input, practice, and rest. It takes a lot of my energy, and it calls for me to pace myself as well as pace my students. (I am 79 years old.) The students do get an increase of energy after they practice their new moves, but at first they are using that energy to do it correctly. Although students seem to learn the movements better, they still rely upon me, or a dvd, to guide their practice. That is why I encourage them to purchase Justin’s DVD, which I have available for them to buy. The weeklong class is offered in a retreat setting so there are opportunities for spiritual growth.

T’ai Chi [Chih] Gives Immune System A Boost

Harvard Health Letter, from June 2007

Fighting off diseases is a young person’s game. With age, our immune systems become less nimble and not quite as ruthless. The number of T cells drop. The B cells also start to wind down, making fewer antibodies that respond to outside intruders and more errant ones that turn on the body itself. As a result, even those of us who age gracefully are more vulnerable to getting sick as we tack on the years. What’s more, our immune systems don’t respond as vigorously to the vaccinations-such as the annual flu shot- that we get to prevent some of those illnesses.

Small studies have yielded some evidence that exercise seems to re-energize the immune system, so when UCLA researchers decided to test whether T’ai Chi [Chih] might do the same, they weren’t starting from scratch. On the other hand, the slow, controlled movements of T’ai Chi [Chih] aren’t a typical form of exercise.

The study involved 112 healthy people whose average age was about 70. Half of the volunteers were randomly assigned to attend three, 40-minute T’ai Chi [Chih] sessions a week. They were T’ai Chi Chih[.] The control group attended health education classes that included group discussion. After four months both groups were given the chickenpox vaccine, Varivax. The shingles vaccine, Zostavax, wasn’t available at the time. The researchers drew blood from the study subjects and conducted tests that assess how active T cells are in response to the chickenpox virus. The tests were done periodically during the study, which lasted a total of 25 weeks.

The results were reported in the April 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The T cell activity levels of the T’ai Chi [Chih] group had risen 38% by the end of the study, compared with a 28% increase for people in the control group, although the immunological boost from T’ai Chi [Chih] came mainly before vaccination. After the chickenpox shot, the T cell activity levels of the T’ai Chi [Chih] and the control group went up by about the same amount (14% vs.15%).

The UCLA researchers noted that T’ai Chi [Chih] alone induced an immune response that was comparable to the vaccine. T’ai Chi [Chih] might have a strong effect on the immune system because it manages to bring exercise, relaxation, and meditation together in “one behavioral intervention,” the researchers said. They theorized that T’ai Chi [Chih] enhances T cell activity by quieting the nervous system’s “fight or flight” response, which can, in certain circumstances, interfere with the immune system.

Note from Diana Wright: The researchers at UCLA, Dr. Michael Irwin and Dr. Jennifer Pike, are aware of the community’s disappointment over the media’s use of T’ai Chi versus T’ai Chi Chih. They are doing what they can to make sure their press releases and website provide the correct information regarding TCC, including providing a link to our website.