A basic example of this is the bone density that Tai Chi is known to develop that helps prevent falls in the elderly. The way to obtain this Tai Chi health benefit and part of the way that this actually occurs is that the practitioner must align their upper body weight over the legs and then relax the entire body so that the weight of the entire body presses down through the structure due to gravity. This alone will increase the thigh bone density and mass over time and increase the muscle mass and strength through the entire leg.
The problem is that most people do not like the muscle soreness and work that this requires one to go through so they do not get the Tai Chi health benefits because of it. This alignment does more that just increase the bone mass in the upper thigh and is important for other Tai Chi health benefits as well as being a component in the proper use of Tai Chi for self defense.
Another reason that a lot of people do not get the physical Tai Chi health benefits is that, all to often, highly qualified instructors are teaching large groups of people in order to make a living and they can not take the time with their students to make the smaller and more specific corrections required to help the students really obtain the Tai Chi health benefits. This is why all of my Tai Chi instruction is performed one on one or with very small groups with a lot of one on one attention.
Another reason that often students in the USA do not get the Tai Chi health benefits is that there is simply a lot of unqualified Tai Chi instructors in the USA today. This is mostly due to the amount of weekend certification workshops whereby someone with no real prior knowledge of Tai Chi can go to a weekend workshop and leave as a fully certified Tai Chi instructor. This person (often an occupational or physical therapist or nurse) then goes home and starts teaching Tai Chi classes using their Western medical credential to try to legitmize their Tai Chi.
This current state of affairs is very unfortunate and Tai Chi in America as a whole suffers as a result of this rip off scam of Tai Chi by unqualified instructors where real Tai Chi and the Tai Chi health benefits can not be found. Who will want to do Tai Chi if the consensus is that it does not work? And, what other opinion will the public come to about Tai Chi if most of the Tai Chi that is available is incorrect or poorly taught and people are not getting any of the substantial Tai Chi health benefits? I and we as an organization are working very hard to try to prevent this from happening. Please see our article on what a legitmate Tai Chi instructor should know and do your diligence (by being an informed consumer) even when just looking for Tai Chi health benefits.
Tai Chi health benefits are many and varied. In this article I have touched on a few of them but there is a great deal more. If you are a student of Tai Chi but have not been getting the Tai Chi health benefits please contact us so that we can try to assist you in your practice and training.
Author Resource:
Sigung Richard Clear began teaching in 1985 and has over 30 years of continuous study in the arts. He openly teaches the "secrets" that the vast majority of Tai Chi masters only show behind closed doors to a very select few. Visit http://www.ClearsTaiChi.com for more on Tai Chi for health & Combat Tai Chi.
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