Get to know Tai Chi exercises, find out their benefits and how to properly carry out such workouts. Tai Chi gymnastics came to us from Ancient China and is a technique of owning your own body. Sometimes you can hear the second name of this system - moving into meditation. With the help of the exercises of the ancient Chinese gymnastics Tai Chi, you can heal your soul, improve your psychological state, and also strengthen your physical health.
The system aims to improve skills such as flexibility, muscle tone and balance. In ancient China, thanks to Tai Chi, people relieved fatigue after a hard day's work. Gymnastics is based on controlling the Chi energy that circulates through the human body. Today we will talk about the basics of the system, and also consider the most simple exercises of ancient Chinese Tai Chi gymnastics.
The founder of gymnastics is the monk Chan San Feng, who preached Taoism. It is quite obvious that he laid the foundations of this philosophical teaching in his training methodology - the universe is a harmonious movement of yin and yang, a smooth flow of one season into another, from the moment of birth to his deathbed. The Tai Chi philosophy teaches us that the key to the human soul is physical balance.
Like most of the Chinese gymnastic techniques that have come to us from ancient times, Tai Chi is an interweaving of meditation techniques and the martial art of self-defense. However, unlike most other combat techniques, this system does not carry an aggressive principle and is based on peaceful coexistence with oneself and the world around a person.
The exercises of ancient Chinese gymnastics Tai Chi are a series of smooth movements performed in a specific sequence. Through these movements, a person helps the Chi energy circulate through his body, which leads to harmony between soul and body. All movements are controlled and, in combination with correct breathing, can achieve a positive effect on the body.
What does Tai Chi give to a person?
Thanks to Tai Chi, you will be able to feel confident in any situation, and will also be able to control the work of the main internal organs. Precise movements make the body tense and then relax it. As a result, a person begins to understand how his body works and can control this process. As a result, coordination of movements and posture are improved, tension is relieved from the muscles of the whole body, and degenerative processes in the articular-ligamentous apparatus are slowed down.
One hour of training allows you to get rid of about 300 calories, and this fact speaks of the high effectiveness of the exercises of the ancient Chinese gymnastics Tai Chi for improving the figure. The efficiency of the digestive organs is significantly increased, which has a beneficial effect not only on the physical state, but also on the emotional. However, the main task of Tai Chi is to improve the physical and mental state of a person. Smooth movements, under your full control, contribute to the correct distribution of the load between all the muscles in the body. This is extremely important, because not all modern training systems allow you to achieve the same result.
Regular exercise will help you increase joint mobility and strengthen bones. Today, many women suffer from osteoporosis, and the exercises of ancient Chinese gymnastics Tai Chi are an excellent means of preventing this ailment. The system pays special attention to breathing. It should be deep, which allows you to enrich the blood with oxygen. In a scientific study in which people aged 50-60 took part, it was found that the strength parameters of their limbs increased by 20 percent. The subjects trained for six months daily for half an hour.
Among the rules of the method, the most important are the following:
- Be relaxed and natural, doing all movements at a calm pace and without overexerting your muscles.
- Breathing should be deep and even.
- Calm your mind by freeing yourself from extraneous thoughts. However, you must keep all movements under your complete control and be focused on it.
- Coordinate the work of all internal organs.
- Movements should be performed as if you are in the water.
Benefits of Tai Chi gymnastics
The exercises of the ancient Chinese gymnastics Tai Chi have no restrictions and can be performed by all people, regardless of age and gender. In China, people most often train outdoors when the sun goes down. It is quite understandable that you will not be able to quickly learn the art of Tai Chi. This takes years of regular training. However, you will feel the positive effects of the exercise very quickly.
You are probably wondering exactly what results to expect from the upcoming sessions. We will be happy to answer this question, highlighting the most significant:
- increases the mobility and flexibility of the joints;
- the nervous system is strengthened;
- the efficiency of the immune system increases;
- brain activity is stimulated;
- the efficiency of the vestibular apparatus increases;
- the activity of the digestive system and the cardiovascular system is normalized.
Also, scientists have proven that Tai Chi can reduce the risk of developing colds. However, to get all of these effects, your workouts must be regular. Every Tai Chi master will tell you that a well-developed sense of balance is the key to health. Therefore, today many Western doctors recommend training their elderly patients.
With age, people lose their skills, in particular, coordination of movements worsens. This could result in a fall and subsequent injury. Scientists have long proven that all fractures and bruises received in youth will certainly make themselves felt in old age. According to statistics, the most serious and common injury in old age is a hip fracture. This damage takes a long time to heal in young people. By doing the exercises of the ancient Chinese gymnastics Tai Chi, you can reduce the risk of getting this and other injuries.
At the beginning of the article, we said that the Tai Chi technique involves a positive effect not only on a person's physical health, but also psychological. Studies have found that regular exercise eliminates the fear of falling from great heights. Often, a person needs only three weeks of classes to increase self-confidence.
After three months of regular training, the percentage of confident people is already half of all training. Scientists attribute this fact to an improvement in the sense of balance and concentration, and to achieve excellent results, it is necessary to complete the full course. The exercises of the ancient Chinese gymnastics Tai Chi can be performed daily, and in old age, three workouts per week are enough. Already after a week or a little more from the moment of the start of classes, people notice that their endurance increases, and their muscles become stronger.
Where to start Tai Chi training?
Classes can be carried out anywhere, excluding slippery surfaces. To perform exercises of the ancient Chinese gymnastics Tai Chi, you can use shoes with rubberized soles or even socks with a reinforced foot. Outdoor training can be done barefoot if the ground temperature allows it.
Any clothing can be chosen, and the only requirement for it is freedom of movement. Today Tai Chi gymnastics is very popular and in many cities of our country you can find a section. Most often, trainings are conducted in groups of ten. Although the exercises of the ancient Chinese Tai Chi gymnastics are quite simple, at first it is worth conducting training under the guidance of a master in order to thoroughly study their technique.
Complex of exercises of ancient Chinese gymnastics Tai Chi
Now we will consider a set of simple exercises of the ancient Chinese gymnastics Tai Chi, which can be performed at home.
- 1st exercise. Take a sitting position with your legs crossed and your hands on your knees. Take 15 to 20 deep breaths. Make sure that during inhalation, the stomach protrudes, and when exhaling, it is pressed in.
- 2nd exercise. Rub the auricles first with your thumb and forefinger and then with your entire palm. When the palm moves up, the shells take their normal position, and downward - they bend back. It is necessary to do 20 rubbing with palms and fingers.
- 3rd exercise. Straighten your palm and make 10 to 15 stroking movements from the forehead to the back of the head, and then in the opposite direction.
- 4th exercise. Opening your eyes wide, follow them horizontally to the right and then to the left. After that, keeping your head straight, extend your left hand to the side, straightening your hand and spreading your fingers. Fix your gaze on your fingertips, bending your eyes towards the hand. Begin to move your hand horizontally, first in one direction and then in the other. In this case, the gaze should be directed to the fingers, but the head does not turn. Repeat the movement with the other hand.
- 5th exercise. Perform pendulum movements with your arms, which should be bent at the elbow joint. Note that one hand is in front of you, and the other is behind your back. The movement is performed at an average pace of 20 to 30 times.
- 6th exercise. Put your hands together in a lock, and with an effort, stretch them to the left and up, slightly raising the pelvis above the ground or a chair. In each direction, you must perform 10 repetitions.
- 7th exercise. Lean forward slightly and start rubbing the lower back with the tubercles of your palms. Start from the highest area of your back and move towards the sacrum.
- 8th exercise. Begin to perform spiral movements with either hand in the direction of the clockwise movement on the abdomen. Start at the navel, expanding the area and eventually reaching the edge of the abdomen. Each hand needs to do 30 repetitions, and the pressure should be medium.
- 9th exercise. Sit in a chair with your hands on your knee joints. Start rubbing them in circular motions directed to one side. In total, 20-30 movements are performed with each hand.
- 10th exercise. In a sitting position, it is necessary to spread the knee joints and clasp the feet with your hands. Start rubbing them with light pressure. The thumbs grip the sole during the exercise and the rest of the forefoot. In each direction, you must perform 20 movements.
More on the benefits of Chinese Tai Chi exercises in the video below:
