Tai chi chuan in medicine and health promotion

Abstract

Tai Chi Chuan (Tai Chi) is a Chinese traditional mind-body exercise and recently, it becomes popular worldwide. During the practice of Tai Chi, deep diaphragmatic breathing is integrated into body motions to achieve a harmonious balance between body and mind and to facilitate the flow of internal energy (Qi). Participants can choose to perform a complete set of Tai Chi or selected movements according to their needs. Previous research substantiates that Tai Chi has significant benefits to health promotion, and regularly practicing Tai Chi improves aerobic capacity, muscular strength, balance, health-related quality of life, and psychological well-being. Recent studies also prove that Tai Chi is safe and effective for patients with neurological diseases (e.g., stroke, Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, cognitive dysfunction), rheumatological disease (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and fibromyalgia), orthopedic diseases (e.g., osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, low-back pain, and musculoskeletal disorder), cardiovascular diseases (e.g., acute myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass grafting surgery, and heart failure), chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, and breast cancers. Tai Chi is an aerobic exercise with mild-to-moderate intensity and is appropriate for implementation in the community. This paper reviews the existing literature on Tai Chi and introduces its health-promotion effect and the potential clinical applications.

Figure 1

An example of a typical form of Tai Chi (push down and stand on one leg). The sequential motions are performed in a semi-squat posture. (From [1], with permission).

Figure 2

Heart rate response and oxygen uptake during the practice of classical Yang Tai Chi in middle-aged men (values are mean ± SD) [2].

Figure 3

Heart rate responses of men and women during the practice of classical Yang Tai Chi in different age groups (◆ young group, ■ middle-aged group, and ▲ elderly group; values are mean ± SE) [4].

Figure 4

Changes of peak $\dot{\text{V}}{\text{O}}_{\mathrm{2}}$ and cardiovascular risk factors after 1 year of training in patients with dyslipidemia (Tai Chi group versus usual-care group).