Tai chi melds philosophy, martial arts and medicine
Tai chi is a physical and mental practice that goes back thousands of years.
Arthur Rosenfeld, a popular practitioner, calls tai chi one of the crown jewels of traditional Chinese culture, and explains that it is built on a tripod: traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese martial arts and Taoist philosophy.
Rosenfeld has been practicing tai chi for more than 30 years. His books are available online, his Longevity Tai Chi With Arthur Rosenfeld appears on some PBS stations, and he has created a series of six short Youtube videos that explain tai chi.
He’s even a blogger for The Huffington Post. He is the tai chi go-to guy.
“One of the dimensions of me being in this field is that most really senior skillful guys in this art are not Yale literature majors, and they’re not media people,” he said. “They’re old Chinese men. They’re fantastically gifted masters, and I am dirt on their shoes. What they don’t have is the ability to pass these on to people skillfully.”
For the novice, Rosenfeld offers five exercises that combine the body and the mind, a starter’s kit to tai chi. Learn them and grow, he says, the result will be better physical and mental health and selfdefense. “You have a recipe no other exercise can offer,” he said.
Depending upon how many repetitions you want to do — he recommended a number with each exercise — this sequence could take 10 to 20 minutes. He emphasizes that because tai chi is a mind-and-body practice, “these exercises must be performed with mindful attention. If the mind wanders, tai chi is lost.”
RAISE HANDS Stand with feet hip- to shoulder-width apart.
Inhaling, bend your knees slightly and lift your hands, together, palms down, arms extended, until they reach the level of your eyebrow.
Exhaling and keeping your knees slightly bent, let the arms come back down to the level of your hips.
After the movement is completed, and before you begin the next movement, stand back up.
The breath should begin and end with the movement, and should not be forced. Hold your palms face down the whole time, wrists flat, elbows pointed to the floor. Shoulders should be down and relaxed the whole time. The arms should be fairly straight, but not locked. The lifting begins with the hands, not the shoulders, elbows or wrists.
Do this 20 times (up and down counts as one repetition). The movement benefits your quadriceps and smoothes your breathing.
BIG TWIST Stand with feet together, knees touching and just slightly bent.
Inhaling, turn your waist and hips to the left, while pushing your right palm toward the sky and your left palm toward the ground. Stretch up and down but don’t lean or bend the spine at all. Hold for 2 seconds and exhale as you move back to the center.
Repeat in the other direction, this time inhaling while pushing your left palm toward the sky and your right palm toward the ground and turning to the right. Hold for 2 seconds and exhale back to center.
Alternate — first one side, then the other. Remember to match the breath with the movement. When the hands come to center, they are together, momentarily, as they pass at the breastbone.
Do this five times on each side. It benefits your digestive system, the backs of the arms and the shoulders.
FULL CIRCLE Stand with feet twice shoulder width apart and place your hands on your hips.
Bend your knees. Rotate your torso, counterclockwise. After you complete five rotations, reverse your direction and circle your torso to the right.
Keep your back flat at all times. No hunching. This is a circular movement. There’s no need to match your breath to the movement, but remember to breathe freely and don’t hold your breath. Feel the activation of the hips as well as the massage of the lower spine.
Circle five times in each direction, which benefits the lower back and muscles around the hips, torso and waist. CIRCLE THE CRANE’S LEG Stand on your left leg. Lift your right knee as high as you can. Use a table or chair for support on the same side (if you’re standing on your left leg, have the support to your left).
Circle the knee clockwise, making your circles as large as possible. Inhale as your leg comes up and exhale as your leg goes down. Don’t let your lifted foot touch the ground. Once you have completed five revolutions, circle your knee counterclockwise five times.
Stand on your right leg. Lift the left knee as high as you can and do the exercises you just did on the right with your left knee.
It’s OK to point the toes of the lifted leg downward as you circle it. Imagine you are drawing perfectly round circles with your big toe on the ground, or, if you’ve lifted your foot quite high, draw in the air.
This benefits balance, hips, knees and ankles. WAVE HANDS LIKE CLOUDS
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Start with your right hand at eyebrow height and off the right of your body, left hand by your hip. Right palm faces down, left palm faces up.
As you circle your right hand downward, let the left hand rise up the centerline of your body. As one hand goes up, the other goes down.
Do not cross the centerline of your body. Imagine you are scooping some ice cream and bringing it up to your mouth, then deciding better of it and throwing it away.
Continue circling your hands, keeping both of them moving at all times.
Notice how when you pay attention to one hand, the other one tends to freeze and then “hurry to catch up.” Practice until the movement becomes smooth and hypnotic. Relax into it. Empty your mind.
Do this 20 times. It benefits concentration and a meditative state of mind.