December 30, 2008

Random Acts of Coffee Kindness

Remember tai chi teacher Arthur Rosenfeld's "Random Act of Kindness" in diffusing an irate man's temper at a Starbucks? Read about it from Arthur's point of view on the Huffington Post.

December 16, 2008

Tai Chi 2009 Events Planned


It will be difficult to surpass the excitement of the 2008 Olympics in the tai chi world, but several major events are planned.
•The Zhang Sanfeng Festival returns with its usual eclectic mix of classes, June 4–7, 2009, in the east coast of the USA.
•Great Britain will host a variety of European-based teachersTai Chi Caledonia July 3–10, 2009 in Stirling Scotland.
•The International T'ai Chi Ch'uan Symposium will be held July 5–10, 2009 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. This event will feature the top masters of all the major lineages: Chen Zhenglei, Yang Zhenduo, Wu Wenhan, Ma Hailong, and Song Yongtian.

Ethel still enjoys a life of exercise


"After more than 40 years teaching yoga and tai chi Ethel Lote is retiring – at the grand age of 88. But the Aldridge grandmother has no plans to give up exercise herself as she knows the benefits.
A nurse during World War Two and a dental health lecturer for much of her life, Ethel was first introduced to the benefits of yoga more than 40 years ago and has practised it, and now tai chi, daily ever since.
The sprightly pensioner is living proof of the benefits. “I only found out about yoga accidentally,” she says.
“I was on a training course and I walked into a lecture on yoga and thought it all made really good sense. So I came back and did some more reading about it and decided to train with the All India Board of Yoga.”
Nearly ten years ago, Ethel also took up the ancient Chinese exercise of tai chi, which is particularly suited to older people. She has been running classes combining the two ever since." Read the complete Birmingham Mail article. (12/16/08)

December 11, 2008

Acupuncture Works?

A recent survey shows that 38% of American adults use "alternative" health therapies. "More than one-third of adults and nearly 12 percent of children in the United States use alternatives to traditional medicine, according to a large federal survey released today that documents how entrenched acupuncture, herbal remedies and other once-exotic therapies have become. The 2007 survey of more than 32,000 Americans, which for the first time included children, found that use of yoga, "probiotics," fish oil and other "complementary and alternative" therapies held steady among adults since the last national survey five years earlier, and that such treatments have become part of health care for many youngsters." See the whole article at Washington Post 12/11/2008

December 6, 2008

Duchess of Cornwall Knows Health Helpers


A recent article reports that the Duchess of Cornwall is considering taking up tai chi or pilates to help guard against the osteoporosis that runs in her family.
"The Duchess, 61, urged mature women to lead more active lifestyles at an exercise class organised by the National Osteoporosis Society (NOS), of which she is president.
The campaign to prevent the bone-wasting condition – which affects one in three women over the age of 50 – is particularly close to the Duchess's heart as it claimed the lives of her mother and grandmother. She yesterday admitted to feeling "quite naughty" about her own lack of exercise.
"I did do a bit of yoga and used to do a lot of walking before I got married but I have let things slide," she said at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, North London, after watching an instructor put a group of women through their paces at the NOS's recreation club.
"I thought I was doing enough to protect myself from osteoporosis but it seems not. I think I am going to have to make it my New Year's resolution – maybe to do some pilates or even some Tai Chi." The Telegraph 11/20/2008

December 5, 2008

T'ai Chi for Lowering Blood Sugar

Concerned about blood sugar?
"Regular walking can help control blood sugar, lower blood pressure and fight metabolic syndrome. But what if you don’t enjoy walking or the weather is too cold or too hot? Are there gentle indoor exercises that can help?
A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine showed that regular practice of the gentle, relaxing exercises of tai chi and qigong may do the trick.
Eleven participants, aged 42 to 65, with elevated blood sugar attended tai chi and qigong exercise training for one to one and a half hours, three times a week, for 12 weeks. They were also encouraged to practice at home. Most people stuck with the program and the tai chai and qigong health benefits were evident. Body mass index, waist circumference and blood pressure showed significant improvement and there were small improvements in fasting insulin and insulin resistance." See full article at Stop Aging Now, 11/11/2008.