Tai Chi offers help for the elderly. As we age many of us start to have problems with our sense of balance and in many cases this can lead to falls. These falls are often the cause of major injuries such as broken hips, especially in those over the age of 70. Because Tai Chi is a martial art form which is intended to enhance a person’s total body awareness and balance using a carefully structured pattern of forms that are slow, graceful and very precise, it has been found to significantly reduce the number of falls in the elderly.
Tai Chi offers help for the elderly
In a study conducted back in 1996 conducted by the Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia it was found that a group of elderly people who took a 15 week series of Tai Chi classes similar to those now being taught here in Portland, Oregon, had a 47.5 % lower risk of falling. Around the same time a study conducted at the University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington found that several of the techniques and forms not only helped to improve balance and strength but that these improvements lasted for many months.
Dr Yang practicing Tai Chi in his middle age:
While some of us are more than well aware of the physical and mental benefits of Tai Chi Chuan, few of us are aware of just how much benefit this relatively low tech treatment can be in helping the older members of our families be able to remain far more healthy and mobile as they age. During the above tests, the study groups were split into those who received Tai Chi training and those who would be trained using a different form of strength and balance training.
The net results were definitely in favor of those who participated in Tai Chi classes and more importantly that the results obtained were not short term or temporary. Rather you will find that the improved stability will remain far better as long as the person continues to practice the forms and meditations that they have learned.
Try a Tai chi chuan lesson in Portland