Tai Chi for mental and physical heath

hello all.
does anyone here get into tai chi? do you know anyone that does?

i have been thinking about taking up tai chi. i have been into martial arts my entire life. i have always heard about the benefits of tai chi but i am just now researching it.
i have my opinions on tai chi as it pertains to a fighting art. i dont care about that side of it. i am strictly talking about it for health reasons.

i am 36 years old. my wife is 23. we have a 15 month old daughter. we need to get some exercise. neithher one of us work so we do a lot of just sitting around.
before it gets derailed into a thread about work...
my wife was always a stay at home. we agreed on that when we first got together 3 years ago.
i was working at a foundry. been there a while. i had an accident and my fingers got ripped up. one of them got amputated and the middle finger took some serious damage.
i have developed crps because of it and i draw a permanent disability rating.

so, the reason for the tai chi.
i am in extreme pain all the time. i take heavy duty pain meds. i dont get any exercise. i dont have any grip strength in my hand(due to the injury and the crps) and the muscles all through my left arm are very weak. i have no strength left or muscle tone. its not atrophy but you can see the difference between my right and left arm.
i dont sleep well. i am on a schedule of maybe 4 hours of sleep every 2 days.
i have a lot of anxiety and agitation.

so, pain, insomnia, mental issues and no exercise.

in the summer time my wife and i take long walks almost every day but in the winter we dont do anything. no exercise. we live in the north so we cant get outside. of course we run errands and play with our daughter but other than that we sit around.
i have heard that exercise helps with fatigue and helps you sleep.

i am limited as to what i can do because of the crps. even something touching my hand and fingers hurt. vibrations from driving hurt my entire arm.


so, knowing all that i figure tai chi would help.
i was hoping someone here has done it and can give me real feed back.

i have been reading about it and from what i gather it burns a fair amount of calories. it helps with circulation, both blood and oxygen. it helps with strength, balance, and flexibility.
i have read it promotes good mental health as well through relaxation and focus.
i have read it helps with day time fatigue and helps you sleep at night.

i plan to do this in the house in the winter and in the yard during the summer months.

so, if you have any experience please post in this thread... either positive or negative.
i know a lot of hospitals, retirement centers, nursing homes and the like use tai chi for the purposes i am wanting it so there must be something to it.

thanks

edit*
i forgot. if you practice it how do/die you go about learning?
did you go somewhere to get taught or did you learn from a dvd?

i am going to watch some instructionals and and maybe grab a book and learn that way.
that will be good enough for what i need.

reply to post by CardiffGiant


Sounds pretty awful. I don't have any experience in Tai Chi. I took a Tai Chi broadsword class but it wound up being a place for all the local Dungeon and Dragon nerds to pretend they were exercising.

Your story does remind me of this video though, check it out:

www.youtube.com...

I've heard a lot about Tai Chi as well for disabilities to help with exercise and pain reduction. I hope you find a program that works best for you.

Yes, start with yang short form. Learn it in pieces, there is a lot to internalize. Doing yang a few times in a row will turn your palms into pink and white splotched (from increased blood flow)slow motion killing implements.

OrphanApology
reply to post by CardiffGiant

 

Sounds pretty awful. I don't have any experience in Tai Chi. I took a Tai Chi broadsword class but it wound up being a place for all the local Dungeon and Dragon nerds to pretend they were exercising.

Your story does remind me of this video though, check it out:

www.youtube.com...

I've heard a lot about Tai Chi as well for disabilities to help with exercise and pain reduction. I hope you find a program that works best for you.

wow.. ! incredible !!!
here's the YT fix for yas

CardiffGiant
hello all.
does anyone here get into tai chi? do you know anyone that does?

i have been thinking about taking up tai chi. i have been into martial arts my entire life. i have always heard about the benefits of tai chi but i am just now researching it.
i have my opinions on tai chi as it pertains to a fighting art. i dont care about that side of it. i am strictly talking about it for health reasons.

i am 36 years old. my wife is 23. we have a 15 month old daughter. we need to get some exercise. neithher one of us work so we do a lot of just sitting around.
before it gets derailed into a thread about work...
my wife was always a stay at home. we agreed on that when we first got together 3 years ago.
i was working at a foundry. been there a while. i had an accident and my fingers got ripped up. one of them got amputated and the middle finger took some serious damage.
i have developed crps because of it and i draw a permanent disability rating.

S&F for ya!

I hear you loud and clear my friend. I find it interesting that I'm very interested in Tai Chi as well...and once I have some cash I'm going to invest into some Tai Chi classes ....for what ever reason, and not sure why, but I 'feel' that it's the answer.. I have a vision of me and my wife preforming in our yard on main street with a small group in white gees as the traffic passes by..

here's some videos on YT I've found ..

thanks for the fast replies.
i just downloaded 4 different instructionals.
they all over the 24 forms and each covers other things.

im going to teach myself the movements during the winter and when the weather breaks get outside with my wife and teach her. then we can run through the movements together.

i just need some exercise you know. i got hurt march 28th and i have not done much of anything since.
i went from working crazy, 60-70 hour weeks to doing nothing. i watch a lot of movies.
it gets old just lazing around.

some people would think it is fantastic but it gets old and it gets boring.
our daughter is the typical toddler. keeps us on our toes but that is not the same as exercise.

i can really tell the difference in my muscle tone.
i have always had trouble sleeping but since the injury its worse.
i dont really understand it to tell you the truth.
with the type/strength/amount of mediciine i take each day i would have thought by night time i would hit the bed and pass out but i dont.

i really hope it helps with sleep. i am in so much pain all the time. during the day the pain sucks but its a different monster at night when i am trying to sleep.

i figured when i got hurt that i would have some lasting problems. i mean it was a very traumatic injury but i never thought it was going to be like it is.
the crps is terrible. i literally can not have anything brush against my fingers. it gives me extreme pain.
i have phantom pains.

i get so many different types of pain sensations in my hand and in my arm. more often than not my forearm or bicep hurts worse than my hand and fingers.

i think tai chi is going to be perfect because it is low impact.
hopefully i can get some circulation happening and get some focus. if all goes well my muscles will loosen up and maybe get me a little strength back and i dont have to worry about having to grab anything or bouncing around.
no vibrations. nothing high impact.
it sounds perfect

reply to post by CardiffGiant


Hey Buddy,

Sorry to hear about your hand and the crps. I think that Tai Chi is going to provide you with everything that you are looking for. I have a feeling you will be back in a year or so to share your success story with us all.

You should go ahead as planned and use videos to learn "the 24", just making any start you are able to will start you accelerating towards the right teacher for you.

A brilliant guy from Shanghai named Professor Lin Hou-Sheng created a qigong system from Tai Chi that isolates movements from Tai Chi in to 3 sets of 18 exercises each called Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi or just "Shibashi" for short. Of all the different qigong sets I have learned, I find myself coming back to the Shibashi the most. If I ever have a pain any where before beginning the sets, I invariably find relief from one of the movements.

Each movement can be done with a varying level of intensity based on deepening the stance and such, but each is also very gentle and rhythmic. each exercise uses the legs and root to generate movement, so the "second heart", as the Chinese call the legs, get a good workout. It's also very useful for correcting the different Tai Chi movements in an isolated way for form correction. Shibashi videos are easy to come by on YouTube and manuals are available on the web.

Also, to help your practice develop until you find a teacher, at first focus on "Tai Chi walking" and learning to get in touch with Yang Cheng Fu's Ten Essential Points. Also, read a bunch of different people's translations and opinions of those points.

I wish you all the best in your healing journey.

reply to post by Komodo


Wow! I just did the whole video with Dr Paul Lam. Are the rest of the video lessons online or do I have to buy them? Wow, I think this will really help me. I can't wait to keep going!

It's very sad that you had an accident and your hand get injured.There are many thing to relax by yourself and rebuild your body with your mental strength.The exercise which is described that Tai chi is used to meditate in motion.It is most practiced by the chinese and they evidenced that it is a mind body practice. It is more helpful to relax and get exercise to come out of that injury.

Ameilia
reply to post by Komodo

 

Wow! I just did the whole video with Dr Paul Lam. Are the rest of the video lessons online or do I have to buy them? Wow, I think this will really help me. I can't wait to keep going!

I haven't watched them yet.. so...

I'm not sure

reply to post by CardiffGiant



I have done both tai chi and qi gong....I would recommend you do qi gong. I would also recommend you do swimming as will help strengthen your muscles. Specifically paddle as fast as you possibly can for 30 seconds then rest for 60 seconds, do this x8 at least 3 times per week one day on one day off.

I can also recommend qi gong ie "ultra-simplified tai chi for the dummies".

Years ago, I bought the Spring Forest Qi Gong course. It cost me a pretty penny but you
can learn it for free on good ol' Youtube:

www.youtube.com...

If your Google-fu is strong, level 1 and 2 are available for free at "under-the-table" websites.

The movements are much simpler than tai chi, I swear!

Simple it may be, like exercise and diet, you must be consistent at it to see results.

learning from a video is a good start but in time you will need to go to a class so you have an actual teacher. a teacher will be able to correct any mistakes you make and you can ask her\him questions directly.
finding a class\teacher can be a bit longwinded as each class has differences in the way the teacher teaches so it pays to shop around until you find one that suits you.