Tai Chi for Seniors

Fear of falling is the number one fear among older adults, according to a recent study. And it is no wonder. In the United States, 60,000 of the 300,000 people who break a hip from a fall will die within the twelve months of their accident. One important way for older adults to stay on their feet is by practicing the Chinese health exercise, Taiji. However, most seniors taking Taiji classes are not getting the help they need.
Recently I received a telephone call from a woman who was taking Taiji classes at her local YMCA. She had read that Taiji could help her balance but she found the exercise too demanding. She could not practice at home because she could not remember the sequence of the movements. She was aware that classes twice a week was simply not enough to improve her balance significantly.
She had clearly identified the major obstacle preventing older adults from learning Taiji. Memory! Taiji, as it is generally taught, consists of 60 to 120 movements in sequence depending on the form. It is no secret that as we age, our short-term memory diminishes and concentration becomes more difficult.
Physical problems can also stand in the way of older adults learning Taiji. For example, most of the weight sinks down on one leg or the other. If someone has knee, foot or other leg problems, which many elderly people have, Taiji will prove to be too painful.
Yet Taiji has been shown to improve balance. A major study at Emory University concluded that adults over 70 doing Taiji fell 47.5% less than the control group. This led to a sense of well-being about walking because the participants knew they were less likely to fall. The Emory study also reported other important benefits of Taiji such as a reduction in blood pressure and an increase in hand-grip strength. Suddenly Taiji was on the exercise map for older adults.
So the dilemma is this: With all the benefits that Taiji has to offer seniors, can it be modified to meet their needs? Fortunately the answer is yes.
The Emory Study actually points the way to solving this problem. A closer look at the study shows that the method of Taiji taught to the older adults was a modified form of only a few movements. Moreover, for the first few weeks Dr. Tingsen Xu, the Taiji teacher of the study, concentrated on breathing, focusing the mind and developing a sense of the center of gravity. In other words Dr. Xu curtailed the longer sequence and excluded the more difficult moves of Taiji while emphasizing certain Taiji principles to aid balance and walking. I believe we can utilize Dr. Xu’s methodology and take it one step further. We can extract the principles that form the basis of Taiji and teach them in a simple exercise called, ‘Taiji Walking.’
Look for the next Blog: 'The Ten Principles of Taiji Falls Prevention.'