All of us were born, as very young children, with our body, mind and emotions functioning together without strain. At birth, our baby joints are open – there are spaces between each bone at the joints. These spaces permit passage through the birth canal. However, as soon as we begin to accumulate tensions, our naturally straight, flexible and balanced bodies when we were young children, goes through a process of deterioration. Deterioration happens through tightening of the joints, stiffening of the body and losing mobility. In Chinese, this deterioration means that our “chi” or the flow of blood and energy in our bodies become blocked. Gradually, this blockage develops into diseases – ultimately resulting to death…tsk…tsk…

However, before you say, “but that’s the way of life” … think again. Instead of seeing ourselves waste away, losing the stability to walk properly and losing the strength of our bones to support us, we could really declare, “never say die!” and we could really sustain our strengths for walking stability through natural methods.

How? The answer lies on the Ancient Chinese view of health. They practice a system of exercise based on the principles of yin and yang or simply by having the body be in harmony with the laws of nature called T’ai Chi Chuan. Through the gentle, flowing movements of the T’ai Chi, the body and joints relax and loosen, thereby stimulating circulation, building stability in the legs and developing an awareness of internal strength. Older people practicing T’ai Chi achieve more grace in walking, surer balance and greater confidence in moving, as if the process of aging can be reversed.

In fact, it is said that those who practice T’ai Chi, young or old, sick or well have restored flexibility of their joints, relaxed muscles and their bodies gain true alignment with gravity. They develop the flexibility of a child, the strength of a lumberjack and the wisdom of a sage.

Professor Cheng Man ch’ing, the late and well known Grand Master of T’ai Chi Chuan have recognized that the benefits of T’ai Chi should be spread throughout. As such, he worked on distilling the essence of T’ai Chi Chuan. He came up with “The Eight Ways of T’ai Chi Chuan”. Each of the movement in the eight ways work on three major problems faced by the aging or the sick: loss of equilibrium, stiffness of the joints and weakness of muscles and fear of falling and injury. The eight ways work on maintaining stability of the legs, since the adage that the individual has health as long as he or she has legs is an important element of truth. Once the use of legs is lost, health may fail dramatically, too.

You could enroll in a nearby health center or schools offering “The Eight Ways of T’ai Chi Chuan”. Once you rediscover the power of your legs and eventually overcome its frailties, you might also come to stop investing lots of money on walking aids and other such devices. -30-

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