Is there any science or reason to the tai chi movements or can a person just move erratically and get the same benefits from tai chi? Is it the movements that help relieve stress or is it how the movements are done (physically and in slow motion with abdominal breathing) that is important?
I’m by no means any sort of expert on this (though I’ve trained in other arts), but here’s my 2 cents:
A lot of the benefit, if not all, is psychological. It’s a ritual: you do this movement, breathe this way, do this movement, etc. If someone were to take the order out of that routine, they wouldn’t get the same benefit.
If you’re talking about purely physical benefit, then you can’t just move totally randomly. There are certain things that work certain muscles in certain ways; for example, you can’t just move randomly and get the same benefit as you would from running.
Basically, I believe it’s a combination of those particular moves (requiring physical exertion and metnal focus) in that particular order (providing a sort of routine serenity) that gives the benefit.
Jeez, and from reading the thread title I thought this was gonna be a question about, say, Chen vs. Yang vs. Wu form.
When you say “benefits”, what do you mean by that? Remember that tai chi is a martial art–the reason you move slowly is because you’re repatterning muscle movements, and it’s easier to learn if you do it slowly–there are fast forms, but you don’t see them very often. If you’re just interested in stuff like stress relief, there are other qigong practice forms that you may be better off doing–but even those movements are there for a reason.
Yeah, but it takes like 9 hours to kick someone’s ass…
Bwahahahaha… 
Assuming they don’t die of a cold first.
But yeah, I’ve heard that those old geezers who perform *tai chi * can speed up their movements and seriously kick ass.
As noted, there’s a lot more to Tai Chi than you think. However, I assume you mean the slow-moving stuff that most people see.
IME (limited), Tai Chi is entirely about form. People spend their entire lives perfecting the smallest nuances of their movement. Tai Chi is essentially moving meditation.
Of course, Tai Chi can also be used as an effective fighting style wherein one would of course have to move more quickly and not necessarily in those sequences. The Tai Chi you’re thinking of is essentially the same as a kata from any karate-type art.
According to my husband- who takes karate, aikido, and tai chi- tai chi is over 90% killing moves. I’d guess the other 10% are disabling moves. As Chairman says, it’s just slowed-down fighting forms. If you speed it up after learning the movements correctly you can indeed kick serious ass.
I’d guess that a lot of the health benefits happen because you’re getting a regular workout. I’ll check with Mr. Lissar and get back to you.
No, because i’ve been doing regular aerobics for a while but the slow motion and controlled breathing of Tai Chi have a relaxing effect that regular aerobics have never had on me before.
Well, you’re probably not doing your aerobics correctly. Once you get “into the zone,” you’re releasing endorphins and etc. that should be making you feel better. My guess is that you’re either working too hard or not enough.
That said, you will definitely be getting a lot different workout with the Tai Chi. The slower movements are much better for your joints (you’d be surprised how well 60+ year old Tai Chi practitioners can move!) and, as you’ve noted, you’ll be using your mind/body differently so it’s a completely different experience than trying to kick your legs up for one more rep…
That said, when I was taking Tai Chi before my regular MA class, my knees were killing me.