TLFeBOOK for Seniors T’ai Chi HOW TO GAIN FLEXIBILITY, STRENGTH, AND INNER PEACE By Sifu Philip Bonifonte 0 TC Title.p65 11/3/2003, 4:51 PM1 TLFeBOOK This page intentionally left blank TLFeBOOK NEW PAGE BOOKS A division of The Career Press, Inc. Franklin Lakes, NJ By Sifu Philip Bonifonte for Seniors T’ai Chi HOW TO GAIN FLEXIBILITY, STRENGTH, AND INNER PEACE 0 TC Title.p65 11/3/2003, 4:51 PM3 TLFeBOOK Copyright  2004 by Sifu Philip Bonifonte All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permis- sion from the publisher, The Career Press. T’ AI CHI FOR SENIORS EDITED AND TYPESET BY STACEY A. FARKAS Cover design by Lu Rossman/Digi Dog Design Printed in the U.S.A. by Book-mart Press To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada: 201-848- 0310) to order using VISA or MasterCard, or for further information on books from Career Press. The Career Press, Inc., 3 Tice Road, PO Box 687, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417 www.careerpress.com www.newpagebooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bonifonte, Philip, 1958- T’ai chi for seniors : how to gain flexibility, strength, and inner peace / by Philip Bonifonte. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 1-56414-697-9 (pbk.) 1. Tai chi for the aged. I. Title. GV504.6.A35B66 2004 613.7’148 dc22 2003060207 0 TC Title.p65 11/3/2003, 4:51 PM4 TLFeBOOK Dedication To Anthony and Michael, who have taught me to laugh at life. To Doreen and AJ, without whose help, support, and love this book would have been impossible to write. To my teachers over the years, both in the martial arts world and the “other” one. To my students, wherever they are on the Path. Thank you for being both students and teachers. To Linda Paul, for her photography. 00 TC Dedication.p65 11/3/2003, 4:51 PM5 TLFeBOOK This page intentionally left blank TLFeBOOK Contents Part I: Living in the Past 9 Chapter 1 11 What is T’ai Chi, and Why Should I Care? The Basics Chapter 2 21 Hey, That Feels Good! The Benefits of Practicing T’ai Chi Chapter 3 33 T’ai Chi’s Little Sister: Qigong Basics Chapter 4 43 On Your Mark, Get Set, Relax! Preparing for T’ai Chi Play Part II: Living in the Present 57 Chapter 5 59 Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Cold Bones: Warm-Up Exercises Chapter 6 69 Flow Like a River: Qigong Exercises Chapter 7 111 Shall We Dance? Standing T’ai Chi Exercises Chapter 8 123 We All Stand Up, We All Sit Down: Seated Adaptations of T’ai Chi and Qigong 000 TC TOC.p65 11/3/2003, 4:51 PM7 TLFeBOOK Part III: Living in the Future 133 Chapter 9 135 Swimming in Serenity: Meditation Exercises Chapter 10 149 Paging Dr. Chi: T’ai Chi in the Rehabilitation Setting Chapter 11 163 Tao Now, Brown Cow: Taoism: The Philosophy of T’ai Chi Chapter 12 177 Take Two Lizards and Call Me in the Morning: Traditional Chinese Medicine and T’ai Chi Conclusion 199 So, When Do I Get My Black Belt? Intermediate and Advanced T’ai Chi and Qigong Index 205 About the Author 213 000 TC TOC.p65 11/3/2003, 4:51 PM8 TLFeBOOK The Basics / 9 Living in the Past 9 Part I 001 TC Section I.p65 11/3/2003, 4:51 PM9 TLFeBOOK [...]... open mind that approaches the T’ai Chi exercises as a new challenge Don’t worry about the “practice” part—I guarantee that you’ll love T’ai Chi so much, you’ll want to practice all day long, maybe even for weeks! What T’ai Chi Is Not T’ai Chi and Yoga Yoga, as a system of exercise for both the body and the spirit, has been popular in the West for many more years than T’ai Chi There are truckloads of... 01 TC Chap 1.p65 15 11/3/2003, 4:52 PM 16 / T’ai Chi for Seniors T’ai Chi is not yoga No bending into weird, contorted shapes; no chanting The biggest difference between the two modalities is that yoga advocates stillness while T’ai Chi seeks movement You are constantly in motion when you perform your T’ai Chi exercises The Taoist philosophy behind T’ai Chi (which we’ll examine in detail in Chapter... sexy? You bet T’ai Chi (tie chee), also occasionally spelled Taiji, is a system of exercises developed over a span of hundreds of years in China Originally designed as a fighting method similar to Kung Fu, T’ai Chi has so much more to offer for today’s mature TLFeBOOK 01 TC Chap 1.p65 13 11/3/2003, 4:52 PM 14 / T’ai Chi for Seniors adult Starting to feel some pain in the left wrist? T’ai Chi can help... 12 T’ai Chi or Qigong? “So, what is this Qigong stuff? I thought this was a book on T’ai Chi. ” It is That’s why we will learn Qigong Confused? That’s okay—it gets clearer In Chapter 3, we will explore the history and components of Qigong (pronounced “Chee-Goong”), but for now, a few words on why you should not practice T’ai Chi You should not practice T’ai Chi, at least the usual forms of T’ai Chi, ... benefits that T’ai Chi offers us, and we’ll go into more detail on the rehabilitative uses of T’ai Chi in Chapter 10 For now, let’s just say that T’ai Chi produces some of its wonderful effects in my students after the first class But New Age? No, sorry It’s not in the cards A Short History of T’ai Chi Unless you practice genealogy as a hobby, or become so intensely involved in T’ai Chi that it takes... great for balance problems Too much stress in your life? That’s a T’ai Chi specialty The exercises and movements of T’ai Chi are performed in a slow and relaxed fashion, as opposed to most Western styles of exercise T’ai Chi is: Noncompetitive Nonimpact Highly aerobic (in the sense that you are breathing deeply) Wonderful for joint health Useful for increasing blood oxygen levels and flow Useful for. .. 12), and because T’ai Chi can be viewed as a therapeutic exercise based on Chinese medicine, it follows that T’ai Chi practice involves the recognition, development, and use of Qi This does not necessarily happen in the first days or weeks of practice—indeed, it may be years before you begin to feel this energy Some of TLFeBOOK 02 TC Chap 02.p65 29 11/3/2003, 4:52 PM 30 / T’ai Chi for Seniors my students... Practicing T’ai Chi / 21 Chapter 2 Hey, That Feels Good! The Benefits of Practicing T’ai Chi 21 TLFeBOOK 02 TC Chap 02.p65 21 11/3/2003, 4:52 PM This page intentionally left blank TLFeBOOK The Benefits of Practicing T’ai Chi / 23 Much like any other mode of exercise or mental stimulation, T’ai Chi gives to the practitioner only what the practitioner gives to it The historical benefits sought from T’ai Chi. .. exercises practiced today, T’ai Chi does not harm the body Its slow, gentle movements are designed to soothe rather than stress, and place no undue strain upon the muscles, joints, or connective tissues Even walking can be a higher impact exercise than T’ai Chi This isn’t to say that the other forms of exercise are wrong—they just may be wrong for you In the many forms of T’ai Chi practice are found some... evolution of T’ai Chi can be an absorbing pursuit, most of the details are of interest only to T’ai Chi scholars, so we’ll touch only briefly on the subject Just a note here: Many of T’ai Chi s origin stories can stretch the limits of believability Realize that in 13thcentury China, not everyone was well versed in the realities of life People often would ascribe great feats to the T’ai Chi masters, . Fu, T’ai Chi has so much more to offer for today’s mature 01 TC Chap 1.p65 11/3/2003, 4:52 PM13 TLFeBOOK 14 / T’ai Chi for Seniors adult. Starting to feel some pain in the left wrist? T’ai Chi. for weeks! What T’ai Chi Is Not T’ai Chi and Yoga Yoga, as a system of exercise for both the body and the spirit, has been popular in the West for many more years than T’ai Chi. There are truckloads. / T’ai Chi for Seniors T’ai Chi is not yoga. No bending into weird, contorted shapes; no chanting. The biggest difference between the two modalities is that yoga advocates stillness while T’ai