Brain Health: Tai Chi

In an effort to remain objective, and for full disclosure, I recently began Tai Chi for the first time. So far, I have done it for 2 weeks. I met somebody at the class, Peter, who I decided to interview for my Self Health: Brain Series.  

Dr. Kirk: So explain to folks what Tai Chi is.

Peter: Tai Chi is a series of movements that you have to go through, very precise movements. The movements are centered around a fighting style, but they are done very slow. So it’s a lot of coordination that focus on hand movements in precise orientation with your body.  Tai Chi mimics movement you make in a fight.  We just do them really really slow. It's like you're training for battle.  But the focus is on technique, balance, and getting things just exactly perfect.  

You have to have your shoulders just above your hips, and your hips just above your ankles.  Its all about alignment. But there's a point to that. It sets your weight deep down into the earth like roots.  It's the strongest position you can have.

Dr. Kirk: Very cool.  So let me get this straight, Tai Chi is slow movement of your body into positions that mimic the same movements you would use in a fight.

Peter: Yes.  For example, a movement in the air with your hands would be used as a block if an attacker came at you. There’s a guy in my class that has been doing this for 20 years, and he was at a bar, and some drunk dude came after him. The guy who practices Tai Chi was able to redirect this drunk dude’s energy, and basically avoid the punch while throwing the dude to the ground.  It all happened so fast, he didn’t even realize he was doing it. It’s because the repetition of the movements becomes so automatic after a while, you don’t even think of it. And he was able to harness that brain memory to avoid a punch.

Dr. Kirk: Pow!  How long does it take to learn those movements?

Peter:  The learning continues as long as your practice.  I’ve been doing it 3-4 days a week for 6 months. It took me about the first 3 months to get the first series of movements down.  I practiced a lot at home though.

After you are able to memorize them, they let you into the beginning class with everybody else, and you do them together. The following 3 months up until today, I’ve been in the group class, and we go through the motions together, but the instructor comes around and tweaks us.  He moves our body just a little bit lower, or shifts our weight to a different foot, or moves our hand into a more precise position. So the last 3 months I’ve been perfecting my form. And also learning new forms. Did you know that Tai Chi is a martial art?

Dr. Kirk: A martial art, meaning that you go into combat?

Peter: Yep. Chen style Tai Chi prepares you for combat.  Well you don’t compete with other people for a very long time, years actually.  You don't get to actually "fight" for years. You have to have all the movements exact.  Memorize them all. It's a lot of memory, and muscle memory. But then it just flows. When you get that movement, that flow, it's like "it". So there is no combat with another person until you have the movements mastered. That probably takes 3-4 years at least, more if you’re only doing it one day a week.  But then we do what we call “push hands” which is basically 1 on 1 combat. We’re not trying to kill each other. It’s more just trying to help each other get better at their training.  

Dr. Kirk: Sacred martial arts!  I like the idea of not trying to kick somebody’s ass, but still channeling the energy inherent in our DNA as men.  As men, we are all protectors, fighters. It’s there in our energy. My son is like a bull in a China shop. He literally just wants to get rough and tumble.  I think we lose a lot of that when we get older. But there’s something to be said for continuing a healthy martial art. A healthy way of combat, while building up your brothers.  It’s an exercise we lose after grade school, maybe even earlier. But it’s a part of being a man.

Peter: I dig it.  I can’t wait to do push hands.  Advanced classes focus more on strength. And then we learn weapons training!  It sounds badass. It takes years and years to get there, but you get to use a sword, spear, staff, and a mace. Lots of different weapons. And each weapon has its own series of coordinated movements. So there’s a lot of learning, and it literally could continue for life.

Dr. Kirk: Will you do it for life?

Peter: I don’t know.  I have been doing it for 6 months, and I like it so far.  I originally began doing Tai Chi because my career was stagnant and I needed something else in my life.  I had done martial arts as a child, and so something along those lines was a natural choice for me.

Dr. Kirk: What do you gain out of it?

Peter: I like to see myself making progress in at least one aspect of my life.  My social life and my professional life were so stagnant, I was like at a roadblock, and I wasn’t going anywhere.  What I liked about Tai Chi starting out, is you learn it pretty quickly. I like feeling like I’m going somewhere, like I’m accomplishing something, like I’m learning something new.  And that can continue as long as I practice.

Dr. Kirk: Yes, I get that, I’ve been doing it for 2 weeks now, and I have already learned the first 3 series of movements. It’s a cool feeling to get those down.

Peter:  Right! And it just looks cool, haha.  

Dr. Kirk: Haha.  So it sounds like Tai Chi is giving you some confidence that you didn’t have.  It’s creating space for you to learn something new, and you like seeing the progress in your learning.  Does it help you with stress at all?

Peter: Not for me personally.  Some of the people in the class talk about the mindfulness aspect of it.  It’s a lot of focus on breath with the movements, and I can see how that would lower stress with them.  There’s a lot of older folks in the class who talk about how it helps with balance. Because some of the movements are shifting your weight from one foot to the other, and even lifting a foot up and balancing on one foot.  That’s important as you become a senior, so that you can stay active and not fall.

Dr. Kirk: Absolutely.  Everybody knows once you break a hip, it’s all downhill from there.  I totally resonate with the memory aspects of it. It’s a lot of mental memory, along with muscle memory.  I could see how that would help mitigate early onset dementia. Well thanks for taking the time to meet with me Peter.  

Peter: My pleasure!