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Batz Tai Chi
Batz Tai Chi for Health
by Master Marlon Ma
The benefits of Batz Tai Chi for health can lengthen your life as well
as improve its quality. A healthy mind and body work together when practicing
Batz Tai Chi. The five important aspects of the practice of this martial
art are listed and explained below.
Stationary Meditation
 The
brain is our body's headquarters and its activity waves sometimes speed
too fastor too slow throughout the body. With messages from the brain
moving at the wrong natural pace the body cannot reach an internal balance.
For this reason the quiet Tai Chi exercise of stationary meditation is
the most important way to allow your brain to calm itself and find its
own natural, quiet balance. When your mind is quiet then you will find
a balance between the mind and body; brain waves and body waves coordinate
and connect in smooth harmony. Such a balance allows you to understand
yourself and become more confident.
In martial arts we say that you should know yourself first, then know
your enemy. In this way the fighter never loses the battle because he
know himself and has overcome himself and any internal disharmony.
Relaxation Exercises
Soft, relaxing exercise used with very little of the body's power slowly
I gradually warms up your body. When the body is waffil and relaxed ligaments
loosen. At birth a baby's ligaments are very soft and as we age our ligaments
gradually become harder and harder. When the body becomes harder and more
rigid the circulation is influenced and movement is slowed down. So before
we do the main exercises in Batz Tai Chi we must do warm up and soft relaxing
exercises to get out of the stiff, hard, slow movements caused by aging.
We work at this stage of Batz Tai Chi to extend the ligaments and increase
their durability, flexibility and range. In this way we are worKing against
the aging process. We are trying to prevent ligaments from getting old
and hard. Through such relaxing exercises life can be extended and your
daily movement will be more youthful.
Stretching Exercises
 Stretching
exercises in Batz Tai Chi are one step more that the Relaxation Exercises
because you need to use a little more of the body's energy combined with
patient practice. The human body has power depending on the bones and
ligaments and their structure. So in martial arts we say that for internal
practice you must practice the chi (breathing), while for the outside
you work with the ligaments, bones and skin. In this old saying we really
find the true meaning of Kung Fu because Kung Fu is not focused on muscle,
but rather on the structures and flexibility of ligament, bone and skin.
For this reason the stretching exercises that deal with ligament, bone
and skin are the most important in Batz Tai Chi training.
Tao Origins
The additional purpose of stretching is to let the body's internal pressure
points (the meridians along which the body's electrical impulses are believed
the run along, according to traditional Chinese medicine) become smoother,
flatter and straighter. Such stretching helps electric messages from the
brain flow unhindered along the meridians throughout the whole body. If
the meridians are twisted or jammed the result will be pain, numbness,
stiffness or bad circulation, which can also lead to other sicknesses
entering the body. Through stretching the meridians open up and chi and
blood flow freely, allowing the ligaments to become more durable and allowing
muscles to become more elastic and extend further. Such durability and
elasticity combine to make the body stronger.
Breathing Exercises
In practicing Batz Tai Chi we view the body as our first life and breathing
as the second life Chi and blood circulate together in the body, so when
the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body is most efficient,
the body can keep healthy In Chinese we say that "one hundred types
of sickness cannot enter" to mean that a person has good resistance
to sickness To achieve this it is important that breathing combined with
movement be practiced so that intemal organs become softer and more efficient
and so that circulation is the best it can be Breathing exercises are
combined with movement in Batz Tai Chi as a form of self-massage of the
intemal organs which can also increase circulation The result is that
you will feel more youthful and you will live longer
Tai Chi Chuan and Usaqe
Tai Chi theory was begun about 7000 years ago by the Fu She Tzu though
its origin can also be traced from the Tao. The name Tai Chi Chuan was
used for the past 300 years and can be traced to Northern Style Long Fist
(Tsung dynasty emperor's longfist). Through many years others have interpreted
Tai Chi movements, giving us today's Tai Chi styles of Chen, Yang, Wo,
Wu and Sun. Basically, Tai Chi types today can be broken into four categories
of style and use. Soft, slow Tai Chi movements are used for health purposes
while fast styles are used for fighting. Similarly, hard, strong Tai Chi
movements are used for defense purposes while rough, explosive Tai Chi
movements are designed for aggressive, attack purposes. Today Tao and
Chuan (fist) are combined to form Tai Chi Chuan, a new combination of
modern and ancient styles, drawing the best from both.
Tao & Tai-Chi
134-20 Northern Blvd.
Flushing NY 11354
(718)359-5775 (212)685-2383
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