Happy Year of the Monkey! Did you know that each animal of
the Chinese zodiac is also associated with one of the five elements – water,
earth, fire, metal, or wood? This is the year of the Fire Monkey. Also, because the Chinese calendar is based on the lunar
calendar, not the Gregorian calendar, the new year falls on different days from
year to year – somewhere between January 21 and February 20. The current year,
then, is 4714 and began February 8, 2016.
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous Year of
the Fire Monkey!
I think most people are familiar with this old fable about
the tortoise and the hare. But in Tai Chi, it is never about the race or the
win; it’s about the journey. And because it’s all about the journey, there’s no
hurry. Just take your time, stay on the path, and enjoy what you see along the
way.
Or put another way, slow and steady builds motor units.
Wait. What?
When most people think of Tai Chi, they envision senior
citizens exercising slowly with beautiful and graceful movements. To most of the
fast paced, instant-gratification Gen X and Gen Y population (and don’t worry,
I fall just outside the brink of that range, so I am not completely immune to
those behaviors), this nauseatingly slow movement doesn’t seem like exercise in
the slightest. After all, only old people do it, right? It’s all they are
capable of doing in their advanced
age.
But there is a reason for the slow movement, and this is why
Tai Chi is great for people of all ages. When we move with sudden bursts of
energy, the muscles become tight and constricted. According to dictionary.com, the
definition of constrict is “to slow or stop the natural course or development
of.” But when we move slowly and continuously, we are relaxed; blood and energy
flow naturally throughout our bodies. And where there is natural flow, there is
an undeniable force. Think about rivers that flow unimpeded – no dams to block
their rampant flow.
By moving slowly, we build a different kind of strength –
strength for sustained movement. At a cellular level, we have an ongoing supply
of motor units (nerve cells and muscle fibers) that are alternately resting and
working for us, and we are building new motor units all the time to keep us
strong into our old age. I realize that this may sound a bit too tech-heavy, so
I’ll leave it at that. But for those who want to read a little more, check out
this blog post.
I’m not saying that there is no place for activities with
sudden bursts of energy. No, no, no! I think we need all kinds of energy to
play with; they are all good and serve a purpose. I’m just saying not to
underestimate the power of slow, continuous movement. I’m saying…give the
tortoise a chance!
How can we move easily, comfortably, and without pain as we
age? Of course, common sense tells us that we need to exercise regularly to
make sure all the working parts keep working. But what is going on in our
bodies at the cellular level? Aging gracefully may, in part, come down to our
motor units. The information herein is based on an article written by Holly
Sweeney, Director of the Montclair, New Jersey, Yang Cheng Fu Center, entitled
“Looking Through the Lens of Science at the Ten Essentials of Tai Chi Chuan.”
Her article was published in the Spring 2005 issue of the International Yang
Family Tai Chi Chuan Association newsletter.
I hope to adequately summarize her very in-depth article of
how these motor units work, and how we can use them wisely. A motor unit is one
nerve cell (neuron) and all the muscle fibers which it activates. A group of
motor units represent a muscle. When we move, or tell our bodies to move, we in
effect are calling our motor units to action. By calling on our motor units,
the nerves become excited and the connected muscle fibers are activated.
Okay, so what does this mean? When the motor units are not
called into action, they don’t do much. But when they are, they sort of have
this “all out war” attitude. They are basically either turned completely on, or
turned completely off. In some situations, you may want this pedal-to-the-metal
force. It’s great when short bursts of energy and power are needed, like
sprinting. But what about endurance? What about long distance running?
How does our body sustain a movement? There are a couple
ways to do this. You can send a continuous barrage of nerve impulses to the
motor units to keep all the muscle fibers strong and activated, thus preventing
them from weakening in between impulses. This is great for activities like
sprinting or playing tennis. The only downside is that the muscle fibers
eventually will get tired and you will have to rest before you can attempt the
activity again.
Another way to sustain a movement is to change motor units
that are activated at any given time. You make some motor units work while
letting others take a break. We can accomplish this method with smooth,
continuous movements. And the benefit of this method? Over time, our bodies end
up activating and maintaining way more motor units then the other way of slam-dunking
all the nerve impulses at once.
More motor units equal more strength and balance. And aside
from being great for conditioning the body, ample amounts of motor units help
us to age gracefully, too. With the normal aging process, cells die. And when
motor unit nerve cells die, all the muscle fibers connected to them become
useless. If those fibers do not reconnect with a new motor unit, they will
atrophy. So what makes them want to reconnect? It all boils down to that old
adage, “Use it or lose it.” New motor units will be created only if your body
plans to use them.
So get off the couch and go build some motor units, for
goodness sake!
My husband and I are big Jeopardy! fans, and we are enjoying the Tournament of Champions that is playing this week. As is customary, Alex Trebek talks to the contestants after the first break, giving the audience a peek into their lives and personality. He asked one of the contestants, the very deadpan Alex Jacob (former poker pro and now a currency trader in Chicago) about his unique way of practicing his buzzer skills. It was quite funny, creative, and apparently effective (since he won in the semi-final round): he was looking around for a prop that had the same springiness as the Jeopardy! buzzer, and found that the perfect prop was the toilet paper holder!
(Okay, you Jeopardy! fans out there. You know you want to test this out for yourselves!)
This anecdote reminded me of our tai chi push hands, where we work with an opponent or partner. (I know, this is quite the segue, but just hear me out.) For many people, it's hard to practice push hands because there's no one to play with. Unless you have a built-in, live-in partner (and I'm lucky because my husband practices with me), you're left to practice with the air. And doing air push hands is much harder than playing air guitar, that's for sure!
So what's a tai chi enthusiast to do? There are few props that can help you to simulate working with another person. A short cylinder or tube works great, with the length being about the distance between the inside of your elbow to your wrist and the diameter a few inches wide. You can grab the length of the tube with both hands or place both palms on the ends of the tube to practice figure eight movements, etc. An empty paper towel roll (the cardboard tube) is about the right size, but will eventually lose its shape after repeated use. An empty wrapping paper roll might have a stronger, thicker cardboard tube that you can cut down to size. If you can find a really cheap foam pool noodle, those are great, too, if you don't mind cutting them down to size.
(Sorry, the toilet paper holder will be too small. However, the springiness factor would be interesting....)
Another great prop to use are balls. I currently use the balls in the Miracle Ball Method. They are soft and squishy and nice to work with, but they are a little small. When I stop procrastinating, I'm sure I can find another similar ball at the local toy store that's a little bigger.
I thought I'd check online to see what other ideas I could find for tai chi push hands props. I found this guy who thought about creating a push hands dummy.
What a great idea! I'll have to keep an eye on his blog to see if he actually makes it! From his blog, I also saw a comment that led me to a great tai chi ball video.
So what are your thoughts? Any other ideas for cool props to use for tai chi push hands?
Today, I took a drive in the dreary, wet, and overcast weather
to the grocery store. It was a short drive, maybe about five minutes or so, but
I noticed that the trees were all in varying stages of transition. Some were
still green, and some were partially green with red, orange, and yellow
accents. Some had already fully turned into the fiery colors of autumn, and
some had already lost all their leaves. Collectively, they were all beautiful
as each tree was on its own time frame for change. There was no pressure by nearby
surroundings to hurry up or slow down.
This transition of seasons reminds me of the many opposites in
tai chi. In the tai chi form, we are empty and full, open and closed, focusing
on the inner (mind) and outer (physical), coordinating upper and lower body. We
are yin and yang – “the two energies present in everything. They are both
opposite, but equal, and one cannot exist without the other.” (The Yin and
Yang of Summer Solstice)
Summer is yin (the yin characteristic of being hot), and
winter is yang (the yang characteristic of being cold). At the height of summer, yin is at its peak
and then begins to weaken as it transforms to yang. At the height of winter,
yang is at its peak, and then begins to weaken as it transforms to yin. And
just like the seasons, tai chi constantly flows from one extreme to a balance
of yin and yang, to the other extreme. We flow from being closed to being open.
We flow from being empty to being full. It is never-ending.
