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Is cross-training
OK?
Cross-training is fine.
It works the body out in all sorts of different ways.
Despite media information to the contrary, tai chi is
not the perfect exercise.
Cross-training is essential but it must be done properly.
What can I cross-train?
Anything you like.
It's up to you, after all.
Fitness
There are 3 areas of fitness:
Cardio
Strength
Flexibility
In order to exercise the body
properly, you need to gain aptitude in all 3 areas.
So, people's shoulders being
up like this (lifted) it doesn't just affect their shoulders. It pushes
their neck vertebrae out - which is why they get sore necks. It actually
makes their chest lift a lot. It puts pressure on your heart. It does a
whole lot of things that are not good for you.
(Bruce Frantzis)
A balanced approach?
Many people can lift heavy weights but they are not flexible/breathing hard
after mild cardio. Often, injuries arise and bodies are pushed
too hard.
This is not good enough for a comprehensive
training approach.
A fitness regime must
not take into account agility,
mobility, relaxed
spontaneous movement, balance,
ambidextrous body use, joint
health, coordination,
emotional wellbeing or
psychological flexibility.
Learn how to exercise
Instead of simply
relying upon your instructor to make you fit, make an
effort yourself. Take what you learn in tai chi class as a starting point.
Progress from there.
Make a commitment to get continually stronger, faster, more flexible,
healthier. Research exercise methods and be open to any new approach that
does not interfere with your tai chi.
Jack of all trades?
Personal trainers encourage people to improve their
fitness. This is good. Just be wary of
studying too many things simultaneously.
Superficial knowledge will never lead to sincere,
high-level physical abilities. Look deeper. Focus. Also, time is a
factor... Just how much spare time do you really have?
Professional swimmers don't have
perfect bodies because they train extensively. Rather, they are good
swimmers because of their physiques. Similarly, female models advertise
cosmetics and thus, female consumers believe that these products make you
beautiful. But it is not the cosmetics that make these women model-like.
Quite simply, the models are born attractive and only for this reason are
they candidates for cosmetic advertising. As with the swimmers' bodies,
beauty is a factor for selection and not the result.
(Rolf Dobelli)
Common exercise methods
Most exercise methods have pros and cons.
Often the problem lies not with the exercise itself but with
how people perform it.
The drawbacks of exercise
Not all forms of exercise are necessarily
good for you. For example, running may improve cardiovascular health but is
also very hard on the joints.
Lifting heavy weights can cause significant tension to accumulate and - if
the muscles are large enough - adversely affect the skeleton. Most forms of
exercise have pros and cons; especially sport.
Running
Most runners run with extremely bad posture:
• Elbows are stiff and locked (often raised)
• The body is leaning forwards or stooping;
either at the neck or collapsing at the bottom of the rib cage
• Shoulders are lifted; often one higher than
the other
• Considerable tension in the upper body
• Frozen sacroiliac; immobile
• Knees twisted (the foot
flicks out sideways)
• Weight is bearing heavily down into the knees
• The skeleton is not moving freely, naturally or comfortably
This would be bad posture for any form of exercise. It causes serious
fatigue and adverse wear and tear on the body. The
tension in the body uses energy and tires you out.
Stress
Many runners have careworn faces with deep lines caused by emotional stress.
They don't look happy when running. They look deeply upset.
Their approach to running is causing them to suffer.
Over-training, pushing the body and pursuing unnecessary goals is
harmful and leads to pain and injury. There are many other ways to get fit.
The philosophy of
between-reps breaks consists of doing everything you can to avoid fatigue
instead of seeking it out as you would in body building. Striving for
failure is more appropriate for those working on muscle mass than for those
wanting to increase strength or power.
(Frederic Delavier)
Programs for
fighters should consist mostly
of compound exercises. These allow for intense work on a maximum number of
muscles in a minimum time.
(Frederic Delavier)
The difference between experienced fighters and beginners is the speed of
muscle relaxation, which is 8 times faster in champion fighters. For an
inexperienced fighter, the speed of muscle relaxation is too slow for the
leg or the fist to gain enough speed when striking a blow. Keeping the
antagonistic muscles contracted automatically slows down the movement.
(Frederic Delavier)
Gym
Gym work typically shortens muscles and promotes patterns of
tension and fixity in the body.
Tai chi does the opposite: it allows muscles to lengthen, releases tensions
and encourages good skeletal use.
The muscle work that takes place in tai chi is principally geared towards
whole-body movement and training the body to rely more upon postural
muscles.
The fitness benefits of tai chi are quickly undermined by body building/gym
work performed with exertion and forcing.
Drop handled bicycle
The human skeleton is aligned to resist the downward pull of gravity. The
shoulders are positioned above the hips. On a drop handled bicycle, this is
not the case at all.
The body is held in a slanting posture. The arms are stretched and the
shoulders are positioned in front of the hips rather than above.
In order to see the road ahead, the cyclist must lift their head and
compress the back of the neck.
Although road bikes are very popular and certainly offer a
cardiovascular workout, this causes notable
muscular tension.
Mountain bike
The majority of mountain bikes sold in the UK appear to be used on the road
rather than off road. People seem unaware of the fact that the gears are not
suited to road use.
They pedal frantically and go no faster.
Dutch cycles
Have you ever seen a Dutch bicycle? They encourage an upright
posture, no strain on the arms or shoulders, and use gravity more
effectively than UK bicycles do.
Find out for yourself...
Body building and weight lifting are fashionable
activities today. The emphasis is upon developing external muscles which
creates an armouring effect that can eventually distort the bony structure.
It is the over developed musculature that actually torque's the bones and
discourages them from bearing additional weight. The body attempts to
compensate and problems arise.
Running does not necessarily in and of itself
improve posture that is already poor and constricted. It often exaggerates
problems due to the substitution of inappropriate muscles. The repetitive
inappropriate development of the musculature (as in body building or weight
lifting) often leads to diminished sensitivity. Stress occurs in the knees
and lower back, encouraging injury.
Swimming is an activity that can either create structural problems or
release them depending upon the way it is taught and practiced. Professional
swimmers are known to develop shoulder tendonitis and kyphosis. Overriding
head/neck righting reflexes (as occurs when the head is repeatedly turned
but the body does not follow) eventually result in overdeveloping shoulder
muscles, pinching nerves and distorting the rib cage.
Various
sport
activities emphasize strength, endurance and speed.
Development of muscle control rather than skeletal balance takes precedence.
Gaining speed at the expense of mounting tension, is too often the goal.
(Liz Koch)
Your body, your choice
Beginners can exercise however they choose to.
The problem lies with sabotaging
their tai chi.
There is no point in paying for lessons and then
undermining the training with bad habits acquired
elsewhere.
Running, lifting
weights, drop handle cycling and working out at the gym
may hinder progress in tai chi - unless they are practiced
mindfully and without
exertion.
Something else
It is common for people to see tai chi as just
being another night school class, 'alternate therapy', another
martial art or perhaps even dance.
Tai chi is far more than this. It is not an alternative to yoga, karate, Zumba or line dancing.
Just exercise
If you were to study Pilates for decades it is unlikely that the system
would fundamentally change your temperament, world view, relationship with
others and provide a viable system of combat.
Pilates may improve your quality of life, fitness and posture. But that is
all.
Beyond exercise
Tai chi begins where the other exercise systems finish. The physical work is
just the start of your training; most of the real work is psychological.
Learning the system may completely change the way in which you live and to
regard it as purely exercise is to see only what you want to see.
The training is also concerned with re-energising the body.
More than exercise
For many people, their fitness regime does not take into account 'motor
learning'. Motor learning is about the process of using the body, rather
than simply exercising the body.
Agility, mobility, relaxed spontaneous movement, balance, structure,
alignment, biomechanics, efficiency, ambidextrous body use, joint health,
coordination, skill, emotional wellbeing or psychological flexibility.
Tai chi combines exercise with motor learning.
Wear & tear
Suppose you buy a car in 2010 and use it very rarely. In 2016 you decide to
sell the car and take it to a dealership.
The mileage is unusually low for a car of its age. Yet the car is still 6
years old chronologically.
In terms of wear and tear the car is 6 months old. Tai chi is about spending
your energy frugally. That way, as you get older, your wear and tear is
unusually low for a person of your age.
Investment
Tai chi training is like saving £1 a day. It does not sound like much but in
a year you have £365. In three years you have saved over £1000. What if
you saved £5 a day?
How do I get good at tai chi?
Practice tai chi. If you want to become adept at cutting down trees, chop
down trees. If you want to be good at the piano, practice on a piano.
Doing something else will not help your tai chi. Skill at tai chi only comes
from training tai chi:
When you do tai chi, you shouldn't sweat.
Sweating is a sign that energy is being dissipated.
It comes from tension and it's as if you are depleting your bank account.
Doing tai chi, you want to accumulate energy, not spend it.
So, if you sweat, you should stop and rest.
(Cheng Man Ching)
Page created
23 September 1995
Last updated
16 June 2023