There is much written about tai chi chuan and its positive impact on increasing a person’s health, but some still remain marginally skeptical as to the benefits that this old (several thousand years old to be exact) Chinese system of martial arts has to offer in terms of the health benefits associated with it. Look, there is nothing wrong with being skeptical as all skepticism refers to is the need to examine and validate the benefits. Hopefully, this little essay will point out a few of the basic health benefits that the system offers and will hopefully clear up a number of the misconceptions. Now, in order to understand the positives that tai chi has to offer one must examine the relationship between the art and its emphasis on increased oxygen capacity.

Respiration, Breathing and Tai Chi

When it comes to performing the exercises of tai chi, there is significant emphasis placed on breathing and breath control. Usually, the breathing exercises involve a great deal of deep and long breathing combined with arm movements that help open up the lung so that complete capacity of the lungs will be reached and they will be allowed to fill up with air. Now, some may not see the value of deep breathing, but the value there are a host of effects that impact the body when oxygen enters it because oxygen does a great deal for the body that many people do not realize. For example, did you realize that oxygen is a major factor in the burning of fat? While this does not mean that a tai chi workout will lead to rapid weight loss, it will contribute to weight loss as the exercises burn a low impact amount of calories combined with the calorie burning benefits of increased oxygen intake.

Also, by expanding the amount of oxygen that is taken into the lungs the ability for the lungs to expand their cardiovascular conditioning will significantly increase. This is no different than sprinting to improve cardio conditioning. Ok, let’s revise that: there is a huge difference as tai chi is a much lower impact exercise than sprinting and it will not increase lung capacity in the manner that sprinting will, but it does provide a method of exercise for those who may not be able to sprint due to age, weight, conditioning, etc. In short, tai chi has a multitude of benefits and if one opts to explore them the positive results will slowly reveal themselves.