Information on the health effects of Tai Chi in China?

I’m writing a medical anthropology paper on Tai Chi, and how it’s been used as a primary method of healing in China. Although I’ve already looked into this a lot, I’m trying to find more details on the history of it’s implementation in China, and the results that have followed since it’s adoption. Does anyone know insightful sources on the subject which they can paraphrase and cite?|||The introduction to “Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body” has a pretty good answer to your questions. Bruce Frantzis (the author) has a tremendous amount of experience with Tai Chi, Chinese Culture and the Chinese Medical System. In the introduction to the book he basically said that after the cultural revolution, China was left with a shortage of doctors, cash and a ballooning population. Since it was impossible to provide enough medical care, the government decided to force the heads of various Tai Chi families to divulge their secrets and create a simple national Tai Chi form which could be used for societal health. Once the form was created, they started training lots of instructors to teach it, after which point the government created a new rule in regards to access to medical care. If someone had a health problem requiring medical intervention, they first had to take Tai Chi daily with someone certified to teach the national Tai Chi form, and have their participation checked off each day. If after a few months the health problem had not gone away, the person was then permitted access to Western Health care (which was only available through the government). Since Tai Chi tended to reverse the pathology of most diseases, the people remaining who still had health care problems requiring treatment was dramatically cut down to the point it was feasible to treat them.


I believe this is gone into more detail in Bruce’s other book Tai Chi health for life as well.|||Thanks a lot, great answer and very intriguing material. I’m definitely going to look into this guy a lot more.

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