Traditional Chinese Health-keeping Exercises/Sports

Foreword

　　Each nation, each ethnic has its own unique tradition of sports and exercises. One of the most famous examples would be Yoga in India . In this article, we will talk about traditional Chinese sports. There are numerous types of folk sports in Chinese culture, like shuttlecock-kicking, rope jumping, and bell-pulling, as well as an array of martial art trainings, which emphasize combat skills and muscle strength. This article focuses on health-keeping exercises. Health-keeping means care for life and the term “life” we are discussing here covers at least two dimensions – physical and mental. That is, a healthy “life” is made up with at least a healthy body and a healthy mind. Chinese traditional health-keeping exercises emphasize illness-curing as well as cultivation of body and mind. This unique concept and theory is now widely used as supplementary or alternative therapies in modern medical care.

In the History Disease prevention and health-keeping through exercise has always been one of the medical therapies in Chinese history. A passage in Chapter Nine of the “Lu Shi - Qian Ji ( 路史．前紀 )” recorded, “In the ancient times, rivers often overflowed and flooded the plains. The high humidity stifled the air and caused poor circulation in human bodies. The impeded circulation caused the residents to have swells in their legs. To flex their joints, Ying Kang Shi ( 陰康氏 ) choreographed the Grand Dance and taught the residents how to channel moisture out of their bodies through dancing. ” From ancient scriptures, we found that in ancient Chinese medicine, exercise was deemed as one of the major remedies used to cure health problems alongside with acupuncture and medication. As said in Huang Di Nei Jing ( 黃帝內經 ), “in the Central Plain of China, the lands were wet; Therefore, lives grew in abundance. Because of the affluence, people had excess food without having to exert labor. Therefore, residents of the central plain often fell ill with weakness, swells, and hot/cold flashes. Such problems should be treated with channeling ( 導引 ) and massage( 按蹻 ). Thus, the techniques of channeling and massages were originated from the Central Plain region. ”

　　 Jin Kui Yao Lue ( 金匱要略 ) has also mentioned the causes of diseases and methods of prevention, “The first type of illnesses is inflicted through the meridians. Evil substances enter the organs through the meridians and become trapped inside. The second type of illnesses is caused by poor circulation in the four limbs and nine cavities, which are inflicted through skin. The third type of illnesses includes injuries inflicted by sharp objects, insects, and animals. The above summarizes all causes of illnesses. If a person tends to his body with great care, like – shield off evil winds from interfering the flow of his meridians and tend to the evil winds before they flow into the internal organs; practice channeling with regulated breathing when the limbs are feeling heavy; treat with acupuncture, heat therapy, and massages to prevent the nine cavities from clogging; avoid injuries and keep the indoors well ventilated; avoid excessively hot, cold, bitter, sour, spicy, and sweet foods; when a body is without weakness, illnesses have no way to interfere its regularity. ”

　　Channeling described above is in fact one of the major features in Chinese health-keeping exercises. Channeling means “Channel one's chi to harmony; Stretch one's body for flexibility.” It is not hard to see that channeling is indeed a type of therapeutic health-keeping exercise combining breathing and physical exercises. Now, the question is why channeling is beneficial to health? In East-Han Dynasty, one of the most famous doctor in Chinese history, Hua Tuo ( 華佗 ) once said, “A human body should be exerted with labor but without exhaustion. When a body is exercised, gases from food digestion will be eliminated and circulation will be improved; thus, illnesses will not occur. It is like a frequently opening door that does not corrode. Therefore, ancient immortals often practice channeling – expand like a bear, pull like a crane, stretch the body, and rotate the joints – in their pursuit for longevity. ”

The Elements

　　There are numerous types of health-keeping arts and unending forms of regimes, but if we take a deep exploration, we will find that none deviates from the three major elements – body, breathing, and mind adjustments. They are combined either with yin/yang theories and Chinese meridian theories or martial art physical trainings into sets of regimes. Now, we will explain the three elements in traditional Chinese health-keeping arts from a more scientific aspect so that learners will have a correct attitude when learning his/her chosen form of regime.

　　[Body Adjustment] can be classified into tow categories - non-movement and movement. Non-movement exercises are forms by which a person practices prolonged still postures: 1. Standing Forms like Taiji zhang ( 太極樁 ), Santi Zhang ( 三體樁 ), and Fuhu Zhuang ( 伏虎樁 ). 2. Sitting Forms like Straight-up sitting and meditation sitting. 3. Lying Forms like Jixiang Posture ( 吉祥臥 ). Movements are series of movements incorporated into sets of regimes: like Ba Duan Jing (the eight form mini Tiji Quan, 八段錦 ), Yijing Jing (Meridian exercises, 易筋經 ), Wujing Xi (animal forms, 五禽戲 ), and Taiji Quan ( 太極拳 ).

　　Still postures lower muscles tension through prolonged equal-length contraction. They are designed for relaxation. Physically, still postures lower the muscle tension around blood veins to minimize resistances to blood circulation. This type of exercises require mental self-check. One must consciously sense whether the muscles are relaxed and whether the minds are tense. The regimes are highly suitable to people who sit for a prolonged period of time. They are effective to eliminate tension and prevent muscles from becoming hardened.

　　[Breathing] breathing techniques can be classified into inhale, hold, and exhale with short-long intake in alteration, such as long inhale-long exhale, long inhale-short exhale, short inhale-long exhale or abdominal breathing, chest breathing, cis-breathing, reverse breathing, mouth breathing, and deep-continuous breathing. No matter what type of breathing is adopted, movement with breathing regulation is one of the major features of Chinese traditional exercises. Zhuangzi-Ke Yi ( 莊子 • 刻意 ) mentioned, “breath-in and blow-out, blow out the old and take in the new; Spread like a bear and stretch like a bird for longevity. These are techniques favored by channeling and mind cultivating practitioners like the long-life Peng Zu. ” Cheng Yuan-Ying ( 成元英 ) interpreted the passage as, “blow out the cold air to exhale the old; Inhale the warm air to collect the new; hang like a bear climbing a tree and stretch legs like a bird in the sky. ” This is exactly the concept of health-keeping therapy with an integration of breathing and physical exercise.

　　The main purpose of breathing techniques is to increase the oxygen content in a human body and the key techniques are slow, even, deep, and long. Slow breathing calms the parasympathetic nerves to lower the blood pressure and relax the muscles and minds. Even breathing entails regularity and tempo. Regulated breathing harmonizes the body and mind. Deep breathing means breathing with the diaphragm, that is, abdominal cis-breathing. This technique of breathing helps to take air into the effective cavities of the lungs for high efficiency air-exchange. Long breathing enables air to stay in the body longer for a sufficient period time for air exchange.

　　Modern medicine thinks that aging and cancer are caused by cell breathing failure that produces excessive inferior Oxygen and HO free radicals and damages body cells and tissues. Wrinkles, pigmentations, loss of luster are all caused by aging. Traditional Chinese health-keeping exercises require slow/easy breathing and muscle twisting. Such exercises allow the lung air cells to carry out high efficiency air exchange and promote sufficient blood circulation in the muscles and organs. When the tissues and cells receive sufficient supply of oxygen, wastes in the body are able to be effectively eliminated and therefore, production of inferior oxygen and HO free radical are inhibited. Therefore, we can say that Chinese traditional health-keeping exercises are an effective tool to prevent aging, enliven the functions of internal organs, and promote metabolism to achieve a whole new cycle of body cleansing.

　　[Mind Adjustment] Simply put, mind adjustment is a type of techniques use to achieve concentration during practice. Mind adjustment can be classified as thought and thoughtless.

　　Thoughtless: eliminate wandering minds – “instigate no thoughts; come about no thoughts”. Although it is described as having no thoughts, it is impossible for a person to completely empty his minds. In a manner of fact, thoughtless means concentration on one thought to eliminate all wandering minds.

　　Thought: 1. The term “color” implies colors and shapes - colors like red, orange, yellow, green, blue, navy, purple, etc. and shapes like flowers, human figures, geometry shapes, mountains, rivers, sun, moon, etc. 2. Sounds include vowels like He, Hu, and Xu and some sort of music and tempo or lyrics and poems. 3. Smells include fragrances of sandalwood (incenses) or flowers. 4. Tastes mean sourness, sweetness, saltiness, and bitterness. 5. Touches means cold, warm, light, heavy, etc. Thoughts of these sensations can be conceived, for example, a white lotus releasing subtle fragrances, to relax the mind. “Thoughts” are often coordinated with breathing.

　　Generally, thoughts are to be released into the body. This type of practices is often used to explore the potential of human body through concentration. For example, when practicing, thoughts can be concentrated on the Dantian or the Ren and Du meridians, as in the meridian concepts of Chinese medicine, to train the biological functions of a body. Of course, there are also meditation practices that emphasize sensations from the surroundings. Other than the above mentioned purposes, mind adjustment is also practiced for self-examination – from observing muscle and bone movements in motion to examining the emotions and minds. There is a major difference between Chinese health-keeping exercises and western sports. Psychological counseling in western sports is most implemented to stimulate athlete for improvements in achievements. Mind training in traditional Chinese health-keeping exercises, on the other hand, aims to cultivate a healthy mind for long-term personal character development. Conclusion Traditional Chinese health-keeping exercises are not merely physical exercises. They require coordination of the body and mind, as well as outer expressions. In the “Qian Jin Yao Fang; Dao Lin Yang Xing (Valuable Prescriptions; Cultivation of Mind ( 千金要方．道林養性 )”, it has been mentioned that a person should, “not be bothered, not be enraged, not be overly fearful, not hustle about in confusion, not speak excessively, not laugh excessively. Not eagerly pursue yearnings, not persistently recall hatred. All of these emotions are damaging to ones life. If one is free from these thoughts, he will have longevity. ” From which, we know that traditional Chinese health-keeping exercises are conceived with Chinese philosophy. They aim to maintain health and prolong life as well as temper one's mind and cultivate one's characters for a truly happy life. From which, we can see that traditional Chinese health-keeping exercises have profound effects to prevention of illnesses came to being in the modern lives of modern people.