Monday, March 14, 2011

Tai Chi Chuan Standard 24 Form

The first Taijiquan form I learned in 1986 was the Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Standard 24 Movement Form.  At that time there were no books or instructional videotapes on this popular form.

My webpage on the Standard 24 Form has been the most popular webpage on the Cloud Hands Website for many years. In this sidebar of this blog, you will find a quick index to this webpage and a list of books and DVD's on the subject. 

The best book that I have seen on the subject is:

The Yang Taiji 24 Step Short Form: A Step by Step Guide for All Levels
By James Drewe
London, Singing Dragon Press, 2011.
382 pages, black and white photographs, charts, detailed descriptions, training tips

My students tell me that their favorite instructional DVD on the 24 Form is:

Tai Chi - The 24 Forms
By Dr. Paul Lam



I have taught this lovely Tai Chi form to hundreds of people since 2000.  Everyone tells me how much they enjoy learning and practicing this gentle form.

I also teach and enjoy playing the Chen Style Taijiquan 18 Movement Form created by Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Keys to a Longer Life

One interesting report of studies of persons who lived to be 90 years of age concluded that exercise, diet, and lifestyle changes after the age of 70 significantly increased vitality and longevity.

"Scientists have homed in on the secrets of a longer life by studying thousands of pensioners who lived to their 90s and beyond. In the case of men, their chances of reaching their 90s were surprisingly dependent on how well they looked after themselves from their 70s onwards, the scientists found, suggesting their life expectancy was not already determined by their former lifestyle.
Detailed lifestyle records of the elderly volunteers revealed that men had to keep themselves in peak condition to have a reasonable chance of joining the nonagenarians, while women coped better and lived longer despite chronic and often disabling illnesses. Previous studies of twins suggest that about a quarter of the variation in human lifespan is governed by genes, leaving 75% that is influenced by our environment, diet and lifestyle."