Tai Chi – The Perfect Exercise: Finding Health, Happiness, Balance and Strength
Author: Arthur Rosenfeld. Publishing year: 2013.
Tai Chi – The perfect exercise offers us a professional and intimate view into the practice and philosophy of this martial art.
Finding balance in life means integrating mind, body and spirit into a sustainable practice that will nourish and sustain us.
Arthur Rosenfeld sees himself as both a student and a teacher of Tai Chi. The book is written for the western reader and answers many of the questions a beginner might have into this subject. Even more, it goes deeper into specific and advanced subjects.
Tai Chi is a Full Body Exercise
The book starts by explaining why we should take an interest in Tai Chi. It explains how it can aid us in our quest for better health. Further more, it shows us how it can help us become fitter, both physically and mentally.
“If sitting at a desk all day is the new smoking, than tai chi is the new yoga, offering us an opportunity to step out of contemporary culture’s fast-moving river of modern life onto a stable, peaceful, natural island, a place where we can develop tranquility, relaxation, clarity, efficiency and effectiveness.”
Inwardly Directed Practice
The practice and philosophy behind Tai Chi goes back hundreds of years. Despite this, for the western audience it can be fairly new and, in some cases, misunderstood. Chinese masters have designed Tai Chi with the purpose of helping people live a healthy and integral life. Unfortunately, today we see martial arts more as a show.
“Because it requires a completely inwardly directed consciousness, genuine tai chi is not a performance and should not be done with an audience in mind.”
We should practice Tai Chi for our own health. It will help us build awareness of our own internal thoughts. We will see how they arrive from interaction with the external world.
“Mindful tai chi practice thus builds awareness and sensitivity to our environment and helps us to notice where we have difficulties […]”
The perfect exercise integrates physical movement of the body, with thoughts of the mind and even spirituality.
Spirituality
Besides physical exercise Tai Chi can help us find a spiritual path even if we are not religious individuals.
“Although tai chi requires no particular religious beliefs, practicing it can lead to a spiritual awakening, a sense of being part of a larger fabric of existence”
Having a healthy mind and an adequate outlook on life is essential for living a centered life.
“Tai chi can help us to take control of the part of the world we call our own.”
From philosophy to martial arts exercise and traditional Chinese medicine approach, this book explains the benefits of Tai Chi. It shows us how we can start our practice how we can advance it and why it is the good choice for us.
“Tai chi teaches us that life is not all about merely getting things done; we all know how it ends, so rushing through life is just senseless.”