From: twcaps@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts
Subject: Re: Novice T'ai Chi Questions (Physiology Effects)
Date: 16 Apr 92 18:54:47 GMT
Article-I.D.: dog.22754
Reply-To: twchan@lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.12.117

In article <1992Apr14.162028.12475@bqnes74.bnr.ca> kowal@bnr.ca (Andrew Kowal) 
	writes:
 
 +1) My instructor mentioned that studying T'ai Chi could make one "thick 
 +   around the middle."  Breathing and concentrating etc. "from the gut"
 +   leads to a large waist.  Has anyone else heard this?  Is he talking about
 +   muscle gain (this is what I assume) or something else?
 +
 +   I've also heard that studying T'ai Chi could lead to developing a
 +   large posterior, as it were.  Some of the postures emphasize the use
 +   of the gluteus, and perhaps this would lead to a more (er, um) pronounced
 +   derierre.
 +
 +   I realize that I'm being vain, but I already have problems with my
 +   waist and butt size and these are not areas I would like to emphasize.
 +   I do realize that it's fatty tissue I should be concerned with, but
 +   I have a lot of Ukranian relatives who did that cool dancing which lead
 +   to abnormally pronounced rears.  This is something I'd like to avoid.
 +   Anyone have any experience/comments on this?

Sorry, I don't have any Ukranian relatives, but I'll thrown in what I can.
 
 +2) I've read as well that practice of T'ai Chi could also lead to a somewhat
 +   widened foot.  One thing that impressed me about the course was that
 +   the instructor saw that when I bent my knee it was nowhere near being
 +   directly over my toes, and he warned me that this could lead to some
 +   problems.

  [Questions RE:  orthotics and T'ai Chi deleted]
 
 +My apologies for the goofy questions and any factual inaccuracies I might
 +have come up with.  Please reply and follow-up to me, and if anyone is 
 +interested in a compilation of answers that I get, just let me know.

Well, Andrew, you have brought up a series of questions from a perspective
which I hadn't encountered before.  Too bad they weren't definitive
statements :-) but that's another thread.  I'll try to give my thoughts
on this.

There are common anecdoctal statements to the effect that when one 
practices TCC for a long time (and gets decent at it), that that 
person develops a "T'ai Chi belly" (gut, spare tire, whatever).  This 
is commonly attributed to the accumulation of "ch'i" in the lower
abdominal region.  The comments about a big butt and wide feet I
had not heard before.

There are masters who have/had this odd, sometimes even "bowling ball",
type of shape.  Yang Cheng-fu while not exactly shaped like a bowling
ball, was an extremely large man who, in his later days, had a very
pronounced gut (he did die young).  There are others (e.g., Ma Yueliang), 
although there are many other masters or teachers (e.g., Dong Yingjie, 
Wang Peisheng, Sun Lu-tang, etc.) who were small and/or thin guys.  My 
own opinion is that this gut frequently arises because of the nature of 
training where the focus is on mental training and body posture but 
less so on standard body hardening and aerobic-style training so lots of 
folks can get bigger.

So, I think that it depends on your own lifestyle, genes, and whatnot.
If you're really concerned, check out the instructor and advanced students
in the school you're interested in.  If they don't fit your requirements,
as goofy as they might be, find another.  After all, it's your nickel.

 +Thanks, in advance.

Oh no, THANK YOU.


Terry "Did the Big Bottom Family on SNL practice TCC?" Chan
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