Why Do Tai Chi in a Swimming Pool?

Series Summary

Tai chi is a traditional Chinese martial art now popular with baby boomers because of the low-impact workouts believed to counter the physical and mental affects of aging. Practitioners claim improved balance and flexibility, as well lower levels of muscle aches and anxiety. By doing these exercises in the water, you provide a constant and consistent resistance to your muscles, yet at the same time cut down on the amount of stress experienced by your body. The water is a firm taskmaster, but at the same time a gentle one, which makes it the perfect place to exercise.

In this free series of personal fitness videos, our expert tai chi instructor tells you how to get fit in the swimming pool. She demonstrates common Tai Chi exercises such as “Turning Earth,” “Dove Wing” and “Embrace the Moon” on dry land as well as in the water. Now you can do the “Push Waves” form and actually be pushing waves in the pool. You will also learn neck floats and other exercises specific to this style of workout. If Julie Andrews can lead a whole family to safety across the Alps in the midst of World War II, she can definitely get you into shape.

Video Transcript

"Hi, I am Julie Andrews and this is Expert Village. I am demonstrating water Tai Chi. First of all, what is Tai Chi? Tai Chi is an ancient form of exercise that the Chinese developed and it is a martial art. Tai Chi is the gentle martial art and it has been adapted to the Western civilization as a form of exercise. It is gentle and it is safe. It improves our balance, our posture and it strengthens our core. It helps us to breath more deeply and most important of all, it relaxes us because is it meditation. We are just moving through it. The reason to take it in to the water is because you can fall down in water; is one reason. You have all the wonderful liquid around you to hold you up. The other reason is that water provides buoyancy which helps the body to float. And with the wonderful floating, we can get the beautiful, gentle stretching that the water allows the body to do without much effort. The water also offers us resistance. Its more difficult to move and control our body movements in water as opposed to air. Also, moving through water is very relaxing. It relaxes the muscles. It relaxes the joints. And when we have relaxed muscles and joints, we can have more flexible movements. When doing the water Tai Chi, the water temperature should be warm; from 88 to about 92 to 94 degrees, allowing the muscles to relax."