Training devices - Tai Chi ruler
太極統治者
Other names: Tai Chi
Chih |
The Tai Chi ruler is taught as an adjunct to the core
curriculum of Chen Family style Tai Chi Chuan sets.
For some
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students the ruler exercises provide some relief from chronic
pain in the finger, hands, wrists and forearms. One student |
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sleeps holding his ruler for this purpose. The ruler exercises
should also in some cases reinforce useful habits for shifting |
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weight forward and backward; vertical movement of qi along
the macrocosmic orbit; improved physical balance; and |
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horizontal transfer of qi from left side to right side and
from right side to left side. The ruler directly stimulates or |
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massages two important acupuncture points - Heart 8 and
Pericardium 8. We have found that larger students require |
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longer and often thicker rulers and bangs. As noted previously
we do not have any results that suggest that the design of |
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the central area of the ruler makes any measurable difference.
However, it is certainly the case that students almost |
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always have strong preferences for the type of wood. |
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In the PDF file we discuss at some length preliminary
observations regarding teaching a student with arthrogryposis. |
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Like autism, arthrogryposis is a spectrum of symptoms with over
300 genes potantially involved. In this case the student |
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has chronic pain, cannot fully open his right hand and cannot
readily close his right hand. I have asked some colleagues |
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whose opinions I value |
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/1/ if ruler exercises are effective - note not everyone teaches
ruler. For pain short-term, yes. For tendons long term?? |
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/2/ should one end of the student's ruler be re-shaped as an
ellipsoid to accommodate the student's challenges |
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/3/ or, in order to preserve the symmetry of the ruler, re-shape
both ends |
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to download the essay formatted as a PDF
click here |