Bao wrote:LaoDan wrote:Can TJQ really be used to “enhance balance”?
Of course it can. Better body awareness = better body coordination = better balance.
Everyone can benefit and learn how to use their bodies better which means improved balance. For elders you also have the aspect of developing and maintaining leg strength, but in general it can help everyone.
I think that motivation is a big key. If elderly people find something (anything) that keeps them moving, and that they enjoy such that they do that activity regularly, then their balance should benefit. TJQ can do this for some elderly, but so can many other things. Is there something especially effective about TJQ, or is it just that the elderly that are motivated to practice TJQ are moving more? Could elderly social dancers have better balance than TJQ practitioners?
Better body awareness is why I mentioned proprioception. But do the solo TJQ forms that people practice, especially the simplified versions used for therapy (easily taught in a short time), just teach the elderly participants to learn specific choreography to make that choreography look smoother and more connected, but that maybe are not generalizing well into other movements or activities that are not that specific form? How much is it just strengthening the legs? How much is it just motivation to do better in the balance testing (the Hawthorne effect)? [Note: balance testing studies on one leg stance with the eyes closed noted that younger participants tend to noticeably move more in their attempts to maintain their balance than most elderly do; almost like many elderly have less “fight” in them.]
Intuitively and anecdotally TJQ seems likely to benefit the balance of the elderly, but what about TJQ is providing the benefits, and are those conditions somewhat unique to the holistic nature of TJQ (what can be eliminated in the simplified therapeutic forms?)? The research so far seems to indicate that there is something to TJQ that improves balance in the elderly, but I am not certain what that is or if it is more effective in TJQ than for other activities (e.g., social dancing).