johnwang wrote:I have created 6 single leg balance drills to enhance balance.
Can TJQ really be used to “enhance balance”?
The CDC in the USA has so far only found that the scientific research on balance is sufficient to recommend “Tai Chi” for therapeutic treatments for the elderly (although the TJQ used in the “Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance™” program is a simplified and modified Yang style solo form, with supplemental exercises, so it should perhaps instead be called a Qigong exercise that is based on TJQ). While practitioners often think that TJQ has numerous health benefits, the research so far is not rigorous enough to provide more that preliminary indications for other health issues.
One would intuitively think that single leg balance drills, or practices that challenge one’s balance like push-hands or shuaijiao, etc. would improve one’s balance. But how effective is it? I have had two of my students, both relatively healthy, take a simple balance test and they only had about average balance for their ages (one about 60 the other about 70 years old). Since we only meet once a week and only do drills that specifically challenge their balance for a minimum of 6’ each class (although it is longer in some classes, the 6’ is the minimum), perhaps this is not long enough or frequent enough for them to see improvements above the average for their ages. Personally, I (at 60+ years old) have well above average results (>30”) when I do the same test.
SIMPLE BALANCE TEST:
Stand barefoot on one leg (whichever one is better or more comfortable for you – the two legs should not be very different statistically barring any medical conditions), close your eyes and time how long you can stay on the one leg without touching the other foot down or opening your eyes. Repeat several times and average the results.
The normal test values for averaging three tests would be ~4” @ 70, ~7” @ 60, ~9” @ 50, ~16” @ 40, >22” @ 30 or younger. Times above 30” would be above average at any age.
As can be seen, balance decreases significantly with increased age. I would expect most long term practitioners who spend significant time practicing either slow solo TJQ forms (i.e. significant time spent in one leg stances or transitions where the weight is on only one leg) or who regularly practice activities that challenge one’s balance would have good balance times in the above test. I am curious if the practitioners on this forum really have significantly better balance, as measured by this test, than the average person their age.
Note that there are other balance tests, for example one can test balance with one’s eyes open instead, but I thought that the eyes closed version may be best for checking TJQ since it relies more on proprioception and eliminates vision vision. I would think that TJQ should be especially good for proprioception; additionally the eyes closed version doesn’t take as long.
John, knowing that you are so dedicated and likely practice more than many others on this forum, I would be curious what your time would be for standing on one leg with the eyes closed. I would also be curious to know the values for other forum members, especially for those who are above 50 years old (assuming that you are not reluctant to publicly state your test results).
John, I can see why you made your choices of drills. I would probably just recommend that students looking to improve their balance, as well as other aspects important for TJQ, practice as slowly as possible without going so slow that they actually stop (and restart) – more like the minute hand of a clock rather than the more typical second hand pace. Every step would be a prolonged time focusing on balance.