Tai Chi Research in China: A Review

There is long held interest in Tai Chi research in China. A literature search using the key words “Tai Chi Quan” in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure's China Academic Journals Full-text Database (CNKI/CAJ), the largest searchable full-text and full-image interdisciplinary Chinese journals database in the world, found that between 1979 and 2008, 6,288 Tai Chi articles were published in Chinese. The topics covered a broad range including Tai Chi history, teaching, the relationship between Tai Chi practice and physical and mental health outcomes, and social and cultural impact, etc. The populations studied ranged from children (as young as 11 years old) to older adults, both males and females, as well as patients with all kinds of chronic diseases. For example, 43 studies involved diabetic populations. While a few studies have a longitudinal research design (e.g., 3-5 years follow-up studies), most of the reported studies found are cross-sectional or had only a few weeks of intervention. In addition, few studies examined the relationship between Tai Chi practice and “Qi.” Tai Chi is thought to enhance the flow of “Qi” in the body thus improving one's health and healing abilities. "Qi" refers to the life force. After providing a brief review of historical efforts in Tai Chi and Qi research, this presentation will focus on the current research interests in Tai Chi, Qi and Qi-gong, which is another popular Chinese body-mind exercise, in China Challenges in such research, especially the lack of a scientific definition measure of Qi, will be addressed. Future research directions will be outlined.