Harvard Health Publications
Proprioception (Ability to sense the position and location and orientation and movement of the body and its parts). One study compared long-term Tai Chi practitioners to age-matched swimmers, runners, and sedentary controls. The Tai Chi practitioners had a better sense of the position of their ankle and knee joints in space, and were more sensitive to small movements of their joints. So, Tai Chi may give you more accurate, quicker feedback for balance and posture, which could help prevent falling. (Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi. Page 118.)
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Long-term tai chi practitioners found to have improved knee and ankle proprioception.
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BALANCE DISORDERS. T'ai Chi practitioners fall only half as much as those practicing other balance training, as reported by an Emory University study, and others.
Try tai chi to improve balance, avoid falls
Posted August 23, 2012, 9:00 am
Stephanie Watson, Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch
Compared to the pumping intensity of spin or Zumba, a tai chi class looks like it's being performed in slow motion. Watching the gentle, graceful movements of this ancient Chinese practice, it's hard to imagine that tai chi can burn off a single calorie or strengthen muscles. But this exercise program is far more dynamic than it looks.
"The slowness that you see from the outside can be deceptive," says Dr. Peter Wayne, research director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
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http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/try-tai-chi-to-improve-balance-avoid-falls-201208235198
Tai Chi May Help Seniors Avoid Falls
Fitness, Flexibility, Balance, and Confidence Improved in 12-Week Study
June 28, 2005 -- Tai chi, an ancient Chinese martial art, may improve senior citizens' strength and help them avoid falls, South Korean researchers find.
. . . The researchers tested tai chi in older adults. The slow, gentle, and continuous movements help them develop stronger muscles, better balance control, concentration, and psychological well-being.
Click here for more on this research and balance . . .
