175. Qigong, TaiChi, Baguazhang and Dementia (1)

Recently my wife asked me if I would be interested in doing a piece around Qigong or Baguazhang and Alzheimer's Disease, and in association with dementia in general. I pointedly refused to get involved because I am not a qualified medical practitioner nor did I have any interest in the field. Now to be fair on myself, I do have a passionate interest in neuroscience, psychology and whether or not a martial artist realises it: The battle of the mind (the way of strategy) is a key battleground that must be won before any physical battle (the way of tactics) can be won. With this understanding martial arts in general has had a very, very, long history in studying how the mind can be defeated and how a fighter's own mind can be fortified against attack. And by way of this route, I guess from a martial arts perspective I might have a few words to say on the subject. Which is what I am doing right here. So let's begin... Generally speaking, relative to the majority of the community a martial artist lives in, most masters tended to live long and fruitful lives devoid of disease like dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's because of several factors that may seem independent of each other but actually end up working together to guard against these diseases. These factors include and are not limited to: 1. continual study ☳, 2. exercise ☵, 3. diet ☶, 4. belief ☰, 5. Social position ☷, 6. occupation in society ☱, 7. medical training ☲, and 8. the experiences brought on by life in general ☴. Most of the clinical trials involving martial arts centres almost exclusively around Tai Chi. This is because Tai Chi is the default Style when people seek and know of an internal martial art. And is also assumed to be good for elderly because that is the age group most people see doing it. Tai Chi is also picked because it is an internally focused art meaning there is a lot to do with the mind and spirit. It is also noted that most of the studies involve patients with early onset dementia that can still be reversed provided that the patient is willing and able to make the long term changes required for the positive changes to occur. Something of which isn't always possible. Nor desirable. Given that for most people pills and drugs seem to be just as effective. Qigong on the other hand has an entire field called Medical Qigong and it falls under the category of Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM for short. Most Tai Chi masters who claim Tai Chi is good for dementia are actually TCM doctors or Qigong masters to begin with. And are aware that it is not just Tai Chi alone that helps. Hence it is through Medical Qigong that somebody can find the most extensive information and remedies, provided that a person can read and understand traditional Chinese in both it's literal and symbolic senses. Baguazhang I will discuss in the next podcast following.