In general, the global economy continues to be sluggish and the U.S. unemployment rate remains persistently high. The Tai Chi/ Qigong community is not immune from these macro factors. Many practitioners have lost their jobs and their investments value; instructors saw student enrollment decreases; workshops and conferences across the nation had lower than expected attendees. Despite these challenges there have been myriad positive developments for the Tai Chi community. There are new classes offered every day. Tai Chi has been included in many civil or health initiatives (i.e. Open Streets in St. Louis and Open Center in New York City). More people are seeing the benefits of Tai Chi and Qigong. New workshops (i.e. Master Chen Hui Xian and Master Kao Tao’s workshops) were formed. Additional conferences were organized (i.e. A First Qigong Conference in Italy). New titles of Tai Chi and Qigong books and DVD’s have been published. Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine is now in full colors. More Wushu and Tai Chi tournaments have been hosted (see Care to compete? for details). In review, 2010 has been a good year for the Tai Chi/Qigong community which continues to grow and expand. There have been a multitude of significant events and below is a top ten list of the most prominent ones (not in any particular order):
- With your support, Tai Chi/Qigong Examiner has been propelled from a local St. Louis (MO) site and spun off to a national site. Additionally, both St. Louis Tai Chi/Qigong site and the National Tai Chi/Qigong site have been fed to other sites. Furthermore, the National Tai Chi/Qigong site has been featured in the national category and three of its articles were on the “front page” of the National Examiner site.
- David-Dorian Russ (aka Dr. Tai Chi) launched a Tai Chi/Qigong show Chi Chat on line which allows interaction among the host, the guest, and the audience. Even though this show has gone through a few iterations with two platforms and met some difficulties, it proves the live streaming medium is a viable channel for a Tai Chi/Qigong show with a very low entry barrier.
- The World Congress on Qigong and the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), founded by Dr. Effie Chow, aligned its annual convention date with the World Tai Chi & Qigong Day (WTCQD) this year to jointly celebrate the Tai Chi and Qigong world-wide with greater momentum (read Twelfth World Congress on Qigong & TCM). Furthermore, Bill Douglas, the founder of WTCQD also expanded the WTCQD to become World Healing Day.
- The Center of Taiji and Qigong was featured in International Exercise Therapy Symposium in October. The International Exercise Therapy Symposium was held in conjunction with the annual Mayo Clinic-Karolinska Institute Conference and the Frontiers of Medicine Program, jointly sponsored by the Mayo Clinic, the Karolinska Institute of Sweden, and the University of Minnesota. This signified that Tai Chi/Qigong is now widely viewed as an important therapy. See International Exercise Therapy Symposium will feature Center for Taiji & Qigong for more information.
- A first short movie about Tai Chi (Final Weapon) in English, star Master Ren Guangyi, premièred and awarded at the International Film Festival in Pasadena, CA and continues to get rave reviews in other film festivals. This movie was written and directed by Stephan Berwick, a Western pioneer of Chinese martial arts, actor in the Hong Kong action film of the 1980s, and senior Tai Chi instructor/writer. The significance of this movie is to restore the honor and integrity of the ancient old Chinese martial art of Tai Chi.
- A first English novel based on Tai Chi and Qigong theory 2012: The Awakening by Bill Douglas was published in August. Based on facts, this novel illuminates why it is important to bring the Yin energy to the world. Bill also highlights the benefits of practicing Tai Chi and Qigong with engrossing plot. This inspirational thriller has been getting wide-spread attention from the media and spiritual community and is on its way to the bestsellers list.
- Dr. Rustum Roy, an internationally renowned scientist and spiritual leader passed away on August 26. Dr. Rustum was a co-founder of World Congress of Qigong and TCM and strong support of Qigong and Qigong research. Dr. Effie Chow praised his commitment to Whole Person Healing and made him the Honorary Chair for the World Congress of Qigong and TCM.
- Tai Chi Master Dr. Roger Jahnke, Professor Linda Larkey and associates completed their 2-year research A Comprehensive Review of Health Benefits of Qigong and Tai Chi. They reviewed 576 Tai Chi and Qigong studies published in English between 1993 and 2007. The review concluded that Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT) have demonstrated consistent, significant results for a number of health benefits: positive effects on bone health, favorable cardiovascular and/or pulmonary outcomes, positive physical function improvements, significant improvement of fall prevention, improved quality, better pain management for arthritis and fibromyalgia patients, decreased anxiety, and immune system betterment. This research was published in The American Journal of Health Promotion. It was a milestone in the Tai Chi/Qigong research.
- Dr, ChenChen Wang, Master Ramel Rones, and other medical researchers completed their study on the benefits of Tai Chi on Fibromyalgia Patients. The study result which shows that Tai Chi eases the pain caused by Fibromyalgia and improves the patient’s overall quality of life was published in New England Journal of Medicine in August and enjoyed enormous main stream media coverage. This publication has a huge impact on raising the awareness of Tai Chi and Qigong among the general population.
- Perhaps the most important event of this year was the publication of the publication of English version of Chinese Medical Qigong in early Spring. Tianjun Liu, OMD of Bejing University of Chinese Medicine was the Editor in Chief. Dr. Kevin Chen of University of Maryland School of Medicine was Associate Editor in Chief and in charge of the massive translation effort of this textbook. Qigong Study in Chinese Medicine is the only official textbook of medical Chi Gong in China. It is a collaborative effort of more than thirty faculty members of a dozen top-ranked colleges and universities of the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The translation effort took four years to complete with 23 outstanding scientists in the Board from China and abroad. The content is rich and extensive. It is a monumental accomplishment to promoting understanding and study of Qigong and Traditional Chinese Medicine in the western world.
LAST WORD: Name your top ten list in the comment section!!!
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