GREEN TEA + T’AI CHI = HEALTHY BONES

Modern medical science is just now, it would seem, catching on to what many Asian people have known for centuries; green tea (nihoncha) when combined with the practice of T’ai chi can improve bone health and reduce inflammation in postmenopausal women.

      Research by Dr. Chwan-Li Shen, an associate professor at the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s health, who has studied Eastern lifestyle traditions recently made public the results of her most recent research, which presents results that, in fact, are no great surprise but serve as reinforcement for what has been common knowledge.

      Dr. Shen studied one hundred and seventy-one postmenopausal women who typically had weak bones, focusing on the effects of GTP (green tea polyphenols (antioxidants)) when combined with T’ai chi. In short, her findings ere that those who took GTP, equivalent to 4-6 cups of nihoncha per day and participated in T’ai chi significantly enhanced bone growth in both three and six month periods. In addition, of note was the fact that participants in T’ai chi also reported significant positive effects in relation to quality of life and improved emotional and mental health. Certainly one can then extrapolate that what is good for “baa” is also good for “jii”. Men may also realize distinct benefits such as stronger bones, increased joint flexibility, decreased joint inflammation, increased bladder and prostate health, and lower blood pressure.

      If one is skeptical, one need look no further than the morning T’ai chi classes conducted in a dozen cities, Tokyō, Ōsaka, Kyōto, or even in Gifu or Tajimi, (not to mention Saigon, Hanoi, Shanghai, Beijing and a thousand other places) and see the healthy, happier women and men over 50 who combine green tea and T’ai chi as part of their daily routines. And in my classes? Well, we always finish up with a nice bottle of cool nihoncha to cool down.

THOUGHTS ON TECHNIQUE IN BUDO I

     One should train themself meticulously and then forget about it. 

  Ultimately, the reason one practices Budō or a martial art is so that one can make the art an integral part of one’s self.  In order to achieve any degree of mastery, that is, competence as well as confidence, it is necessary for one to attain a state in which he or she is able to use the best possible techniques instinctively:  without thinking.  The only way that one can accomplish this is by learning to deal with every conceivable circumstance.

      Alone, our imaginations are not always able to conceive of every possible situation; consequently, in the classes I have taught, as an unwritten adjunct to the curriculum, students are encouraged, actually they are expected, to bring possible variations to a situation up to the class, so that the other students may consider and discuss the circumstance and actively experiment with the various ways to deal with it:  good and bad.  They work out solutions and in a sense the student becomes a teacher.  By doing this, it is possible, through slight variation or innovation, to transform one technique into ten.

      One must, however, be wary of allowing their “soul to attach itself to a technique.”  That is to say, one must not become obsessed, when for example engaged in combat or practice with a sword or shinai, to become solely focused on technique.  If one is simply centered on technique, and not freeing up his mind, if one’s actions and reactions are not instinctive, then the opponent will ultimately have the opportunity to not only strike back but to win. 

      When in combat or practice, one should not think about “killing” their opponent or what technique will do the job, but rather merging and flowing with an opponent and allowing the techniques to select themselves. 

      Remember that no matter how wonderful one’s technique may be, if one is focused solely on that aspect of their art, then one, simply put, cannot win.  Once techniques are learned, practice without thinking of simply striking, parrying, or thrusting.  Let the mind go free so that the movements and techniques come freely from within one’s self.

      It is a simple fact that once one has trained themself well, their body, arms, and legs will move automatically; that is, without any conscious effort.  So, one’s mind will not be overcome by their physical movements and be able to make use of the techniques they have learned and practiced without having to think.  Once this state of mind has been reached, no misgivings or wavering will occur.  There is no enemy or opponent, not even a tengu or a demon, who will be able to find an opportunity to effectively attack.

      One should train themself meticulously and then forget about it.  One should toss aside their mind and thus follow the Way without actually being conscious of it.  This is a obscurity of all ways and arts, be it Aikidō, Iaidō, Judō, Karate-Dō, Kendō, Aikijutsu, Iaijutsu, or Kenjutsu.

Copyright 2010 by Hayato Tokugawa, Sekishinkan Tokugawa Dojo, and Shisei-Do Publications.  All rights reservffed.

      

ON SIMPLICITY

I do believe in simplicity.  It is astonishing as well as sad, how many trivial affaris even the wisest things he must attend to in a day; how singular an affair he things he must omit.  Wehn the mathematician would solve a difficult problem, he first frees the equation of all encombrances, and reduces it to its simplest terms.  So simpmly the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real.  Probe the earth to see where your main roots run.

-Henry David Thoreau to H.G.O. Blake, 27 March 1848

Yosemite Autumn, shin-hanga by Tokugawa Hayato.  

Copyright 2009 by Tokugawa Hayato.  All Rights Reserved.