Comments from Tai Chi Instructors about teachng Tai Chi to students with Parkinson's

TCHI = Tai Chi for Health Institute
TCH = Tai Chi for Health
TCA = Tai Chi for Arthritis

I have a Parkinson's participant. She does it seated and she loves it. My friend does a Parkinson's class and some stand some sit. They love it too. I use seated Tai Chi and TCA. My friend does all sorts of different stuff and a lot of Qigong. Tai Chi is wonderful but challenging for people with Parkinson's. I have taught the Basics of Balance Yang form and a circular Yang/Tao (modified Moy) with them. They love it!!

I had one person who wanted to learn tai chi for 6 weeks and we didn't do s lot of things other than Tai Chi walking and a very simple Dr Lam form. This person went from a shuffle to almost none - and his friends were making comments on how good he was. He still had the fatigue and you accommodate that by doing something sitting down. Pity he only wanted 1 x 6 week block. I have other students with Parkinson's to a lesser degree and you wouldn't know.

I have a Parkinson's patient/Tai Chi student who I've worked with for several years. She's benefitted from learning and practicing the principles of internal Gung Fu that are present in Tai Chi. At the least, the person can participate at their level and participate in an exercise that can go from gentle to a little more vigorous. It definitely can help them to understand how to relax and not over compensate with other parts of their body, and to "listen" to their body. The practice can also help to stimulate the brain which is an important player in what scientists theorize causes Parkinsons.

This particular patient has seen dramatic change since we first started to work together. Tai Chi practice in conjunction with other therapies and practices can definitely prove beneficial for those suffering from neurological-based illnesses.

Unfortunately I can only say I've worked with one Parkinson's patient. However, in her case, we were able to reduce a lot of the symptons. I give her all the credit as she made the effort to practice. She's actually reduced the amount of medication she was on. She no longer comes in on a regular basis and I haven't seen her in a few months as she's decided to try and see what she can do on her own.

She is interesting in that her energy flow is very strong. She experienced her Kundalini opening and will experience a lot of spiraling energy. I'd like to think that what I helped her with reducing anxiety caused episodes and trimming away over-compensation of the non-affected parts of her body.

She can walk normally more of the time. There were times (before the pandemic) where her senior TCFH classmates asked her if she still had Parkinson's

Gentlemen with early onset Parkinson's attended my TCA class and reported it was generally of benefit dealing with the stress of his disease and he felt he was achieving something 'normal'� with an able bodied group

I teach Tai Chi for Arthritis and have a few friends with Parkinson's who take it. I encourage them to keep a chair nearby to hold on for balance or to sit whenever they need to. One has much more advanced disease and is very unstable but he likes to do it standing as much as he can. I just make sure his chair is close by and keep an eye out for him. The other friend is still fairly stable but she is much more elderly. She stands near her chair but sits when she gets tired.

We have an entire program for Parkinson's Exercise - they do Tai Chi, cycling, boxing and other exercises. All of them have arrested some of their symptoms and some have even lessened the severity of theirs.

My colleague and I taught a Tai Chi/Qigong class to a group of folks with Parkinson's and their cargivers or spouses for many years until the pandemic. These students were dedicated, talented and successful at flow, posture, and remembering complex forms. Many people had to playTai Chi seated; but developed strength in spite of the limitations of the chairs. Our students excelled in fan, ruler and swords (light weight styrofoam swords). They also enjoyed baoding balls.

I have been Teaching Tai Chi for Parkinson's for 8 years to over 60+ students. It helps a lot and works amazingly well to help their balance, flexibility, coordination, strength, breathing, calming the mind and body, and endless health benefits. Many JCC's have a PD program for Parkinson's patients. The Instructors are often trained by Universities on PD (Parkinson's Disorder) and how to help this special group of patients/clients/students

For everyone with Parkinson's, their disease is unique to them and progresses according to multiple variables. Tai chi works wonders for some but not everyone.

Here are some examples:

Liu, H.H., Yeh, N.C., Wu, Y.F., Yang, Y.R., Wang, R.Y. and Cheng, F.Y., 2019.
Effects of Tai Chi Exercise on Reducing Falls and Improving Balance Performance in Parkinson's Disease: A Meta-Analysis
Article

Yu, X., Wu, X., Hou, G., Han, P., Jiang, L. and Guo, Q., 2021.
The Impact of Tai Chi on Motor Function, Balance, and Quality of Life in Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2021.
Article

Kedzior, K.K. and Kaplan, I., 2019.
Tai Chi and Parkinson's disease (PD): A systematic overview of the scientific quality of the past systematic reviews Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 46, pp.144-152.
Article

Ni, X., Liu, S., Lu, F., Shi, X. and Guo, X., 2014.
Efficacy and safety of Tai Chi for Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials PloS one, 9(6), p.e99377.
Article

Yang, Y., Li, X.Y., Gong, L., Zhu, Y.L. and Hao, Y.L., 2014.
Tai Chi for improvement of motor function, balance and gait in Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS one, 9(7), p.e102942.
Article

Zhou, J., Yin, T.,5:12 PM 4/16/2022 Gao, Q. and Yang, X.C., 2015.
A Meta-Analysis on the Efficacy of Tai Chi in Patients with Parkinson's Disease between 2008 and 2014. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2015.

Lee, M.S., Lam, P. and Ernst, E., 2008.
Effectiveness of tai chi for Parkinson's disease: a critical review. Parkinsonism & related disorders, 14(8), pp.589-594.