Tai Chi on line

[opr1945145 32]

Lately I have been getting a lot of commercials for reversing ageing by Tai Chi on line. By appearence a 68 year old asian man talks bout remarkable program of older people using Tai Chi . He has no shirt on and claims doctors now seek his advice. They claim to create a program just for each idividual subscriber. Results in 3 days, 7days and a new you in one month, for a fee, of course, one month is $10.

Anyone have more information about this program? I have a link but am not posting it. Clue: name similar to Mad Man?

 

[philwhite]

I'm sure its all BS. To be honest people age different so what works for some may not work for others. Science would say your ultimate age is determined by cell splitting (telemere length) and not getting cancer (luck of the draw). I think the lady who lived to the longest recorded age drank and smoked frequently. Not saying Tai Chi isn't good for you but it isn't a miricle cure for aging. Being active and not having diabetes or other weight related illness is going to help with your overall health.

 

[Holmejr3 2]

The quest for the fountain of youth continues…oh yeah, and creates charlatans.

 

[frank raud89]

Go online and look at pictures of Tai Chi practitioners. Are any if them ripped and shredded? First clue. Any idea how hard it is to gain muscle in your 60's? With bodyweight movements, that if they are Tai Chi, probably don't include push-ups, burpees, planking, etc. Snake oil is snake oil.

 

[skribs147 167]

I'm going to address two questions here. 1) Can you benefit from Tai Chi online? 2) Is this specific ad a scam?

Regarding question 1) I think you absolutely can benefit from Tai Chi online. I don't think you'll get ripped. But I do think that there's benefit to moving as opposed to being still, and you don't have to perfectly follow the moves in order to benefit from them. This is the approach we take in the cardio kickboxing class that I run: as long as you're moving, I don't really care. I'm not preparing folks for a fight, I'm giving them exercise, and movement is exercise.

Learning Tai Chi online is the same thing as doing jazzercise or whatever else Richard Simmons did back in the day. If you're following along, moving, working, sweating, there are benefits there. It may not get you shredded, but it will be healthier than just sitting in the EZ Chair watching your programs.

To question 2) this is absolutely worded as a scam. "Doctors now seek his advice" is such a cringe comment I wouldn't subscribe just based on that alone. However, here's an interesting video I found a while back on ads and scams such as this.

Corridor Crew is a channel that mainly focuses on special effects and CGI. They have some really fun videos where they sit down with Hollywood stuntment, martial artists, or effects coordinators and watch clips and get inside information on how they were done. They even tested batman's ability to disappear mid-conversation. My favorites of theirs are their "offensive bowling animations" which just get worse and worse in the best ways possible.

In this clip, they're covering an ad and all of the things that are done to keep you interested so you invest enough time in the ad to feel you should subscribe to their service. One of the interesting things I found was how they stretch the progress bar on how long the ad has been playing. It starts off very quick, so it seems like a short ad. But about 1/4 the way through, it slows down tremendously. So what appears at first to be maybe a 30 second ad goes on for at least a half an hour.

 

[Xue Sheng139 10]

My guess is the guy is a creation of AI, or Photoshop, and the entire thing is pretty much a scam.... if he is real, he did more than taijiquan a few minutes a day to get that physique, and keep it, at that age

 

[Krisxylove]

I get that one too. But aren't all advertisements on YouTube a scam? It absolutely is AI. I work with this stuff and pretty soon no one will be able to tell the difference. It's a strange new world. Soon we might have to question everything we see or hear. Soon??

I think Taijiquan is no different than anything else in life. If you wish to get good, it takes years and many still don't get it. If we are talking about Daoist concepts here than I think it can be a mistake to be overly ambitious. Too many people think, "I want to get really good really fast". Then they don't practice much. The big secret is consistent and dedicated practice over time. Humility is the virtue. In my case I'm not motivated with winning fights, dominating others, looking cool or seeking praise. I practice as a meditation and for a spiritual purpose. I practice quietly to myself and without having any value in another's approval. So in that case who can tell me if I'm good or not? Of couse if you are training yourself for battle it's a complete other story. But for the internal arts such as Taiji, I think there is little value in overly striving. You make your training your meditation, you practice every day and you move on with your life.

Regarding things like Taijiquan and health. I don't think I'm a know-it-all but I do read a lot of these older Daoist Qigong type books. No one ever said they just do QiGong or Taiji and their health is immaculate. They often know a lot about Traditional medicine, herbology, general nutrition, general fitness etc. And assuming these great masters of the past were very wise, why would they be concerned with having big muscle as 60, or living forever for that matter? They knew they were anchored in body but they looked to the spirit. So that means being strong while you are alive while joyfully leaving it all behind when that time comes. That's more of an accomplishment than looking buff

 

[Jazzpurr]

All correct answers above. The gentleman in the add is a great combination of AI, airbrush and bodybuilding style training. The company in question sells an app that offers a wide variety of training programs and styles, so not all but. However, the free trials roll into paid subscriptions pretty quickly and quietly.
I'm an exercise science prof with 30 years of martial arts experience. I've avoided jumping into some of the fitness related topics here buy happy to offer perspective and suggestions.

 

[Prince_Alarming85 21]

To be frank, anybody who would use AI and con you out of your money in this way is not somebody you should be learning anything from anyway.

 

[punisher73]

I'm going to address it as two separate issues/questions.

1) Is Tai Chi beneficial to elderly people? Yes. There has been lots of documented studies showing that Tai Chi helps elderly people in health and other benefits such as balance.

2) Is this a scam? Depends. Are they JUST selling "generic" health benefits? Or are they advertising it to get a ripped and muscular physique? If it is just general health benefits then "no". If they are promising the ripped muscular physique from their program, then "yes" it is a scam.

Any person is NOT going to get a ripped muscular physique from repeating a form/kata alone. A "maybe" if you are REALLY training hard in a dynamic tension form like Iron Wire/Thread or Sanchin.

So, really the question is "what" are you looking for in your Tai Chi? Would you get those results/benefits from ANY type of Tai Chi?

 

[Kung Fu Wang148 178]

Tai Chi helps elderly people in health and other benefits such as balance.

Of course, an old person starts Taiji training at old age will have better balance than other old people who have no MA training. But if a Taiji guy and a TKD guy start their training on the same day, when both reach to their 80 years old, who will have better balance?

IMO, if you train kicking all your life, you will have better "single leg balance" that will give you better balance when you get old.

 

[HighKick]

Of course, an old person starts Taiji training at old age will have better balance than other old people who have no MA training. But if a Taiji guy and a TKD guy start their training on the same day, when both reach to their 80 years old, who will have better balance?

IMO, if you train kicking all your life, you will have better "single leg balance" that will give you better balance when you get old.

Taji guy because TKD guy's knees will be shot.

 

[Xue Sheng139 10]

IMO, if you train kicking all your life, you will have better "single leg balance" that will give you better balance when you get old.

Really...hmm... I disagree..why.... well this

I think your prejudice against Taijiquan is showing

 

[Xue Sheng139 10]

Oh and

 

[opr1945145 32]

I found this. I think the audio is the same as the tai chi commercial I mentioned in post #1. Same voice. Same words. Different video. Same company does both.

Conclusion?

 

[opr1945145 32]

On day 3 you will see your energy
In two weeks you will feel your breath.
In three weeks you will have energy and your wife will not believe your results.

Must be good stuff to change people this quick.

 

[Appledog53 26]

Conclusion?

As predicted, people are using ai to grift.

This will only get worse.

 

[opr1945145 32]

another one:
on day 3 you will feel your energy.
on day 7 your eyes will change.
after 28 days you will change so much your wife will not recoginize you.

 

[Xue Sheng139 10]

another one:
on day 3 you will feel your energy.
on day 7 your eyes will change.
after 28 days you will change so much your wife will not recoginize you.

Or from the perspective of the one offering the course
On day 1 - I’ll have your money
On day 7 - I’ll have other peoples money
After 28 days I’ll be chilling on a beach in the Bahamas with all that money

 

[opr1945145 32]

got it.