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Nevertheless, teachers need to look into the matter and manage to adapt their teaching and certain gestures of their form to this public of 60-90 year olds. Tai chi and osteoarticular pathologies

The symptom most frequently observed in older people, and which makes them doubt their ability to do tai chi, concerns joint pain: rheumatism, arthritis, tendonitis, capsulitis, etc. These pathologies (which also exist in older people) are often the result of a lack of exercise. These pathologies (which also exist in younger people) are due to the deterioration of cartilage and the inflammation of peripheral tissues.

The problem is that most people's reflex is to stop moving to stop the pain. This leads to a vicious circle: the less you move, the more the joint becomes "fossilised"; the more it becomes blocked, the more it hurts when you move; the less you move, the more the muscles relax; the less they are vascularised, the more the tendons harden.

Practising Tai Chi gently tones the muscles, makes them more flexible and promotes the distribution of synovium in the joints. Although it is necessary to make an effort during the first sessions to overcome the pain, it turns out that after one hour of movement, the pain disappears. After a few months, a better amplitude of all the movements can be noticed.

Tai chi improves balance The intense "rooting" work strengthens the legs and thighs, and restores flexibility and strength to the hip joint. Vertically oriented postures, with a solid base on the ground, give the whole body a sense of centeredness and stability.

It is known that older people are prone to falls due to the loss of proprioception (sensitivity of the nerve endings under the feet and deterioration of the balancing functions of the inner ear). Tai chi intensely stimulates this proprioception, and the slowness of the gestures allows the practitioners to relearn to listen to their body, their postures, and to make the corrections necessary to maintain verticality.

They regain a considerable amount of self-confidence, and confidence in their own body, which they relearn to control. A better circulation of flows As we age, our respiratory capacity decreases: the breath goes upwards more and more, and is shorter and shorter, until the "last breath". The slow breathing of tai chi forces the practitioner to bring this breath back down lower and lower, to inflate his lungs better and better thanks to a better amplitude of the diaphragm. The re-oxygenation of the body favours the slowing down of cerebral ageing, of the skin, of all the cells in general.

Studies have also shown a clear improvement in blood pressure in hypertensive patients, and better blood circulation in general. The loss of memory linked to ageing is undeniable: the nervous system ages on the one hand, and intellectual activity is no longer as intense after the age of 50, because there is less learning to be done (except for people who have maintained their intellect all their lives).

Tai chi is a good substitute for the "memory workshops" that are flourishing in all gerontological centres, because it works the brain and the body at the same time and in a playful way. The Tai Chi sequences must be learned and remembered in bits and pieces, added one after the other over many months, even years.

The first three or six months are very difficult to memorise, but after that, progress is very rapid, as if the machine, once started up again, were to be given a new lease of life. Hip and knee prostheses There is no contraindication to practising Tai Chi with joint prostheses; the teacher simply needs to get serious information from a physiotherapist to adapt certain movements to these specific cases.

After an operation, tai chi can help restore the muscular environment that has suffered from the incision more quickly. Mental health and psychological balance Group practice, it cannot be stressed enough, allows people of all ages to reintegrate into a community. The intergenerational aspect of Tai Chi is an essential factor for our elderly who suffer from isolation and inactivity.

Here again, studies show that regular practice of Tai Chi within a group improves sleep, reduces stress, restores self-confidence and maintains a certain zest for life. From 7 to 97 years old, tai chi is a great school of acceptance of others and of sharing space, all united in the same breath and the same concentration. This is also what balance is all about: maintaining your physical autonomy, while keeping your place in your environment.