Metabolic and Cardiorespiratory Responses to the Performance of Wing Chun and T'ai Chi Chuan Exercise

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the metabolic and cardiorespiratory responses to the continuous performance of Wing Chun and T'ai Chi Chuan exercise. No significant differences in VO2max or HRmax obtained during treadmill exercise were found between the practitioners of the two styles. Average values for oxygen uptake (VO2) were 23.3 +/- 7.5 ml.kg-1.min-1 (6.6 METS) and 16.0 +/- 3.9 ml.kg-1.min-1 (4.6 METS) for Wing Chun and T'ai Chi Chuan exercise, respectively. Mean heart rates obtained during exercise were 137 +/- 25 beats.min-1 for Wing Chun and 116 +/- 22 beats.min-1 for T'ai Chi Chuan exercise. These exercise values corresponded to 52.4% of VO2max and 70.5% of HRmax for Wing Chun and only 36.4% of VO2max and 59.8% of HRmax for T'ai Chi Chuan exercise. Thus, only the continuous performance of Wing Chun exercise elicited VO2 and HR responses that would be expected to bring about a cardiorespiratory training effect in subjects with a relatively low initial VO2max. The ventilatory equivalent for oxygen (VE/VO2) obtained during T'ai Chi Chuan exercise (21.7) was significantly lower than for Wing Chun exercise (24.2), suggesting that T'ai Chi practitioners utilize efficient breathing patterns during exercise. Both Wing Chun and T'ai Chi Chuan styles may have a small static component that produces a slightly elevated heart rate relative to metabolic load when compared to traditional aerobic activities. However, the effect was not severe and these forms of exercise should not be considered dangerous for individuals at high risk for cardiovascular disease.

Acute Physiological Responses Of Performance Of Choy Lee Fut Forms In Amateur Practitioners

“…This cardiovascular and metabolic high response observed in participants indicates that the work intensity achieved on the performed session was vigorous [23], and the increase of HR and La -post-exercise values regarding baseline values was significant (p<0.000). These findings are consistent with previous studies evaluating HR [14,24,25] and La -responses [14,[26][27][28]] during combats or training sessions of other combat sports.…”

Physiological Benefits of 24-style Taijiquan Exercise in Middle-aged Women

“…Till now, there have been a number of studies concerning the physiological effects of TJQ on cardio-respiratory function (Schneider and Leung 1991;Brown et al, 1989;Hong et al, 2000), physical fitness (Hong et al, 2000;Lan et al, 1998), body composition (Lan et al, 1996) and immunity improvement (Sun et al, 1989) as well as the rehabilitation of cardio-respiratory function (Channer et al, 1996;Lan et al, 1999), arthritis (Farrell, 1999) and high blood pressure (Deborah, 1999) etc. In addition, Jin (1989Jin ( , 1992 reported that practice of TJQ was helpful to lessen tension, depression, anger, fatigue, confusion and state-anxiety, and made the practitioners feel more vigorous and lessened total mood disturbance.…”

Meditative Movement for Respiratory Function: A Systematic Review

“…[56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75] Of these, 13 eval- uated yoga, 20 tai chi, 9 qi gong, and 1 tai chi and qi gong combined. Yoga, tai chi, and qi gong are discussed together in this review.…”

“…48 Twenty-seven studied healthy people: older adults, 34,35,50,55,57,58,[60][61][62][63][64][65][73][74][75][76][77] healthy adults, 59 healthy males, 66,69 soldiers, 44 students, 46,53,71 children, 37 "residents," 59 and practitioners of tai chi/yoga. 56,67,68 The remaining 6 studies were on non-respiratory disorders (lower-limb disabilities, 70 breast cancer patients, 54 heart disease, 49 impaired vision, 36 Parkinson's disease, 40 and hypertension 39 ) but also measured respiratory outcomes. The majority of the studies involved adults; only 3 included children.…”

“…Six [61][62][63][64]67,69 Limited data on where the sample came from, the population, or biased sampling (eg, volunteer sample). Limited information on the intervention.…”