Taichi apprentices practise in Chenjiagou Village in Wenxian County, central China's Henan Province, June 29, 2018. Henan is an agricultural province with a large population. In recent years, the province has implemented the country's rural revitalization strategy and moved toward a comprehensive well-off society. (Xinhua/Li An)
Traditional Chinese martial arts is thriving as Chinese are encouraged to stay at home amid coronavirus fight.
LANZHOU, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Following the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus, those living in China have been encouraged to stay at home. This kind of isolation has shut the door on many people's daily exercise routines. For some of those, traditional martial arts can provide for their exercise needs without leaving home.
With soothing Chinese folk music played from her cell phone, Chen Jie, a 57-year-old retired worker, practices Tai Chi at home. "Tai Chi can help me do physical exercise at home instead of going to gyms these days," Chen said.
Chen Sitan (L) and his wife Lin Xu perform at the 2nd Tai Chi competition in New York, the United States, Nov. 18, 2012. The ancient Chinese martial art Tai Chi has increasingly become a form of life for many New Yorkers, thanks to the efforts made by former world martial art champion Chen Sitan and his wife Lin Xu.
TO GO WITH "Feature: Former world champion brings Tai Chi into New Yorkers' life" (Xinhua)
Chen lives in Lanzhou, a city in Northwest China's Gansu province. She has been practicing Tai Chi and other martial arts for two years since her retirement. Dressed in all white, she looks like a Tai Chi veteran as her 2-year-old grandson copies her movements.
Since the end of January, doctors began to urge Chinese citizens to comply with home quarantine. Authorities required people to avoid public events and postpone social gatherings.
Gu Ruiming, a middle-school gym teacher from Tianshui city also in Gansu province, recommends his students practice Tai Chi and other traditional martial arts at home. "Traditional martial arts can easily be practiced by kids at home instead of going outside," Gu said.
A Chinese Kung Fu (martial arts) performance is staged in Kigali, capital city of Rwanda, on Sept. 16, 2019. Various Chinese Kung Fu (martial arts) performances were staged here Sunday evening to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Chinese and Rwandan performers, including adults and children, entertained a full house of about 500 spectators with various Kung Fu performances such as Tai Chi, Wing Chun, Qigong and Sanda. (Photo by Cyril Ndegeya/Xinhua)
Gu also mentioned that not only does traditional martial strengthen the body, but also it can relieve anxiety.
Since the outbreak of the virus it has become extremely popular for famous athletes to post their home work out routines on social media. These are made not only to keep people exercising but also to help alleviate some of the boredom.
Mellenial Kan Wencong, who was a gold medalist in women's martial arts at the 2010 Asian Games and 2014 Asian Games, has posted several videos of Baduanjin on social media.
Baduanjin, a traditional aerobics form, with a history of over 800 years is divided into eight different sections. And Baduanjin does not need any equipments or a lot of space. "The most important part is that Baduanjin is very easy to learn for all," Kan said.
Foreign diplomats are seen exercising Baduanjin (traditional Chinese breathing exercise) during a lecture on the traditional Chinese medicine at the Chinese Embassy in Windhoek, capital of Namibia, July 28, 2015. About 30 foreign diplomats on Tuesday attended the lecture. (Xinhua /Wu Changwei)
Li Shaocheng, a professor in the Department of Physical Education at Lanzhou University, believes that traditional martial arts can improve people physically and mentally.
Recently, a statistic from one of the biggest sports video websites, PPTV, shows that home fitness products saw a year-on-year rises of 67 percent.
Other than traditional methods of exercises, people in China are also skipping rope and doing push ups, sit ups and squats at home.
Gu stresses that the key principle of home fitness is to take it slowly. Otherwise it is easy to get hurt. That gives the body some time to adapt to the new routine.
Tajik Kakhoro Avzalsho (2nd R) learns to perform Baduanjin, the ancient movements of Chinese Qigong, at the experience zone of the Global Health Forum of Boao Forum for Asia in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, June 12, 2019. Kakhoro Avzalsho, who is a fan of Bruce Lee's kung-fu movies since young, came to study in China in 2016. He learns Chinese teaching at the China University of Petroleum in Qingdao, and will graduate this June. He is committed to be a cultural messenger between China and Tajikistan. (Xinhua/Guo Xulei)
According to the government, more measures will be taken to ensure the supply of medical resources and daily necessities for all Chinese during the coronavirus battle. ■
