THE EFFECT OF TAI-CHI-CHUAN TRAINING ON BALANCE, KINESTHETIC SENSE, AND STRENGTH

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of T'ai Chi Chuan t raining on lateral stability, kinesthetic sense, and strength of volun tary knee extension. Subjects consisted of 24 naive volunteers (12 men and 12 women) between the ages of 20 and 45 years. Pre- and 12-week p osttests included lateral body stability, kinesthetic sense in the gle nohumeral joint for 30 degrees, 45 degrees, and 60 degrees, and streng th of knee extension. After pretest data collection, 12 subjects perfo rmed T'ai Chi Chuan three times per week for 12 weeks, learning 108 fo rms of T'ai Chi Chuan. A 2 x 2 analysis of variance was used to estima te significance of group differences on all of the dependent variables . Significant group differences were found in lateral body stability, kinesthetic sense at 60 degrees, and strength of the dominant knee ext ensor. No significant differences between the T'ai Chi and the control group were found for kinesthetic sense at 30 degrees and 45 degrees r otation of the glenohumeral joint. Film analysis indicated that the tw o lesser angles were not as common in the T'ai Chi training as the gre ater angle (60 degrees) and thus may be less practiced. it appears tha t T'ai Chi Chuan presents a low-stress method to enhance stability, se lected kinesthetic sense, and strength of knee extension.