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Outside Magazine, April 2005

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Bodywork: Martial Artist
The Chi in Me
What's the fastest way to bring power and stamina to your sport? Start moving very, very slowly. (No, even slower than that.)

By Katie Arnold


	TORQUE FORCE: Believe it or not, this guy's working on his golf game. (Noel Hendrickson/Masterfile)

I GOT INTO TAI CHI BY ACCIDENT. I wasn't looking to find inner peace or connect with the warrior within; I just wanted to fix my tennis game. I'd recently finished a rookie season in the local United States Tennis Association league with a pathetic record of one win and countless losses to opponents who were, for the most part, older and slower than me. Discouraged, I sought help from Jeff English, 40, a former professional player and Santa Fe, New Mexico-based instructor who blends tennis-stroke coaching with the centuries-old Chinese martial art of tai chi.

Modern tai chi not only teaches hand-to-hand combat; it also cultivates physical power and mental stamina through

You've Got the Power

Click here to turbocharge your sport with these tai chi postures.

free-flowing energy (or chi). Like yoga, it consists of stationary poses linked into slow, continuous movements designed to instill flexibility, mental discipline, mind-body awareness, and strength. Though it's a hugely popular health routine in China, tai chi has always been something of a fringe activity in the West. But that's changing as word begins to spread about its cross-training benefits.

The basic premise: By quieting your mind and dissolving tensions in your body with tai chi postures, you can generate pure, relaxed power in everything you do—whether it's playing tennis, mountain biking, surfing, climbing, or kayaking (see "You've Got the Power"). A few top athletes are already on to it. Tiger Woods reportedly practiced qigong—the foundation of tai chi—as a young golfer growing up in Los Angeles. Rami Zur, 28, an American flatwater kayaker who competed in the 2004 Olympics, says tai chi is the most effective exercise he's found for channeling energy into efficient, powerful strokes.

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KATIE ARNOLD is the magazine's managing editor.

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