Practicing Broadcasting Gymnastics is Also Traditional Chinese Medicine
How did broadcasting gymnastics relate to Traditional Chinese Medicine?
After reading ‘The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic’, I realized:
Traditional Chinese Medicine has a technique of guiding and manipulating muscles, which can also be used for treatment, and it’s particularly effective for problems like neck, shoulder, waist, and leg pain. It’s also used for health preservation and strengthening the body.
Traditional Chinese slapping techniques for treating injuries are also a type of manipulation. Guiding refers to fitness methods, including Yi Jin Jing, Five Animal Frolics, Eight Brocades, and Tai Chi. These two methods ultimately aim for “bones upright, muscles relaxed, and Qi and blood flowing freely.”
Manipulation requires someone else’s hands, and good doctors need extensive practical experience, which is rare. If done improperly, it can cause sequelae or other problems.
I’ve always been a self-helper, so I diligently studied guiding techniques, mainly to completely recover my injuries.
I found Yi Jin Jing very stylish, so I learned this one. I thought, with my years of fitness background, Yi Jin Jing was slow and easy to do, but I was wrong – it was really difficult…
At first, I had several obvious problems:
First, my hands and feet were not coordinated, I couldn’t synchronize at all;
Second, I couldn’t do it slowly at all;
Third, I couldn’t control my breathing rhythm, I always held my breath;
Fourth, my muscles were stretched too tightly, the movements weren’t precise;
Fifth, after finishing, I was all over aches.
I realized I was young and ignorant and superficial.
So I insisted on learning one movement a day, and it took me several days to complete the entire set of 12 movements. Then I persisted, practicing once every morning and evening for an hour, with sweat pouring down. After a few months, the sweat didn’t come out much, and my body’s control improved, and my fingers began to have a strange warmth. Slowly, it spread to other places.
Learning from Traditional Chinese Medicine theory, I realized this is a manifestation of “opening the meridians,” as Qi and blood circulation improved.
I became more confident and eventually recovered completely. So I started a business, hoping to teach these methods to more people, to escape from pain. Having experienced those grueling days myself, I know how difficult it is.
Because I didn’t have enough time to complete the entire Yi Jin Jing set, I began to practice broadcasting gymnastics again. Having opened the meridians, practicing broadcasting gymnastics could produce effects similar to Yi Jin Jing, but to a lesser degree.
Broadcasting gymnastics’ movements have some similarities with Yi Jin Jing, so I tried to improve broadcasting gymnastics:
1. Remove the music
2. Slow down the speed
3. Adjust the movements
As expected, broadcasting gymnastics had effects similar to Yi Jin Jing. Of course, for me, practicing gymnastics wasn’t as effective as it is for beginner guiding practitioners.
Without this experience, people who don’t understand the subtleties would think broadcasting gymnastics is just ordinary fitness exercises, and if they keep to the original rhythm, they wouldn’t have much of an effect. But compared to all the flashy fitness exercises, broadcasting gymnastics is superior in both design and effect.
From a theoretical analysis, when the speed is slowed down, the exercise primarily uses deep muscles, which are rarely used by people who sit for long periods and are sedentary, leading to the waste and degeneration of these muscles. When we were children, both deep and shallow muscles were healthy, so it was easy to do broadcasting gymnastics.
Going even deeper, it’s the fascia. During broadcasting gymnastics, the various joint noises and muscle aches are a manifestation of the fascia being stretched and pulled.
Years of bad living habits and exercise have caused the fascia to be tense, stiff, and shortened, which can lead to joint displacement and ultimately cause problems like cervical spondylosis and lumbar disc herniation. These problems are caused by accumulation over time, and even the best doctors can only treat the symptoms, and ultimately you have to rely on yourself to train.
Traditional Chinese Medicine isn’t that mysterious. Practicing broadcasting gymnastics is also Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Don’t talk too much about theory, just believe and practice!
