Everybody knows that “physical movement” is an essential and inevitable part in everyday living. This often includes everyday activities such like walking, sitting, squatting and doing household chores, and some people may also engage in different forms of exercises such like jogging, cycling and swimming. No matter what your choice of exercise is, a good exercise regime must be able to reach every part of your body, and Ba Duan Jin is a great exercise that will help you to achieve a full-body workout.

Living in this modern society, we have gotten used to eating rich foods that mostly consists of highly processed foods and became more sedentary as technology advances. This has become a common lifestyle in most of us, especially for those desks bound office workers. Such lifestyle has also become a trigger to an array of modern diseases as well as premature aging and postural misalignment. The trickiest part is that, most of the time when warning signs is detected; the best time for proper treatment is missed and that leads to other health problems.

In my years of experience in martial arts, Tai Chi and fitness training and being a Myofascial & Sports Massage Therapist myself, I have come across many individual who suffered from chronic diseases, where most of them are office workers and elderly. In recent years, I have seen an increase in the number of cases where the age group is getting younger, which is a worrying sign that people are aging prematurely.

For those people mentioned above, regular practice of steady and gentle movements such as Tai Chi and other health-promoting exercises has become a viable option since they are easy to learn and, most of all, effective. After a period of regular practice, most practitioners find that they have not only become healthier and have more energy, but that their annoying health problem and symptoms have also notably improved. They are able to enjoy a better quality lifestyle and also learnt how to manage their physical conditions, without the reliance of medications and painkillers.

Ba Duan Jin (or Eight Section Brocade) is a classical health exercise regime which has been passed down for over eight hundred years. It is a course of exercise composed of eight movements, covering training in all directions and planes Sagittal (forward or backward), Frontal (side to side) and Transverse (rotational). The movements are gentle and steady. It helps to revitalizes and energizes your body cells and sweeps off the stress, depression and agitation, and negative emotions that have been trapped in your body. Most of all, it is easy to learn, even for people with no previous martial arts or fitness experience.

The structure of the Ba Duan Jin movement in term of its sequences and its workout intensity compiles with both the human biomechanics and physiology principles. It is a form of aerobic exercise that is of great health benefits. Its movements are designed to be in a continuous motion and being soft and slow paced, makes practitioners feeling relax and the body not feeling rigid and free of restriction. At the same time, this set of exercise routine emphasizes on body balance and stability. Its line of movements follows that of the human anatomy line of origin and that of the meridian points in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

During each movement transition, it focuses on the shifting of the body weight and continuation in movement from one posture to the other without any stoppage in between. This continuous workout of the body increases the workload intensity and maintains the body at the aerobic zone throughout the whole practice, which provides health and fitness to the practitioners in the long run.

Besides the above mentioned, this set of exercise routine also emphasize on the relaxation of the various joints and muscles of the body, including the central nervous system during the workout, which provide the mind and body component. During the full stretching of the various body parts in the exercise routine, the stretch and release of the body parts helps improve the blood circulation in the body. The effect of stretching with properly controlled breathing is one of the key aspects in the practice of the movements.

Traditional Chinese Health Qigong is never just simple physical movements. What makes this set of simple 8 movements’ really unique lies in the underlying principles of how the movements are being executed with exact precision, coupled with controlled breathing to promote the flow of Qi in the body. Beyond just stretching the muscles and tendons, it also focuses on the joint separation exercise which further enhances the effect of body relaxation and correction of poor postural alignment.

All you need is a small area that allows you to take a step in all four directions. Regardless of your age, you can practice Ba Duan Jin anywhere at anytime. It is a great stress-relieving and body energizing exercise regime. So, if you want an efficient exercise that gives you energy, and at the same time keeps you in a good health, Ba Duan Jin would be an ideal choice.

Each movement of the Ba Duan Jin (Eight Section Brocade) has specific techniques for using your eyes as the point of focus and alignment such as keeping your eyes focus in accordance with the movements of your hands, looking far off into the distance, looking upward, keeping wide angles focus of vision, etc. In some ways, these exercises improve vision are similar in style to those developed by optometrists such as William H. Bates, Jacob Liberman, Martin Sussman, or Aldos Huxley.

Learning to use your eyes in new ways and exercising your eye muscles are thought to be of benefit to your general well-being. Qi Gong and internal martial arts are seen as intertwined; and acute, careful, alert and lively visual skills are essential to self-defense and success as a martial artist.

Most Qigong and Tai Chi routines emphasize "Respecting the Curves of the Body." Your neck, back, legs, and arms are all naturally curved or bent in a particular direction. It is always best for any posture in Qigong or Tai Chi to respect the natural curves. Legs should be slightly bent and knees are soft; arms, are slightly bent while relaxing your elbows. The back should be in neutral position, you should not move in ways that bend or curve the body away from or counter to their natural curve or bend.

Many fitness instructors remind their students to "maintain a neutral spine" to avoid injury. This general caution applies to all the postures of the Ba Duan Jin, and especially to some of the movements such as Liang Shou Pan Zu Gu Shen Yao (Touching the Toes and Bending Backwards.)

The first three movements of the Ba Duan Jing (Eight Section Brocade) all open and stretch the chest and abdominal muscles (Pectoralis major, Serratus anterior, Obliquus externus abdominis, Teres major, Latissimus dorsi, etc.) as well as the shoulders and upper arms to some extent. The ribcage area (Scapula, Costa, Intercostal muscles, Rectus abdominis, Obliquus externus abdominis, etc) are given a gentle workout. Combined with the deep breathing patterns, these movements help the lungs take in and expel a larger volume of air than normal. Most people find this to be pleasurable, energizing, and revitalizing.