Barbara and I visited with Sifu Jason Bulger who has been my student for the last 8 years. He is graduating top of his class at D'Youville College with a Masters Degree in Occupational Therapy. Congratulations Jason! Here he is giving a presentation of his current research on May 2 along with 120 other presenters. His research is on "How Effective is Tai Chi in Reducing Hospital Readmission Rates for Heart Failure Patients. With patients, there is a positive impact on psychological, psychosocial and physiological needs. For Healthcare providers it is an immediate cost saving intervention.

 It is interesting what happens with the Heart when we talk about "internal motion", "internal discipline" and "internal energy" in Classical Tai Chi. In facilitating the compression of the abdominal cavity it massages the internal organs. In particular the abdomen is drawn upwards towards the chest cavity, this compresses the intestines, liver, pancreas, spleen, gall bladder, kidneys and above all the HEART.

The activity of internal movement from Classical Tai Chi creates what I believe is a veritable tidal flow of blood, qi, etc throughout the body. It would seem that along with this inreased blood flow the HEART does not have to work so hard don't you think?

 In addition to the "internal massage" of the heart enabling it to operate more efficiently, people doing internal discipline report feeling "warm". One can say internal heat also helps to activate heart muscle and in addition to the increased blood flow we mentioned improves the tonus of the heart muscle also making it more capable of doing work without undue strain