- A highly adaptable form of mental and physical education. The Standing Exercise can be practiced almost any time, anywhere, without the need of aids, apparatus, large spaces, etc. Standing exercise is most effective, since it combines conditions for the development of a beneficial inhibitory state in the cerebral cortex (C.C.) with the steady increase in metabolic and cardiovascular activities. Hence, it is a thorough form of rest and exercise. Furthermore, for the healthy and those with a sound basis in the “treatment” exercises, a slight adjustment of posture and mental activity produces much greater exercise value, putting the C.C. into a highly concentrated state and the body into a state of hairtrigger sensitivity and free-flowing strength.
- A Non Oxygen-Debt Exercise. Many forms of exercise involve concentrated bursts of mental and physical effort during which the breathing is restricted, or suppressed. During such exercise, insufficient oxygen is provided for the body’s needs, resulting in labored or forced breathing. Such oxygen debt is accompanied by the inefficient dispersal of waste products such as lactic acid. The strain put on the organism by such phenomena is considerable. The Standing Exercise, however, cause the practitioner’s pulse to maintain a certain increase (though never more than twice the normal rate), while the respiration remains unrestricted, indeed deepens and improves, oxygen intake keeping pace with oxygen consumption.
- The Effects on Blood Circulation. During the practice of the Standing Pole Exercises, while the muscles maintain a certain degree of contraction, breathing is not restricted. Hence, thoracic and abdominal pressure do not suddenly increase and the phenomena of excessive expansion of the right atrium cordis does not occur after practice. Rather, the pulse rate rises and drops gradually during and after practice, making it very suitable for practice by those with heart trouble or the very frail. In addition, the maintaining of the posture for a period without moving means that, once blood circulation has speeded up and is flowing freely, it will not be disturbed or obstructed by sudden movements, bending, twisting, locking joints, etc.
- Posture. Many of the unconscious tensions and resulting aches and pains in the body are the result of posture defects. The Standing Exercise will give the practitioner the chance to become aware of such tensions and defects, providing an excellent method for gently and naturally eliminating them over months and years.
- A Form of Diagnosis and Treatment Combined. The Standing Exercise is an excellent method to investigate the physiological changes undergone from the resting levels to the exercise state. These changes occur and can he observed while the body is static, employing fixed standards of form and time according to the limits of the individual. Under these conditions each physiological function is raised within reasonable and stable levels, and so it is a most scientific method of diagnosing the objective norms of each organ’s condition in the active state. This method of diagnosis in the active state can be used to supplement the old style of relying mainly on diagnosis from pathological anatomical material, and the common method of diagnosis based on inspecting the normal or pathological functional norms of each organ in the passive state. This is important because the objective norms governing the development of disease are not limited solely to affirming the anatomical structure changes of the various organs, or to changes of objective norms in the passive state. There are certain chronic illnesses which do not exhibit functional changes while in the passive state, only becoming apparent during the exercise state. Investigating the objective norms of the functional activities of the organs in the active state is thus a new science in modern medical research. Most importantly though, the Standing exercise is a viable and effective method of self-treatment. As a non-strenuous but thorough mental and physical exercise they can be practiced by even the very frail and seriously ill, combating and treating illness, changing the constitution and strengthening the body without the side effects of certain medicines or other forms of treatment. This is effected by one’s own labors, a psychologically very important factor in combating and recovering from illness. They are thus a way to resolve, partially at least, the basic questions of frailty due to illness, treating chronic diseases which do not respond to treatment and depression and psychological problems during illness, combining diagnosis and treatment and strengthening the constitution in the most natural and beneficial fashion. Accordingly, it can be seen that they have much potential for providing new material in the study of geriatrics, chronic disease, sports physiology, sports bio-rnechanics, sports bio-chemistry, sports medicine and in the combining of Chinese and Western medical traditions.
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