Thousands exercise daily at Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek memorial halls in Taipei and many of them are leading the way to fitness with centuries-old exercises which Europeans are starting to adopt for themselves.
European gyms are reducing the tempo a little. Out go aerobics and the endurance training of steps and in come softer disciplines often based on the breathing exercises of yoga and the movements of tai chi.
PHOTO: DPA
And the new exercise forms bring a whole new philosophy full of Asian ideas. Adjuncts to the movements are massages, the whirlpool, the sauna and the solarium in the modern European gym.
"Before, aerobics and steps set the trend towards endurance training," says Britta Winnemoeller of the German Association of Sport Studios in Hamburg, "but current thinking stresses a gentler regime and all-round well-being."
The courses now on offer have names like power yoga, Thai yoga, power gym and yoga gym. "There are lots of different names," Winnemoeller notes and there are no clear dividing lines.
Although the heads of the health studios tend to decide what name to give a particular course, the basic idea is the same: body and soul need to be brought into harmony.
"Basically, they are suited to all age groups," says Klaus Voelker, the vice-president of the German Society for Sports Medicine in the southern town of Freibourg. "If they are properly run, there should be no risk of injury," he said.
Thai yoga combines yoga with elements of tai chi, which originates in self-defense techniques. Sessions start with breathing exercises and tai chi movements, which are followed by basic yoga exercises, called asanas.
The muscles are alternately strengthened, stretched or used to create balance. The session ends with relaxation and meditation exercises.
"These courses can be really quite tiring, although no one gets sweaty and red-faced, as with aerobics," Winnemoeller says. Instead, a kind of glow spreads over the whole body.
Power yoga has no tai chi but is otherwise similar. It is based on Ashtanga yoga, and the asanas become a flowing interchange between exercises. Correct breathing is essential. Each position has a link with breathing in or out.
"With power yoga, strength, movement, relaxation and stretching are the main components," says Raymond Zipter, a director at the German Fitness and Aerobic Association, in Bonn.
Zipter notes the rising popularity of Pilates, which has become the rage in the US and is now gaining in popularity in Europe.
Joseph Hubertus Pilates developed his equipment from 1923 onwards, although there have since been considerable changes by others to adapt it to contemporary knowledge.
The question remains: should it be the gentle yoga-based approach with soothing music in the background, or rather the thumping beat of the aerobic dance floor?
"A balanced mix of endurance, coordination and strength training is best for general all-round health," Voelker believes.
He adds that the new methods tend to neglect endurance training. "This aspect needs to be taken into account," the professor said.
Winnemoeller advises fitness fanatics to shop around, taking their own particular aims into account and ensuring above all that they are having fun in whatever regime they choose.
"I know from personal experience that only if I'm happy in the course will I keep going back for more," she says.
And Zipter is sceptical whether the new trends will last. "People come and go, and this means that it's difficult to maintain consistency," he said.
Success for the participants depends on how much attention they receive from the course leader. "When there are 30 members at a single session, that's difficult," Zipter says.
Voelker also sees problems here. "With simple exercises it doesn't really matter if someone lags behind, but when the movements are quicker and more complex, this can become a problem," he said.
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built