太極拳運動對增進下肢功能之探討

Discussion on Tai Chi Chuan focus on function of low limbs

目的：隨著全球健康意識的抬頭，許多國家紛紛提倡全民運動，而中國古老的武術－太極拳，已在全世界風行，藉著生理學、生物力學或是心理學之實驗、研究與觀察探討太極拳運動對人體功能帶來的各項益處。但是由於太極拳流派眾多，各流派強調的重點不同，例如：移動速度或蹲姿等，因此可能產生不同的運動效果，抑或是負面影響。結果：經過系統性的搜尋國際期刊論文，篩選以太極拳運動為研究設計之文獻，再針對下肢功能(肌力、肌耐力、柔軟度與平衡能力)進行探討之原創性論文，經過整理與分析後發現太極拳運動對於下肢功能皆有正面效益的影響。結論：另外發現實驗介入組之受試者皆為老年人，太極拳流派大部分是楊氏太極拳，可見楊氏太極拳是時下老年人族群之首選，且對於強化下肢功能具有一定程度的效益，但是對於太極拳流派間可能有不同之運動效果之比較尚不明確。

Purpose: As global health consciousness has gradually gained ground， there are more and more advocates of exercise in many countries. The ancient Chinese martial arts – Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) has been noticed in the world. The benefits of TCC can be determined through physiology， biomechanics and psychology researches. Methods: However， different schools of TCC have different movement requirement， such as emphasis on speed or squat posture， thus the definition of effectiveness varies with different practitioner， and some practices may even cause injury. Systematic search of refereed papers and screening of articles regarding lower limbs of TCC movement (strength， muscle endurance， flexible and balance) helped this study discover that all TCC movements had positive influence on function progress of lower limbs. Results: Moreover， all of the TCC subjects are elders and use the Yang’s style of TCC. Obviously Yang’s style of TCC can promote lower limbs in elders， but it is still not explicit regarding the benefits comparison between different schools of TCC.