Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion Sporting ASKickers Tai chi chuan

I was diagnosed with AS in October of 09, I am a 36 year old who boxed and lifted weights for 20 years, not to mention the football (American) that afforded me a college education but jacked up my hips and back. My weight lifting has been severly reduced and I can't hit a heavy bag anymore, so occasionally (when my shoulders are not screaming) I still hit the speed bag but things have changed drastically. My mother has RA and her rhumey recommended that I try Tai chi chuan. He reported that is has had some positive results with people who experience the side rib/flank pain that I have been experiencing 5-6 days a week. Having a hot water bottle with me all the time has helped but with my work (parole officer) and being out in the city most of the day driving from place to place it makes for some gaps and I really want to try to avoid drugs and get some exercise. On a funny note, as we must laugh at the pain or it only makes life unbearable. In college I was a 6'4 300 lb lineman, and the college I played football for was always trying to get my hips and back to be more flexible. So eventually they assigned several student athletic trainers to wrench on my legs and back to "loosen me up". Now having several college girls giving me attention was not so bad, but I have to laugh now when I consider the crazy pain they were inflicting on me all in the name of getting me more flexible, not even considering that I had AS. Now I am 6'2 getting shorter and smaller by the minute. Anyway, any thoughts on tai chi chuan.

Hi There

Ive never done Tai Chi but have worked through some pretty good qi gong vids..I am not up on the all the different variations of these arts so Qi Gong could very well just be a form of Tai Chi.

I like the Qi Gong, they put you thru a very controlled set of range of motion exercises. My AS does not bother me too much so I tend to do a lot of other more strenuous workouts and use the Qi Gong to just balance things out. I would think using something like this plus some stretching might go a long way to getting your body back into shape...

I can relate to you on the college sports messes up your body issue as well. I played college hockey and that left me with a jacked up left shoulder...ive spent years since college getting that joint right....I have always been pretty flexible and find that staying active really has worked wonders for my AS...

Hope this helps

Chris

thanks for the thoughts! I am trying to adjust to all of this but any different perspectives are most appreciated.

i've never done it, but i do think all these "gentle" exercises are a good thing. i did yoga for awhile with a class, but managed to pull a number of things in a gentle, slow, meditative type yoga class, so now i just do the yoga i know i can do on my own, mixed with PT exercises (many one and the same anyway). kat swears by pilates. i do think all these things: yoga, pilates, tai chi, can all be beneficial. also think if you can tolerate swimming, that's another one that works well for many. i swam in a therapeutic pool for several years (until i moved) and it did wonders for my upper back. now swimming seems to irritate my SI. but walking, that seems to be gentle enough for even me, so i try to do it most days. nothing fast, not too far, but just at a normal pace for about 1.5 miles most days, a bit further on good days.

if i were you, i'd give it a try, see what you think.

Thanks for the ideas I will try the swimming and walking. I have done the walking a bit, but not the swimming.