What is Tai Cheng?

Tai Cheng is Beachbody’s newest and perhaps most comprehensive fitness program.

Based on the movements, concepts, and theories of traditional Yang-style Tai Chi, the Beachbody Tai Cheng workout program is named after its creator, Dr. Mark Cheng. The Mandarin Chinese translation of Tai Cheng (as we’ve conceived of it here at Beachbody)is the “Supreme Accomplishment” in whole body health.

What can Tai Cheng do for me?

The Tai Cheng workout is based on classical Tai Chi techniques, ancient Qi Gong practices, and  modern corrective exercise patterns that both rehab and prehab the body, improving the body’s  metabolism, joint function, stress management, and athletic performance!

The Tai Cheng program shows you how to customize a workout that feels good, challenges your  body, gives you energy, improves circulation, straightens posture, opens your joints, reduces painful  trigger points, and promotes balance and flexibility so that your health actually improves as you age.

Who is Tai Cheng for?

Tai Chi and the other ancient modalities within the Tai Cheng program are made for EVERYONE. This 13-week regimen delivers tremendous benefits, whether you’re doing the first level moves and using the support of a wall, or you’re an elite athlete who is looking to improve your athletic performance in safer, more holistic ways.

What can I expect in a Tai Cheng workout?

Every day, Tai Cheng takes you through a gentle, energizing warm-up and teaches you a new Tai Chi move. These workouts are designed to improve balance, awaken dormant energy sources, tone  and strengthen your muscles, soothe stiffness, and increase your range of motion.

How long is the Tai Cheng program?

Tai Cheng is a 90-day program, divided into four phases. You will learn six Tai Chi movements in each of the first three phases; each of these phases is three weeks long. In the fourth phase,  which is four weeks long, you learn how to put multiple movements together in sequence.

What kind of equipment will I need?

All you need to do Tai Cheng is a 6’ x 6’ space, about an hour a day, and a foam roller, which is included with the program

What is Tai Chi?

A traditional Chinese martial art, Tai Chi is known more formally as T’ai Chi Ch’uan or Taijiquan, the “Supreme Ultimate Fist.” As a system of internal martial arts, Tai Chi revolves around the duality concept of balanced yin and yang energies. In the Western world, we understand this in manifestations such as positive-negative, light-dark, male-female, hot-cold, hard-soft, and external-internal. In terms of strategy and combat application, Tai Chi employs both speed and power movements, similar to those seen in other self-defense systems like Shaolin kung fu, modern wushu, karate, or taekwondo, as well as slow and smooth movements that resemble dance or yoga.

Now one of the most widely practiced exercises in the world, Tai Chi has cognates in Korea (taegeuk kwon), Japan (taikyokuken), and many other countries around the world. Yang-style Tai Chi is the most widely practiced version of this Chinese art form. Because of its zero-impact nature, it has become wildly popular among the elderly throughout China and increasingly around the globe. Younger athletes are discovering it for its unique ability to train the stabilizing musculature in addition to the larger muscles known as the prime movers.

What are the benefits of Tai Chi?

While it is no secret that Tai Chi practice has a plethora of benefits, it is still not well understood by mainstream medicine. Studies have been conducted at prestigious colleges and universities, such as Harvard and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, to determine how Tai Chi lowers blood pressure, improves balance, and reduces injuries due to falls. Those studies continue to yield positive data.