The inaugural Taichi-Run Invitational Competition organised by the Research Institute for Sports Science and Technology (RISports) and the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University was successfully held on 6 Jun. Aged from 23 to 67, 12 participants were invited. 8 of them came from Hong Kong and the other 4 online participants joined from Wuhan, Melbourne, Padova and Vancouver. The competition lasted 42 minutes, and participants competed on the same stage through various methods such as unpowered treadmills, track running, and road running. The 67-year-old athlete from Wuhan ultimately defeated a group of young people to win the championship. The prize was presented by Prof. Zhang Ming, Director of RISports and Head of BME, and a group photo was taken with all the participants. This unique and flexible form of running competition has attracted many PolyU staff and students to stop and watch.
According to Mr Cheung Pak-Ming, founder of Taichi-Run, Taichi-formatted exercise load followed the “dynamic switch between opposite sides”. During Taichi-Run, exercisers started from a relatively lower heart rate (YIN state) and then speeded up gradually to a relatively higher heart rate (YANG state), and eventually returned to the YIN state. In a Taichi-Run competition, the organiser set a targeted heart rate every 3 minutes. Participants needed to change the velocities to control their own heart rates to attain the target, and the one had the lowest deviation between the actual and targeted heart rate will win the competition.
Mr Cheung also mentioned, "Taichi-Run is more like a game of controlling one's own body, which allows people to achieve good exercise results with a comfortable and enjoyable feeling." To promote this new method of running and a healthy lifestyle, Mr Cheung and Prof. Zhang formed a Taichi-Run team and an official website has been established.
Get to know Taichi-Run (Chinese only)
| Research Units | Research Institute for Sports Science and Technology |
|---|
