Category Archives: Anatomy and Physiology

Dr. Bruce McFarlane’s articles about tai chi and the mechanisms through which it improves health. A melding of both eastern and western medicine.

Dispatch from Dr. Bruce in the Arctic

Many readers have asked whether and/or when the popular anatomy and physiology posts by Dr. Bruce McFarlane will resume. Indeed, they will, after Dr . Bruce returns from his busy medical post in the Arctic. Here’s what he recently wrote … Continue reading

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Note on Anatomy and Physiology: Suppleness of Focus

We’ve concentrated a lot lately on the upper limbs. We’ve emphasized that, because the hands form one end of a number of continuities running through the body, their proper use has a significant impact on all our movements. But the … Continue reading

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Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: Slings at the Front, Slings at the Back

For awhile now, we’ve been delineating hand to foot continuities that run throughout the body, providing strength, flexibility and a more developed sense of one’s body in space as they unfold. These patterns of uninterrupted flow, created by sequences of muscle, … Continue reading

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Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: More On The Ties That Bind

In the tor yu, the hands draw out the spine – as the body sends out the hands. To better understand this interplay, let’s examine further the whole body continuities that tether the upper limbs to the rest of the … Continue reading

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Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: One Big Tendon

In an earlier article, it was mentioned that we are often asked in class to open Tiger’s Mouth, bring fingertips up, drop elbow, turn wrist or send out the hands. Why is that? What role do the upper limbs play … Continue reading

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Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: The Hand and The Tiger’s Mouth

Last time, we looked at how the bones of the elbow-forearm complex are designed so that the elbow bends and the hand turns. To better understand the influence of the hand and elbow on the strength and balance of our … Continue reading

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Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: The Elbow-Forearm Complex

In practicing our art, one of the things we discover is the steady rhythm of the body as it turns up and then down. Surprisingly, we also learn that attending to the placement of the hand and elbow helps us … Continue reading

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Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: Learning with the Hand and Elbow

Taoist Tai Chi™ internal arts of health introduce a way of moving that is novel for all students. Because the focus is on balance in all its dimensions, we develop over time a newfound sense of comfort and ease as we … Continue reading

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Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: Taking a Break

If you are one of our blog’s regular readers who has come to love and look forward to Dr. Bruce McFarlane’s regular weekly posts about the anatomy and physiology behind the practice of Taoist Tai Chi, please take note. In … Continue reading

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Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: Teaching Our Art in a Nursing Home

Not quite seven years ago, a well-known Australian geriatrician and member of the Taoist Tai Chi Society, Dr. Dick Lefroy, sent me a tape of people practicing the Taoist Tai Chi™ internal arts of health. All were residents of a … Continue reading

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