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We all know that Tai Chi benefits our physical and mental health. We know that because we've heard it from others. We've probably experienced it ourselves. That's not enough. The way for Tai Chi to be propagated by official bodies is through scientific studies. Governments and large organizations have heard about the benefits of Tai Chi as have many physicians and other scientists. But they need proof, the kind of proof that only scientific studies offer. Currently the going word for health planners worldwide is "evidence based." To be supported, a program needs to have scientific evidence, just as a doctor is required to practice evidenced-based medicine.

Keep in mind, though, that not all types of studies suffice. Take case studies, for example, a fairly common method used in the medical world. With this type of study, case histories are recorded and analyzed carefully. Sometimes, certain cases are followed for years, as was done with comparing identical twins, some of whom are brought up together, others separately. Identical twin studies are useful in finding out which outcomes can be attributed to genetic factors and which to environmental factors.

Case studies can be very useful, and sometimes they are the only choice in order to avoid adverse effects on the subjects. But the case-study method doesn't use a control, which eliminates the possibility of comparison. Thus, the results of the studies can always be attributed to other causes. We could tell the scientific world that hundreds of our students benefited from Tai Chi, but that won't have any effect. The scientific world won't budge without a controlled study, or to be more precise, a randomized controlled study.

Emory University used this type of study in 1996 to investigate the prevention of falls in older people. This study, called the FICSIT study (Frailty and Injuries: Cooperative Studies of Intervention Techniques), had a tremendous impact on the acceptance of Tai Chi.

Approximately 200 patients were divided into three groups. The first group used a computer-controlled biofeedback machine to improve their balance. The second group did Tai Chi. And the third group, called the Education Group, was the control group. This latter group met and talked about nutrition, which is considered to have no effect on the prevention of falls. The results of the study showed that the Tai Chi group had a 47.5 percent lower rate of falls compared to the biofeedback machine group that improved by only 12.5 percent.

Let me give you a concrete example of how the FICSIT study influences health planners. Last year, the Sydney Central Area Health Promotion Unit won a grant of $200,000 from the New South Wales Health Department to use Tai Chi to study falls in the community. Now $200,000 might not sound like a lot of money for a study, but our State Health Department is known to be stingy, and to get that amount for a Tai Chi study is unheard of. It was the FICSIT study that prompted the state's generosity.

Through my contacts I've heard of similar cases throughout the world. In fact, there have been many funded studies of fall prevention studies using Tai Chi.

As a Tai Chi expert as well as a practicing physician who has suffered from arthritis since my early 20s, I've been particularly interested in using Tai Chi to promote better health, especially where arthritis is concerned. In 1997, I, along with two prominent rheumatology professors and a physiotherapist and several Tai Chi colleagues, created the Tai Chi for Arthritis program to help people who suffer from that ailment. The program won the endorsement of the Australian Arthritis Foundation.

At that point, it seemed natural that America's Arthritis Foundation would support this program. No way! I was told at the time that they could not adapt it without scientific evidence. It took over two years and another scientific study to make this happen.

That study, was done last year at the Korean National University. Three Korean professors have conducted a randomized controlled study that tested the success of the Tai Chi for Arthritis program in managing arthritis symptoms and improving physical fitness and functioning in older people with arthritis. The study confirmed that the Tai Chi group reported significantly less pain, fewer difficulties in the activities of daily living, and better sense of wellbeing in general.

In November 2001, the Korean study was presented at the American College of Rheumatology's annual scientific meeting. And that's when America's Arthritis Foundation decided to adapt the program.

We seem to be following the same pattern that the study of exercise did. The first research studies on exercise were limited to how exercise benefited health. Then the research became more specific, looking at what exercise helped and how it worked. And then it moved on to what specific exercise helped which part of the body, how the exercise was executed, and so on.