Sitting-walking Derived from Tai Chi Gait: A Fundamental Improvement to Fall Prevention in Older Adults (Part 1)—Characteristics of Sitting-walking

Tai Chi (TC), a traditional exercise originating in China, is increasingly being recognized for its health benefits, especially in older adults, including fall prevention.TC has always been regarded as an alternative or auxiliary exercise intervention to prevent falls in older adults.The training and evaluation adopted focused on strengthening the muscle strength and balance ability of the lower limbs, and the exercise forms adopted were mainly actions and movements, a few of which focused on the TC gait (TCG).These factors cause the fall prevention effect to become unsatisfactory.There are different views on this topic in academic circles.This is related to a lack of understanding of the movement principles and mechanisms of TC.The authors believe that the solution to the problem of fall prevention should focus on the gait itself and that the uniqueness of TC is largely reflected in the gait.Through years of exploration and research, the authors applied TCG to daily walking and created a unique sitting-walking (SW) mode to fully exploit the function of TC in preventing falls.Its advantages in balance and its role in fall prevention in older adults are found in practice and teaching, which are discussed in Parts II and III of this series of papers, respectively.Based on a comparison with normal walking (NW), this study qualitatively describes SW from gait events, movement process, energy form, and walking posture, and lays the foundation for the discussion of the latter two parts.