Comments on: Tai Chi in zero-g?

Question: Tai Chi in zero-g?

nímwunnan — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:42:04 -0800

Would Tai Chi work in outer space?

Not that I really expect anyone to have any experience doing Tai Chi in zero-g (but if any forum had that person, it'd be MeFi), but I'm really curious. Tai Chi uses gravity or weight as a motive force so much that I'm really hard-pressed to imagine how it would work without gravity. I can imagine Tai Chi principles while fighting in zero-g, but not the form by itself. I do Chen Man Ching style, btw.

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:17:19 -0800

Typically, when astronauts exercise in space, they strap themselves to a surface, including for treadmill running. I don't see why Tai Chi would be any different, although it could certainly be more awkward.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:17:32 -0800

What if you wore magnetic boots and were standing on a relatively large-massed ferromagnetic object?

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:54:21 -0800

Hugh Jackman manages to do okay in The Fountain, but then I guess he had a tree bubble thing with gravity.

By: fantabulous timewaster

fantabulous timewaster — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:17:14 -0800

Blazecock Pileon, the force between a magnet and a hunk of magnetizable stuff goes like the separation cubed. If the magnet is weak enough that one boot can be lifted by an inch, then a foot away the force is a thousand times weaker. This is much more like a contact force than the uniform acceleration provided by gravity.

My impression from the poster is that Tai Chi movements have lots of sequences where you position, relax, and fall to a new position. Those would not work in zero-g.

A staple of science fiction (e.g. in 2001) is the spacecraft that rotates, so the centripetal force of the outer rim == floor mimics a normal force here on the ground. The centripetal force goes linearly with the distance from the axis, which isn't nearly so extreme as a magnet. But a six-foot person in a sixty-foot-radius chamber would feel a 10% difference between "gravity" at his head and his feet.

Once you got used to that, you could probably do some neat things. (Homework: take a (soft) ball to a merry-go-round with a friend. Get spinning. Try to play catch.)

By: Class Goat

Class Goat — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:58:43 -0800

But a six-foot person in a sixty-foot-radius chamber would feel a 10% difference between "gravity" at his head and his feet.

Coriolis effect becomes significant in a smaller system which is turning more rapidly. If you drop a ball, it wouldn't appear to go straight down. It would drop and curve to the side.

That would also somewhat affect arm and leg movements up and down when doing something like Tai Chi.

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:59:04 -0800

Resistance Bands