By Tan Choe Choe
ABOUT 300,000 Malaysians are `trembling’ their way to health. TAN CHOE CHOE checks out the Waitankung phenomenon.
You’ve probably seen them in a park or garden around your neighbourhood – a group of people, generally elderly, shaking their hands or feet as if partaking in some ritual.
If they sport beige or brown pants with collared white tees, then you’re spot on – they are Waitankung practitioners.
It is hard to give a literal translation of “Waitankung”, but it loosely means exterior body exercise. It is a form of meditative exercise practised by the Chinese in the imperial courts more than 2,000 years ago.
The original form of the exercise is very intricate and difficult to master, but Ali Chang Chih-Tung remodelled and simplified the motions in the 1970s and reintroduced it to the public in Taiwan in 1976.
It is said to be able to help strengthen and exercise vital organs and normalise the functions of the heart and lungs.
The focus of the exercise is to generate internal qi (energy) in the body through a series of controlled shaking motions of various body parts, from head to toe.
This is based on the belief that there is a pre-born internal energy in us which is called xian tian qi. Strengthening this internal qi will make a person healthier.
“To activate this qi, we have to systematically shake our body parts. The qi makes the organs healthy, relaxed, working and functioning,” says Petaling Jaya Waitankung branch publicity chairman Albert Chua, 62.
Practitioners often refer to these shaking motions as “trembling” because many claim that over time and with regular practice, the shaking becomes automatic, almost like involuntary “trembling”.
Those who practise the exercise correctly and regularly – about two or three times a week – say the exercise promotes blood circulation, helps strengthen the immune system, loosens tendons, muscles and joints, and reduces stress and hypertension.
It is also said to help alleviate rheumatism, arthritis, insomnia, digestive problems and constipation.
“You can do it while standing, sitting, crouching or slouching on the couch. If you do it right, your body will feel warm, like there’s a kind of energy flowing through it,” says Waitankung practitioner and Petaling Jaya Waitankung branch chairman Lee Sak Yon, 64.
There are about 30 branches with about 300 Waitankung centres in Malaysia, and about 300,000 practitioners from all walks of life.
“In Petaling Jaya alone, there are eight branches. Waitankung is the largest exercise group in Malaysia now. It is bigger than tai chi,” says Lee.
This is no small feat indeed, since the exercise was only brought here about 26 years ago by Dr Kok Chi Kai. In 1984, the Waitankung Research Society was established and later, the Waitankung and Neitankung Society Malaysia was registered, with its national headquarters in Puchong, Kuala Lumpur.
“We are not just an exercise group, we are also a social group. We organise get-togethers, charitable activities, karaoke sessions and trips for our members, whom we refer to as `brothers’ and `sisters’,” says Chua.
To the uninitiated, a regular Waitankung exercise routine starts with a seven-step induction or warm-up exercises.
There’s a quirky tradition here: practitioners inhale deeply and shout heng has when they initiate each step, followed by murmurs of shih wu as they exhale.
“It helps to regulate their breathing. The forceful heng has helps to energise their motions and the subsequent shih wu helps them to de-stress and exhale the stale air.”
The warm-up steps are then followed by the exercise proper which consists of 12 steps of “trembling” motions, with fanciful names like “Big Crane Walk”.
Lee says Waitankung is suitable for both the young and the elderly.
Classes are conducted by experienced trainers.
“They teach for free. We also have English and Malay classes because our students are multi-racial.”
To join, you only need to get a pair of Waitankung uniform and chip in RM10 or RM20 a month to help pay the rental of an exercise centre, utilities and refreshments.
(c) 2007 New Straits Times. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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