雙語科技百科(醫學) 第65期:五禽戲
The Five-arumal Exercise
The Five-animal Exercise, as a means of physical training in ancient China, was created by Hua Tuo, an eminent doctor in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He summarized the traditional practice of our predecessors' building up their physical strength by imitating the animal movements, and created a set of healthcare gymnastics, i. e. the Five-animal Exercise, which consisted of five groups of actions imitating the movements and manners of the tigers, deer ,bears, apes and birds. It is a thousand years earlier than the medical gymnastics contrived by the Swedish. At one time, seeing a kid playing with the door-latch, Hua Tuo immediately thought of a wise saying "Running water is never stale and a door-hinge never gets worm-eaten" , which further reminded him of the fact that most of the illnesses were actually caused by the circulation hindrance and stagnation of Qi and blood, and people, if doing exerases regularly like a door-hinge, would improve their health and immunize themselves from illness. As a result, Hua Tuo was absorbed in researching into the ways for the physical buildup once he had time. He, referring to the" Physical and Breathing Exercise" used by people at the time when doing physical training, thought about making improvements constantly in accordance with the movements of various animals, the result of which was the creation of a set of fist techniques imitating the movements and manners of the tigers, deer, apes, bears and birds. This set of fist techniques, by imitating the quick pouncing of the tigers,light galloping of the deer, nimble jumping of the apes, slow-paced walking of the bears and wing-spreading flying of the birds, can clear your head and brighten your eyes, improve your heart and lung functions, strengthen your waist and kid-ney, and lubricate your joints, thus contributing to the overall buildup of your is simple and easy to learn; anyone, whether men or women, old or young, can choose part of it for physical training at first, and then practice the whole set of actions as their physical buildup is gradually improved only is the Five-animal Ex-erase good for your health and longevity, but for the eradication of your as Hua Tuo said, "If feeling uncomfortable, you can do the Five-animal Exercise; as you perspire, you will get relaxed and feel like eating. " In recent years,the Five-animal Exercise, as a means of rehabilitation treatment, has been widely used as an auxiliary treatment of people suffering from such illnesses as stroke se-quelae, rheumarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and osseous hyperplasia.
五禽戲是我國古代體育鍛煉的一種方法，創始人是東漢末年名醫華佗。華佗總結了前人模仿鳥獸動作以鍛鍊身體的傳統做法，創編了一套保健體操，包括虎、鹿、熊、猿、鳥的動作和姿態，也就是五禽戲。它比瑞典發明的醫療體操要早1000多年。一次，華佗看到一個小孩抓着門閂來回蕩着玩耍，便聯想起“戶樞不蠹，流水不腐”的道理，於是想到人的大多疾病都是由於氣血不暢和瘀寒停滯而造成的，如果人體也像“戶樞”那樣經常活動，讓氣血暢通，就會增進健康，不易生病了。於是，華佗有時間就專心致志地研究鍛鍊身體的方法，參照當時占人鍛鍊身體的“導引術”，小斷琢磨改進，根據各種動物的動作，創造一套模仿虎、鹿、猿、熊、鳥五種動物的拳法。這套拳，模仿猛虎猛撲呼嘯，模仿小鹿愉快飛奔，模仿猿猴左右跳躍，模仿黑熊慢步行走，以及模仿鳥兒展翅飛翔等動作，通過這·系列的運作，能清利頭日，增強心肺功能，強壯腰腎，滑利關節，促進身體素質的全面增強，簡便易學，故不論男女老幼均可選練，待體質逐漸增強後再練全套動作。五禽戲不僅具強身延年之功，還有祛疾除病之效。正如華佗所說：“體有不快，起作禽之戲，怡而汗出，身體輕便而欲食。”近年來五禽戲作爲康復醫疔的一種手段，已廣泛應用於中風後遺症，風溼性關節炎，類風溼性關節炎，骨質增生症等患者的輔助治療。
