Research on Tai Chi as a sport in health care

This article examines the content and methodology of studies on Tai Chi as a sport in health care. We investigate the concept behind the rather simple name “Tai Chi,” concluding that this concept is manifold and highly variable. How did researchers deal with this variability when studying the effects of Tai Chi as a health-care intervention? We then explore how scientific research on Tai Chi has been conducted to date and draw the interim conclusion that the variability was barely taken into consideration. Our analysis of seven Tai Chi interventions reveals that two interventions referred to as Tai Chi may differ considerably in their content. The variability poses difficulty in repeating the intervention and drawing causal inferences. This problem is discussed in the current literature under the term “complexity in health-care interventions.” On the basis of a summary of this debate, we discuss the challenge of researching Tai Chi from a complex perspective—with the aim of achieving solid results that can be repeated.