Conclusion
An 8 week program of Shuai Shou Gong (SSG) training delivered over twenty four sessions to 28 older women from the same community, and to a Control Group, produced a significant interaction between group and time for the combined set of all outcome measurements (C7WD, SH, BSL, BSR, CSRL, CSRR, TUG, BADL, and BSES) (MATS p-value < 0.001) and for the four categories of posture, flexibility, gait, and cognition (all WTS p-values < 0.05). In all cases the changes in the Exercise Group were in the direction predicted to be beneficial. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that the gentle, rhythmic, whole body sequence of movements of SSG may be readily learned and enjoyed in a group setting by older adults and improves general health and well-being. In future studies, it will be interesting to further investigate the mechanisms by which the ancient practice of SSG has produced the benefits documented in this RCT.