The Many Benefits of Playing Mah-jongg

According to Heinz, who is Chinese American, “In between each round, you have a pause, where you are shuffling the tiles, or ‘washing' the tiles. And it’s just the right amount of time to have a little bit of conversation. I think that tempo is perfect for building new relationships. When you’re in a new community or connecting across a generational divide, maybe you don’t want to have deep heart-to-heart or can’t have one, but you can have a little bit of conversation and over time, those rhythms, especially if you’re playing with the same group of people, can build incredibly deep, long-lasting relationships.”

I certainly have found new friendships that are deepening amid the rhythmic clink of the gorgeous tiles, painted with flowers and dragons. Many women grew up watching their mothers and grandmothers play the game; I did not. I discovered mah-jongg later in life, and the game has become one of my favorite hobbies, along with hiking and kayaking.

Even though this game does not involve physical prowess it certainly gives my mind a healthy workout. Mah-jongg uses the same brain power as chess, though it has added visual and tactile appeal.

Linda Feinstein, 75, told me she’d been enjoying the game since she was a child, watching her mother and aunts play in a Coney Island bungalow. After playing consistently as a suburban young mother, she moved to Manhattan and began teaching and setting up games in New York City restaurants, a ritual that became the Manhattan Mah Jongg Club.

“The women I taught became friends,” Feinstein said. “When you know mah-jongg, you’re never really alone.”

Mah-jongg does help us sustain our health in two important ways as we age: The friendships we develop decrease the loneliness that can cut years from our lives. And this brainy sport may help keep us sharp. According to an October 2021 report in Market Business News, studies show that mah-jongg is actually recommended to the elderly to help maintain good brain health and improve memory skills.

Yoshiro Katsuura, an orthopedic spine surgeon and author of The Spine Encyclopedia, treats many older patients. He echoed these findings, “The ability to quickly solve and respond to different problems deteriorates as people grow older,” he said. “Participating in games of strategy like mah-jongg can be protective against this decline. Meaningful, intellectually stimulating social engagement prevents the depression of isolation.”

I look forward to my weekly game nights of warm company and exercising my brain. I’ve joined a subculture where instead of a secret handshake we have verbal jokes like It craks me up or May the winds be with you.

And I am grateful to have new friends with whom to share our past experiences and enjoy each other in the present, sitting for several hours around a cozy table. As our familiarity with each other grows, so does the ease of playing.

It takes a great deal of concentration to remember which suits and sequences of numbers produce the thrill of a winning hand, which I’ve had five times so far. The more I play the faster I can sort my tiles according to categories and adjust them during the game.

Besides being stimulating, socially and cerebrally, mah-jongg has transformed me in a larger sense. If one strategy doesn’t work you quickly try another, depending on your hand. Isn’t that what success in life is about?

Do any of you play mah-jongg? Let us know in the comments below.