About Tai Chi Page

Academy of Tai Chi and Wu Shu

Tai Chi

Tai Chi has been practiced in China for centuries as a martial art, as exercise, and as a means of improving the flow of internal energy within the body. Because of Tai Chi's emphasis on correct form and feeling each movement, it is practiced very slowly and gently. Completely non-impact, yet involving the entire body, Tai Chi promotes strength, stamina, and flexibility, while tempering the joints of practitioners. Because the whole body moves as one, Tai Chi cultivates the link between mind and body, enhancing balance and coordination. Practitioners develop confident ease of movement.
The Taoists felt that stagnation was the cause of disease and aging. Nature moves unceasingly, and movement prevents stagnation.

Tai Chi was developed as a martial art/movement and breathing system that exersized all the joints and major muscle groups while circulating the chi, the internal energy. It is this circulation of the chi that prevents or mitigates disease and debility.

Tai Chi is performed slowly, evenly, and thoughtfully, with the emphasis on continuity of movement without break or pause. The Chinese use the metaphor of pulling silk from a cocoon: pull steadily, and the strand unravels; pull too fast or too slow, and it breaks.

Throughout the form, the body remains soft and relaxed, as if suspended from the top of the head and the joints like a puppet. The mind is centered on each movement, assessing the alignment and correctness of the form, focusing on feeling the flow from substantial to insubstantial in each movement, fending off distractions. Breathing is through the nose, slow and even, inhaling during contractions, exhaling during expansions of the form.

In Tai Chi you’re always moving, but always under complete control. There’s no overextension, no wasted effort. The whole body moves as one, with the body parts balanced in circular movement. Always moving, always rotating, always transforming into the opposite--the leg that bears the weight becomes "hollow" (weightless), the hand that was above circles below, while the other hand circles up to take its place. It’s not just hand, arm, and leg motions: the movement is controlled by the waist, and the hand, arm, and leg motions lead or follow the turning of the body. The weight shifts continuously, evenly and under complete control throughout the form, coming to rest briefly but completely on one leg or the other as the next element of the form unfolds.

As a martial art, Tai Chi uses the theory of "four ounces of strength against a ton of force" to repel the opponent without the need of force against force. Tai Chi uses the opponent’s own energy against him, while the Tai Chi practitioner exerts little or no force controlling the opponent. Where the opponent attacks, you become "insubstantial"; where the opponent is weak you attack.

History of Tai Chi

The term Tai Chi has been in the Chinese language for a very long time. It is used in philosophy, religion, literature, art, medicine and even astronomy. Now when we think of Tai Chi, we relate it to Tai Chi the martial art.
A great deal of effort was spent on finding the origin of this ancient Chinese martial art. The problem with researching the history of Tai Chi is the lack of precise written records and the fact that CNN wasn't in China then! Many books talked about Tai Chi being invented by a Taoist priest named Chang San Feng and just as many books believed that Tai Chi was invented by one of the martial art masters from the Chen village in the mid 1600's.
It is not the purpose of this web page to prove nor dispute the aforementioned theories, but to put them forth for your own analysis. For what it is worth, my belief is that Tai Chi as a martial art has been around for much longer than 300 years and cannot be attributed to one individual. Through the cumulation of many years of hard work by the masses, Tai Chi had evolved.

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