Taijiquan
Supreme Ultimate Fist Old Yang Style
Taijiquan (Tai Chi Ch’uan) is a martial art that originated in China hundreds of years ago. The name literally translates into “Supreme Ultimate Fist or Boxing”, and is pronounced in a variety of ways depending on which Chinese transliteration method is used.
Taiji or Tai Chi is sometimes; also, referred to as a soft or internal style – banded in the family of the Neijia, alongside Baguazhang and Xingyiquan. It is considered the “mother” of the internal arts.
It is, obviously, self- evident that martial arts are a system of self-defence and it does not require genius to see the medical benefits of martial exercise! Taijiquan managed to fuse this with the inner alchemy of the human body, as well as, the meditative aspects of Taoism to help achieve self-realisation, both physical and spiritual.
The core of the Taiji system is it’s form, consisting of many postures linked together as continuous flowing, circular movements containing closed fist punches, open hand and finger strikes, kicks, locks and throws.
Thus, the movements of Taijiquan generate, both, centripetal and centrifugal forces encouraging the flow of blood and life-force energy, or Qi, from the centre of the body, out to the extremities and back, along the acupuncture meridians. Thereby, allowing the body to heal and rejuvenate itself over a period of time.
Whilst practicing Taijiquan, one holds no physical or mental tension, or is said to be in a state of Sung (pronounced soong). Sung – a very important concept in Taiji - has been translated, slightly incorrectly, as to relax. However, a more accurate description would be to move without feeling or being aware of the movement itself! For this reason alone, many people find Taiji as an attractive form of stress relief.
However, one should not mistake these soft movements for weakness or passivity! Each posture adheres to a specific martial principle and is linked to one of the acupuncture meridians. The movements are dynamic and resilient, encouraging decisiveness and confidence.
During practice of the martial aspects of Taiji, we learn how to maintain our own balance while under attack, as well as distance, timing and natural body movement, the prerequisites of any fighting art.
It is said in Taijiquan that it is your opponent who decides where, when and how hard he gets hit! In other words, it is your opponent’s body movement and or intent that causes a change within yourself and initiates an appropriate response.
Learning how to deal with change as you go from one posture to another is reflected during form. Whilst spontaneous and instant changes are reflected during the many two person exercises such as San –sau, Push Hands, Da-lu or Pauchui, which teach you the importance of relaxing so that movements are both economical and effective.
Balance, however, can only truly be gained through the understanding and acceptance of change – a lifelong process!
By accepting change as inevitable and responding, or adjusting to it, we can achieve balance on a physical, emotional and intellectual level through the practice of Taijiquan.
Today, millions of people all around the world practice some form of Taiji to gain its great physical and psychological health benefits, while a handful still practice and preserve the original fighting art of old!
However, to truly understand Taijiquan as a whole, we cannot separate the martial from the healing. In other words, only when Taijiquan ( Tai Chi ) is taught as a complete martial art – as its founders intended – can we really begin to understand the power of it’s healing!