More about Tai-Chi

Tai-Chi is a tool to help you change the things that you need to change in your life. It is not a religion or a controlling philosophy, but the training it provides enables you to understand and help yourself. The ancient Chinese book The I Ching states that the balance of Yin and Yang energies physically, mentally and emotionally are essential to mankind’s well being, and also it states that as nature is always in motion then mankind should follow nature and exercise and strengthen itself continuously.

Good exercise leads to good health, high spirits and rational thinking, but many forms of exercise and sport have built in limitations, your own fitness, age, strength, speed, gender, can prevent your participation and the gaining of the benefits. Tai Chi is different, with a skilled instructor Tai Chi will adapt to you, even severe disabilities will often not preclude you from gaining benefit.

For hundreds of years westerners have been puzzled at seeing Chinese people from all walks of life enjoying this effortless looking, rhythmical ballet like exercise, which is normally performed at dawn and dusk in China and in any part of the world where there is an established Chinese community. The Chinese say that if you practice Tai Chi correctly and regularly you will gain the pliability of a child, the health of a lumberjack and the peace of mind of a sage.

So what is Tai Chi? It can be proved to trace back to at least the beginning of the 18th century with the Chen family in Henan province in Eastern China, though there are many other theories about its origins, including it being passed down by the gods in a dream to a Taoist immortal called Chang San Feng who was supposed to have lived for nearly 300 years from the early years of the 13th century. There has certainly been a fog laid over the true origins, but this art or something very similar has been slowly developing and refining for probably over a thousand years.

Tai Chi is a physical, mental and spiritual discipline, quite similar in some respects to Yoga and other eastern esoteric arts which cultivate the internal energy system. These systems are known as the internal arts, as opposed to the external arts which rely on muscle power and strength. In Tai Chi we use the mind and not muscle to move the internal energy or Chi. This creates tremendous power, which when used by a master is irresistible.

No matter how strong you are in muscle power you can always meet someone who is stronger, there is only one thing that can surmount the power of muscle and that is the combined power of mind and Chi. The relentless power of Chi used with correct soft and yielding Tai Chi techniques will overcome the hard and aggressive power of muscle. Tai Chi movements are carried out with a relaxed body and a relaxed but concentrated mind. There must be no muscle tension in order to allow the Chi to flow naturally.