T’ai Chi Ch’uan

*T’AI CHI CH’UAN -

T’ai Chi Ch’uan literally means the Grand Ultimate Fist.

Since the days of the warrior, T’ai Chi has been slowed down, the attacks/defenses organized into patterns, and the focus redirected. Now, all over the world, people move slowly from posture to posture, expanding their understanding of the workings of the whole body, developing the gentle side of the psyche.

T’ai Chi focuses on the relaxation of the body, mind and spirit. It is non-competitive. There are no belts or ranks, and practitioners are opposing forces called players. In T’ai Chi tournaments, each player is judged against a standard, and utilizes a push-hands partner to show that standard.

As a moving meditation, the practice of T’ai Chi trains the player to focus on the moment, the next posture, the integration of the whole body. Though difficult to prove scientifically, the practice of T’ai Chi is well known for its ability to stimulate many healthful processes within the body, not the least of which is improved flexibility, and greater oxygenation of the organs and blood.

To quote from the book, “Taijiquan, the Art of Nurturing, the Science of Power”:

” The word taiji is an ancient Daoist philosophical term symbolizing the interaction of yin and yang, which are opposite manifestations of the same forces in nature. The martial arts of China are typically categorized as either ‘internal’ or ‘external.’  Taijiquan downplays brute strength and natural ability and emphasizes learned motor skills, nurturing and the accumulation of hardness through softness,and thus it is considered an internal martial art. “