Taijiquan (T'ai Chi Ch'uan)
WHAT IS T'AI CHI CH'UAN?
WHAT IS T'AI CHI CH'UAN?
The story of Tai Chi begins with its founder Chang (Zhang) San-Feng , a Taoist hermit who is variously reported as having lived(taken from www.patiencetaichi.com page, written by Bill Phillips - Student of Zheng Manqing)
A more likely explanation of Tai Chi's origins lies in the conjecture that
Master Chang, if he existed at all, combined certain
fighting movements together with other movements designed to increase internal
energy in the body to create a new system
which became a physical manifestation of Taoist philosophy.
Tai Chi Chuan means "Supreme Ultimate Boxing." The Supreme Ultimate here
refers to the Tao, or more specifically,
the framework within which the dualities of Yin and Yang manifest themselves
in the field of time. The allusion to the Tai
Chi in this context suggests that the art contains within itself (in its
movements, shapes and patterns of breathing) all that is
necessary for these dynamic forces to interact and be reconciled. The character
Chuan refers to a school or method of
boxing or combat. Therefore, it can be said that Tai Chi Chuan, as it was
originally conceived, is a sophisticated method of
fighting based on the reconciliation of dynamically interacting forces.
Structurally speaking then, the Tai Chi Chuan
practitioner seeks to neutralize his opponent's use of force before applying
a countering force of his own. In this give and
take, this interplay of energies, Tai Chi finds its highest expression
as a fighting art.
At the time of its development, Tai Chi was a deadly art, jealously guarded
by a few families and used for killing. It would
be unwise for the student to forget this historical fact, because it is
within the context of life or death struggle that the
techniques of Tai Chi were refined over the centuries. The proper shapes
for the transmission of energy, the methods of
single-weightedness, techniques of relaxation and breath control all were
developed with the express purpose of injuring
the opponent in an efficient, scientific manner. It is probably desirable
then, for the Tai Chi student to be able to appreciate
and understand this martial context even if one is not interested in fighting.
After all, all of the major Tai Chi styles (Chen,
Yang, Wu and Sun) placed a great deal of emphasis on grasping the meaning
of the movements through applications
training.
Today, however, we live in a less violent era. So then: what is the place
of Tai Chi in modern society? Now that we have
"beaten our swords into ploughshares" how are we to appreciate this precious
cultural transmission? The secret lies in
enlarging our understanding of who "the enemy" is. Traditionally, the enemy
was the opponent in a combat situation. Today
the enemy may be fatigue, stress, overwork or lack of understanding of
oneself and one's body. All martial arts were
designed to increase one's longevity. Sometimes this means preventing another
person from killing or injuring you.
Nowadays, the same system can be used to help keep stress from killing
or injuring you. Daily practice of Tai Chi
promotes mental clarity and a healthy body, assists with balance and helps
the circulation of the blood. Tai Chi is also a
vehicle for the realization of surpassing beauty. As Aldous Huxley describes
in Island:
"No leaps, no high kicks, no running. The feet always firmly on the ground...movements
intrinsically beautiful and at the same
time charged with symbolic meaning. Thought taking shape in ritual and
stylized gesture. The whole body transformed into a
hieroglyph, a succession of hieroglyphs, of attitudes modulating from significance
to significance, like a poem or a piece of
music. Movements of the muscles representing movements of the consciousness...It's
meditation in action; the metaphysics of
the Mahayana expressed not in words, but through symbolic movements and
gestures."