Tai Chi-The Healing Art
Tai Chi is an ancient form of Chinese martial arts that uses slow controlled movements, postures and breathing to increase the flow of "chi" or energy in your life. Increased flow of chi can boost your sense of wellbeing and relieve stress. Tai Chi is fully known as Tai Chi Chuan and was created by Chang San-Feng, who lived from 1279-1368 AD. After observing how the animals in nature react to opposition and strength, he developed a series of movements that imitate them. Tai Chi involves very slow movements that aim to control the flow of energy through strength and meditation.
Tai Chi is great for people who wish to gain more mobility and relieve stress. Some of the most noteworthy benefits include increased balance, mobility, flexibility, strength, cooridnation, and also relieves stress. Tai Chi is essentially suitable for everyone. Seniors and the young can enjoy and benefit from practicing tai chi on a daily basis. Since it has shown to help people with balance issues, arthritis, and other conditions, tai chi is generally considered safe for everyone. Of course, consult your doctor before heading off to your first class to be sure.This art is often practiced for the purposes of health and longevity (some recent medical studies support its effectiveness here). T'ai Chi Ch'uan is considered a soft style martial art, an art applied with as complete a relaxation or "softness" in the musculature as possible, to distinguish its theory and application from that of the hard martial art styles which use a degree of tension in the muscles.
The study of T'ai Chi Ch'uan involves three primary subjects:
Tai Chi is an ancient form of Chinese martial arts that uses slow controlled movements, postures and breathing to increase the flow of "chi" or energy in your life. Increased flow of chi can boost your sense of wellbeing and relieve stress. Tai Chi is fully known as Tai Chi Chuan and was created by Chang San-Feng, who lived from 1279-1368 AD. After observing how the animals in nature react to opposition and strength, he developed a series of movements that imitate them. Tai Chi involves very slow movements that aim to control the flow of energy through strength and meditation.
Tai Chi is great for people who wish to gain more mobility and relieve stress. Some of the most noteworthy benefits include increased balance, mobility, flexibility, strength, cooridnation, and also relieves stress. Tai Chi is essentially suitable for everyone. Seniors and the young can enjoy and benefit from practicing tai chi on a daily basis. Since it has shown to help people with balance issues, arthritis, and other conditions, tai chi is generally considered safe for everyone. Of course, consult your doctor before heading off to your first class to be sure.This art is often practiced for the purposes of health and longevity (some recent medical studies support its effectiveness here). T'ai Chi Ch'uan is considered a soft style martial art, an art applied with as complete a relaxation or "softness" in the musculature as possible, to distinguish its theory and application from that of the hard martial art styles which use a degree of tension in the muscles.
The study of T'ai Chi Ch'uan involves three primary subjects:
Health - an unhealthy or otherwise uncomfortable person will find it difficult to meditate to a state of calmness or to use T'ai Chi as a martial art. T'ai Chi's health training therefore concentrates on relieving the physical effects of stress on the body and mind.
Meditation - the focus meditation and subsequent calmness cultivated by the meditative aspect of T'ai Chi is seen as necessary to maintain optimum health (in the sense of effectively maintaining stress relief or homeostasis) and in order to use it as a soft style martial art.
Martial art - the ability to competently use T'ai Chi as a martial art is said to be proof that the health and meditation aspects are working according to the dictates of the theory of T'ai Chi Ch'uan.
In its traditional form (many modern variations exist which ignore at least one of the above requirements) every aspect of its training has to conform with all three of the aforementioned categories.
In its traditional form (many modern variations exist which ignore at least one of the above requirements) every aspect of its training has to conform with all three of the aforementioned categories.
The Mandarin term "T'ai Chi Ch'uan" translates as "Supreme Ultimate Boxing" or "Boundless Fist". T'ai Chi training involves learning solo routines, known as forms, and two person routines, known as pushing hands, as well as acupressure-related manipulations taught by traditional schools. T'ai Chi Ch'uan is seen by many of its schools as a variety of Taoism, and it does seemingly incorporate many Taoist principles into its practice . It is an art form said to date back many centuries (although not reliably documented under that name before 1850), with precursor disciplines dating back thousands of years. The explanation given by the traditional T'ai Chi family schools for why so many of their previous generations have dedicated their lives to the study and preservation of the art is that the discipline it seems to give its students to dramatically improve the effects of stress in their lives, with a few years of hard work, should hold a useful purpose for people living in a stressful world. They say that once the T'ai Chi principles have been understood and internalized into the bodily framework the practitioner will have an immediately accessible "toolkit" thereby to improve and then maintain their health, to provide a meditative focus, and that can work as an effective and subtle martial art for self-defence.
Teachers say the study of T'ai Chi Ch'uan is, more than anything else, about challenging one's ability to change oneself appropriately in response to outside forces. These principles are taught using the examples of physics as experienced by two (or more) bodies in combat. In order to be able to protect oneself or someone else by using change, it is necessary to understand what the consequences are of changing appropriately, changing inappropriately and not changing at all in response to an attack. Students, by this theory, will appreciate the full benefits of the entire art in the fastest way through physical training of the martial art aspect.
Wu Chien-ch'üan, co-founder of the Wu family style, described the name T'ai Chi Ch'uan this way at the beginning of the 20th century:
"Various people have offered different explanations for the name T'ai Chi Ch'uan. Some have said: 'In terms of self-cultivation, one must train from a state of movement towards a state of stillness. T'ai Chi comes about through the balance of yin and yang. In terms of the art of attack and defense then, in the context of the changes of full and empty, one is constantly internally latent, not outwardly expressive, as if the yin and yang of T'ai Chi have not yet divided apart.' Others say: 'Every movement of T'ai Chi Ch'uan is based on circles, just like the shape of a T'ai Chi symbol. Therefore, it is called T'ai Chi Ch'uan.' Both explanations are quite reasonable, especially the second, which is more complete."TAICHI THE ART OF HEALING PART-II
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