Tai Chi (meaning Supreme Ultimate First [energy, source, etc.]) [source: Wikipedia] is an internal Chinese martial art often practiced for health reasons.
Tai Chi postures help to stimulate the body, it’s organs and joints, through breathing and movement.
Tai Chi fitness is practiced by many every day in China. It is also typically practiced for a variety of other personal reasons: its hard and soft martial art technique, demonstration competitions, and longevity. Here you can discover Tai Chi for yourself.
Consequently, a multitude of training forms exist, both traditional and modern, which correspond to those aims. Some of Tai Chi Chuan’s training forms are well known to Westerners as the slow motion routines that groups of people practice together every morning in parks around the world, particularly in China.
Today, Tai Chi has spread worldwide. Most modern styles of tai chi trace their development to at least one of the five traditional schools: Chen, Yang, Wu/Hao, Wu and Sun.
Practicing Tai Chi is not merely a swing of the arm and the movement of the feet. There is a reason behind every movement and style that is made. These concepts paved the way to building every form of Tai Chi. So you have to pay close attention on the things that are not brought up every once in a while because even though if things seem so basic, they are indeed important.
Here are 10 of the most important concepts of Tai Chi that you should never take for granted. Remember these and it will make you appreciate more the forms that are performed.
- Tai Chi is done with emphasis on every movement and the fashion of every pattern must be in connected with one another. Meaning every motion made must always start from the spine, going down to the waist, then moving lower to the legs and the feet, then it is simultaneously going up to the body then the arms, hands and last, the fingers.
- Maintain your shoulders dropped so that any tension will be eliminated. Shoulders that are always propped are said to have overflowing tension.
- Your wrists must always be straight in order to form a lady’s hand if you are performing the Cheng form. All points apply to all forms of Tai Chi but the lady’s hand is basic and a very important trait of the Cheng form in order to cultivate the energy flowing in the body.
- Moving slowly should always be done every step of the way. It can never be overemphasized because the slow smoothness of your motions will improve the connection of your body and your environment.
- Never let anything disconnect you. You should always stay connected with every instruction. If you have been disconnected, continue to perform the movements and listen carefully to the instructions so that you can overcome any distraction.
- Your knees must always be bent during the entire form. Your height must not bob down and up. There are some considerations but all the while, your height must always be maintained at a level that is constant.
- The power of Tai Chi travels differently from the movement of Tai Chi. Power of Tai Chi will start from the feet going up to the legs, controlling the shoulders, and will be expressed by the fingers and hands.
- Your head must be maintained as if it was suspended on air.
- Your chest must be depressed and your back should be raised but this must be done without exerting any force.
- Your breath must be focused on your dan-tien but force must not be exerted. As time in the program may pass, there will be accomplishments that will fulfill you like synchronizing your breathing with the movements that you make.
The physical techniques of Tai Chi Chuan are described in the tai chi classics, a set of writings by traditional masters, as being characterized by the use of leverage through the joints based on coordination and relaxation, rather than muscular tension, in order to neutralize or initiate attacks. The slow, repetitive work involved in the process of learning how that leverage is generated gently and measurably increases, opens the internal circulation (breath, body heat, blood, lymph, peristalsis, etc.)
The study of tai chi chuan primarily involves three aspects:
- Health: An unhealthy or otherwise uncomfortable person may find it difficult to meditate to a state of calmness or to use tai chi as a martial art. Tai Chi’s health training therefore concentrates on relieving the physical effects of stress on the body and mind. For those focused on tai chi’s martial application, good physical fitness is an important step towards effective self-defense.
- Meditation: The focus and calmness cultivated by the meditative aspect of Tai Chi is seen as necessary in maintaining optimum health (in the sense of relieving stress and maintaining homeostasis) and in application of the form as a soft style martial art.
- Martial art: The ability to use tai chi as a form of self-defense in combat is the test of a student’s understanding of the art. Martially, Tai Chi Chuan is the study of appropriate change in response to outside forces; the study of yielding and “sticking” to an incoming attack rather than attempting to meet it with opposing force. The use of Tai Chi as a martial art is quite challenging and requires a great deal of training.
