tai chi

tai chi is a chinese martial art. its full name is tai chi chuan, a chinese phrase which can be translated as approximately meaning supreme ultimate fist. tai chi is a relatively new martial art, with its concrete origins sometime around 1820, although it likely existed for some time before that. it is what is known as a soft style of martial combat, putting an emphasis on relaxed muscle positions and the use of an opponent’s momentum, as contrasted with the hard styles, which emphasize muscles in a high-state of readiness, and meeting an opponent’s force with one’s own force. in addition to the martial aspects of tai chi, there is a great deal of stress placed on the concepts of meditative calm, and overall physical health. indeed, for many people living in the modern world, tai chi is not thought of as a martial art, but rather as a system of movement and breathing meant to be therapeutic. in much the same way that yoga in the west has become divorced from its original intent, so too has tai chi become something quite different. in many ways, tai chi is a very taoist tradition. it teaches such things as learning to move with the world – both in a literal, physical sense in terms of martial self-defense, and in a more abstract, meditative sense. indeed, the core of tai chi could be described as simply learning to react appropriately to whatever is offered.
this is one reason why many in the modern world find it so valuable as a discipline. pract-tioners of tai chi usually find that within a relatively short period of time, they are better equipped to handle stressful situations, and find themselves less pr-ne to being caught off balance either physically or mentally. in order to cultivate this state of mind, tai chi pract-tioners focus on two main types of formal training. in the first, the student learns a number of movement poses that they undertake on their own. these poses work on steady, healthy breathing, supple posture, and a smooth movement of the body’s joints. in the second, the student works with another pract-tioner to understand how these forms interact with another person’s movement. these pushing hands poses help teach a sensitivity, as well as helping to improve the solo poses through a more rigorous exercise. in addition to these poses, which one often sees western pract-tioners doing in isolation in public parks, or in group cl-sses, tai chi also makes use of more traditional martial art techniques. sparring takes place between two pract-tioners, and is similar to sparring in many other widely-known martial art forms. tai chi pract-tioners may also make use of various weapons, including the spear or staff (chang or chiang), the broadsword or sabre (tao or dao), the straight sword (chien or jien). other weapons like the chain or fan can be used as well.
also pr-nounced taiji. cl-ssified as an internal martial art, it is a taoist fighting art that originated from pin yin village in northern china and developed from there into many different styles over time, but mainly branched from the very oldest form of tai chi: chen style taijiquan
so far, the main styles are as follows:
chen (style)
wu (style)
sun (style)
yang (style)
hao (style)

being an extremely misunderstood art, tai chi or taiji is not just a mere exercise. it is a fighting art dedicated to taking down the opponent using no effort by either disabling them, knocking them out, or killing them.
i’ve been studying chen style taiji quan for about 3 and a half years now.
tai chi is the urbanization of the phrase t’ai chi ch’uan (taijiquan), meaning “supreme ultimate fist (school)” and usually refers to the internal martial art of that name originating in china.

an internal martial art is one that focuses upon the energy, chi (qi), of the body and its application for martial purposes as compared with an external martial art such as karate, which emphasizes muscular strength.

taiji is commonly characterized by slow, flowing movements interspersed with rapid ones, and emphasizes posture, rooting, balance and efficient body mechanics for both health and martial applications.

the history and lineage of taijiquan is often debated, but most discussions place its origin in the late 14th – early 15th century from one chang san-feng. its philosophy and movements have their roots in taoist philosophy, itself dating back at least to the 6th century bc. chief among the main concepts are relaxation in movement, tranquility, proper body alignment, balance, and focus upon both breathing and chi (qi), the internal energy utilized in taijiquan.

a sister practice, chi kung (qigong), or “skill in working with energy”, utilizes the same principles and movement techniques as taijiquan. an emphasis upon health benefits, breathing, energy flow and posture characterize qigong. although there are some qigong styles that include martial applications, qigong is usually practiced in the west as a health exercise.

as for the practice of taiji in the west, it too is often focused solely upon health benefits, but an in-depth education in this art involves both martial and health applications. the benefits to be gained in this education start to appear quickly, but the study of the art can take a lifetime.

the t’ai chi master makes those complex movements appear easy.
tai chi chuan, also known as taijiquan, is translated to supreme ultimate fist which is a type of chinese martial art that was originally used the in imperial chinese military. it can also be used as a transitive verb as an action onto which one was beaten by tai-chi.
jet li, in tai-chi master, tai-chi’d the h-ll out of everyone.
ameri-chinese for “old man move slow”, this is practised daily by millions of chinese (and increasingly, old white people) who practice it as a low-impact cardiovascular activity. usually their forms are so sloppy you wouldn’t know if they were excercising or having a slow-motion convulsion. not to be confused with taiji quan, (translated: “supreme ultimate fist”) which is one of the most effective and difficult to master martial arts in the universe.
grandpa was doing tai chi in the park.
a combination of yoga and meditation which is popular amongst the chinese population. one of the body movements invloves extending both arms out from the chest (with openned palms)which looks like a ‘pushing’ motion. in urban terms, it means ‘pushing’, or more appropriately, delegating own work to others. it is often a negative expression to indicate that a person has been avoiding responsibility by asking others to do his/her job.
he manage to leave work at 5pm sharp everyday because he is very good at tai chi-ing his work.
a taichi is high chancely a r-t-rd from asia who knows nothing has a crush on a sl-t. rejected from society. don’t go near him
wanna find him. look at the window behind you. there u will find taichi.