Presented by HUYNH Van Tuan

PREFACE

Taichi is one of the most popular martial arts in the world. According to the latest figures published, there are about 100 million practitioners, the vast majority of whom are in China. The Taichi developed so much and its progression comes from the fact that it is a gentle practice that suits the greatest number and is even recommended by doctors (beneficial on: body balance, blood circulation, sleep disorders, stress and blood pressure).

On the internet, you can find thousands of articles, videos and photos on Taichi. But most of the time, it’s more commercial than teaching. It’s almost impossible to learn Taichi by following the videos. Too many small details hidden for doing well on this martial arts.

I will try to share with you, step by step, all the details and hoping this will help in your daily practice.

The History of Taichi

From the very origins of Taoism in the sixth century BC, sages like Lao Tsu wrote:

Yield and Overcome;
Bend and be straight

and

He who stands of tiptoe is not steady.
He who strides cannot maintain the pace.

In this and in the entire tenor of his writings Lao Tsu reflects the central philosophical underpinnings of Tai Chi Chuan.

Later, in 220 to 265 AD, a physician Hua-Tuo who relied not only on medicine but also taught the ‘movements of the five creatures’ : Tiger, Deer, Bear, Ape and Birds, a system he called Wu-chi chih hsi.

He believed that the body needed to be regularly exercised to help with digestion and circulation and only by doing so could a long and healthy live be achieved. His teaching, and its connection with the movements of animals, is probably the earliest pre-cursor of Tai Chi.

In the eighth century AD (the Tang dynasty) philosophers like Hsu Hsuan-Ping developed a ‘Long Kung-fu of 37 forms.

Of these certain ones such as:

· Play the Pi’pa

· Single Whip

· Step up to Seven Stars

· Jade Lady Works the Shuttles,

· High Pat on Horse; and

· White Crane (originally Phoenix) Cools Wing

These movements are still survive in the contemporary Tai Chi form.

A. The Application of Tai Chi

Tai Chi is considered a soft martial arts style.

In Mandarin, the term tai chi chuan translates to supreme ultimate fist.

The art was influenced by the melding of Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian philosophies, along with its legendarily Tao, ‘Yin breathing exercises’.

B. The Founder of Tai Chi:

Chang San-feng (1391- 1459) to whom have been ascribed various dates and longevity’s.

He used the notion of Yin-Yang from Taoism and stressing the ‘internal force’ as aspects of his exercises. He is credited with creating the fundamental ‘Thirteen Postures’ of Tai Chi corresponding to the eight basic trigrams of the Ching and the five elements.

His eight ‘postures’ are:

1. ward-off

2. rollback

3. press

4. push

5. pull

6. split

7. elbow strike; and

8. shoulder strike

His five ‘elements’ are:

1. advance

2. retreat

3. look left

4. gaze right; and

5. central equilibrium.

His exercises stressed suppleness and elasticity. Its were opposed to hardness and force. They incorporated philosophy, physiology, psychology, geometry and the laws of dynamics.

Later on, theses theories & practices were elaborated by Wang Chung-Yueh & his student Chiang Fa.

Wang took the thirteen postures (8 postures + 5 attitudes) of Chang San-Feng and linked them together into continuous sequences, thus creating something which resembles the contemporary Tai Chi form.

What we do know for sure is that the Chen style of tai chi was the FIRST of the major styles.

Chen Wangting, a 9^th generation Chen, is given credit for its beginnings. From there, many different branches of tai chi began to form, and this growth continues even today:

1. the New Frame Style of Chen Tai Chi.

2. The Yang Style of Tai Chi.

3. The Old Frame Style of Chen Tai Chi.

4. The Wu Style of Tai Chi.

5. The Zhao Bao Style of Tai Chi.

6. The Hu Lei Style of Tai Chi.

7. The Wu Shi Style (or Hao Style) of Tai Chi Chuan.

8. Another new style Sun Style

C. Characteristics of Tai Chi

Tai Chi is a soft martial arts style, it focuses more on internal power ( .氣功 ). Though many of these forms are slow moving, others are executed at a quickened pace.

Tai Chi is an art that stresses leverage and a lack of muscular tension. It teaches practitioners to use an attackers’ aggression and force against them, rather than meeting it head on.

** Proper breathing is also a major piece to the training..

** Meaning of Yang & Ying:

Yang (the sun) = man, strong, out-force, pushing forward,..........Breath Out....

Ying(the moon) = woman, soft, in-force, retract, dragging, water.......Breath In.....

D. Basic goal of Taichi: health and meditation.

Health: learning tai chi serves as a body practice and advancement as an energy practice. So in practicing tai chi for spiritual pursuits, it always starts with the body—making you incredibly healthy down to the cellular level.

Meditation: its teachings help to deal with stress more effectively and how to calm the body and mind when stressed.

In addition, the physical movements can be used to defend oneself in combat and are designed not to meet force with force, as it is believed that injury will occur from this. Rather, training involves deflecting or redirecting the intentions of the attacker.

E. Definition of Taichi: it is a Meditation in Movements

When we practice Taichi, we try to synchronize at the same time, the following 3 things = Mind (Shen), Energy (Qi) & Body (Jing)

1- Mind (Xễm, 精神)

Before starting the practice, one must regain calmness of mind. Then we focus on breathing and finally, be fully aware of what we do throughout the practice which is the center of your consciousness.

That is the place where thoughts and images come from, before they reach the conscious level.

Mind’s sphere involves the arts and sciences of meditation, which originally generated the first two levels of body and energy. It tells your body and the qi : when and how to move, or where to go & what posture.

2- Energy (Qi .氣功 )

This is where many of the “secrets” are hidden in Tai chi and for which some person trains arduously over years to achieve and master.

This inside energy can produce extraordinary healing and provides the gateway to human intuitive or psychic capacities.

During the exercise, one must have a slow and long breathing (you count 1-1-2) =

1 time to inhale / 1 time to block breathing / 2 times to exhale (example : 4 second to inhale, 4 sec to block & 8 sec. to exhale).

The number of seconds will depend on the performance of each person. The more you practice, the longer the duration of each breath will be slow and long. There are no maximum nor minimum (normal person can do from 3 sec to 15 sec.).

3- Body (Sún thỉ, 身体 )

The physical body is the container through which your energy and spirit flow. This is the physical approach to health, longevity and optimum performance.

Through Tai chi, you learn how to control the body and go down to its most subtle aspects.

By moving the body, we get a massage from all our internal organs.

Tai chi is as complex as the greatest symphony. At its most advanced stages, the body, mind and spiritual components blend into a UNIFED whole that lead you to experiencing the Tao Body. The following logo represents the synchronisation of : Mind, Energy & Body.