What Is Tai Chi, etc?

Tai Chi, etc is all about Taijiquan, Qigong, Meditation, and Qigong Therapy/Healing.

But what Is Tai Chi?

Tai chi is actually the name of the yin-yang philosophy, on which many volumes have been written.  On the other hand, the 'Tai Chi' that many people around the world learn and practice (including me!) is a traditional Chinese martial art, more correctly called 'Taijiquan' or  'Tai chi chuan' - both transliterations being of the same Chinese name. People tend to just call it 'Taiji' (Tai Chi), however, the 'quan' ('chuan') part is important: it means boxing or martial art, which is what Taijiquan is, and it differentiates Taijiquan from the philosophy.

When Taijiquan was first brought to the West (by Cheng Man Ching), its common English translation was 'Grand Ultimate Fist' - the 'Fist' part coming from 'quan', and 'Grand Ultimate' coming from 'Taiji'.  However, while this perhaps satisfies the need for a name, it doesn't really provide an effective translation.  We have already seen that 'quan' actually means boxing/martial art, whereas, the use of the term 'Taiji' is making reference to the philosophy, because the Taiji philosophy was traditionally used in the teaching of Taijiquan.

As a philosophy, Taiji actually refers to 'the universe and everything in it'. So, a direct translation of Taijiquan would be: 'the universe and everything in it boxing', which does not quite roll off the tongue so well, but in any case, it gives us little clue about what Taijiquan really is.  In the end, it is better just to refer to it as 'Taijiquan'.

Perhaps a more useful and informative translation of 'Taiji' might be: 'unlimited size', as this refers to a fundamental principle of Taijiquan: expansion. On the physical level, expansion is the practice of stretching and expanding your joints, and creating space between them. Practitioners begin their studies by focusing on expanding the biggest joints: hips, shoulders, and spines.

We find that muscles around these joints are prone to a lot of physical tension, due to lifestyle habits, negative emotions, and other forms of stress, which in turn cause the joints to contract, physically 'holding-in' the pain.  Later, we move-on to include the smaller joints such as in the fingers. By studying and practicing Taijiquan, we gradually improve our understanding of how we make physical expansion happen and how it feels. This is why studying Taijiquan provides relief from the physical effects of long term stress.

However, ‘expansion’ is a fundamental principle of Taijiquan for somewhat more profound reasons than this.

What is Qigong?

Qigong, on the other hand, refers to any exercises that work on the flow of 'Qi' within the body, for health (self-healing) and spiritual development.  The word was first coined many years ago in an obscure Chinese manuscript, and it was later popularised in the 1950s as a catch-all term for a wide range of exercise systems (old and new).  This includes rare exercise systems as well as the more well-known ones, suchas YiJin Jing daoyin and BaduanJin daoyin.  Arguably, Taijiquan solo practice can be considered as a Qigong as well - the 'expansion' facilitates the flow of 'Qi' within (and out of) the body.

The Qigong in Tai Chi etc classes is primarily the Taijiwuxigong system, with a sprinkling of exercises from the YiJin Jing and the E-Mei Shi Er Zhuang.  These systems work to support the Taiji 37 style Taijiquan that we teach (and vice versa).

 What about Meditation?

Within many of the more interesting and useful Qigong exercise systems, there is a strong element of Meditation.  Firstly, some of the deeper Qigong exercises involve deliberately shifting into a Meditational state as a part of the exercise.  Secondly, Meditational states can spontaneously 'emerge' for the practitioner as a result (and in the moment) of the Qigong exercises.  And thirdly, the later-stage exercises of some of the more profound Qigong systems are specific Meditation practices, which work on control and movement of Qi through the subtle body using mind, breath, sound, and internal movement (eg: Taijiwuxigong has 'Wuxi' Meditation and the E-Mei Shi Er Zhuang has 'Ming Zhi Zhuang' Meditation).

Qigong Therapy/Healing

After some years of practicing Taijiquan, Qigong, and Meditation, we can develop latent skills that can be used to help others to 'move their Qi' within their subtle bodies.  You will find that any good teacher will begin to do this with you after you become an established student of theirs.  However, this practice is also used as a complementary threapy, to help people who are too unwell to engage with Qigong exercises at all (and hence unable to begin the self-healing process unaided).

I offer one-to-one treatments using the Buqi system of Qigong Therapy.  I have used Buqi to support a number of people with various health issues, including somatic problems, spirit problems, eczema/asthma, depression, osteoarthritis, cancer treatment recovery, etc, often with marked improvements to quality of life.

Tai Chi etc

Taijiquan, Qigong, Qigong Therapy, and Meditation are actually all interrelated and inseperable.  So, this is why I call what I do 'Tai Chi etc'.