A reader's guide

Do Tai Chi

Slow, round, deliberate movement that began as a way of fighting and became, for most of the people who practise it today, a way of keeping the body supple and the mind settled. This guide is about the traditional art behind that movement, and about how to learn it well.

The full Chinese name, t'ai chi ch'uan, ends in a word for boxing or fist, and that last syllable is a reminder that the art was built for self-defence long before anyone thought of it as gentle exercise. Wikipedia's article on tai chi describes it as a Chinese martial art that most practitioners now treat as exercise, relaxation and sport, practised in set sequences called forms, and traced by most modern styles to a handful of traditional family schools: Chen, Yang, Wu (Hao), Wu and Sun.

What a newcomer sees is the solo form: a long, continuous sequence of postures performed slowly, weight flowing from one leg to the other, arms moving in arcs that never quite straighten. What a newcomer does not see at first is everything the form is meant to carry. Each posture has a use against an opponent. Partner exercises such as pushing hands test whether the softness is real or only looks soft. Weapons forms with sword, sabre, staff and spear extend the same body mechanics out to the tip of a blade. Standing and breathing exercises, grouped under the name qigong, sit alongside the whole curriculum.

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health sums the practice up as slow, gentle movements and postures combined with a meditative state of mind and controlled breathing, and notes that an art which began as a martial practice has become more focused on health promotion and rehabilitation over the years. Both halves of that story matter. This guide treats t'ai chi ch'uan as a living martial tradition with a long history and a great deal of practical wisdom about balance, posture and patience, and it treats the health research carefully: what was studied, in whom, and what was found, without promises.

What you will find here

The pages below are grouped the way a student's questions tend to arrive. Start here covers what a first class involves and the questions almost everyone asks. History and styles separates the legends from the documented history, explains how the family styles differ, and looks closely at the traditional Yang lineage, including the symmetrical form associated with Tchoung Ta-tchen and the Kuang Ping branch. Practice is about the long middle of learning: progressing through a form, working with a partner, choosing a teacher, and meeting other practitioners. Weapons covers the straight sword, the sabre and the training tools that follow them. Related arts introduces the two other classic internal arts, baguazhang and xingyiquan, and the breathing practices of qigong. Health sets out what research on t'ai chi has looked at, including balance, the heart and the knees, in plain and modest terms.

Do Tai Chi is an independent reference. It is not affiliated with the Northwest T'ai Chi Ch'uan Association, the Chinese Tai Chi Chuan Association or any school, teacher or college. Current class information for the association's Southern California chapter is published at taichifist.com.

Every page is written for adult learners, whether you are thinking about a first class or have practised for decades. Where a page relies on an outside source, the source is named in the text and linked, so that you can read it for yourself.