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About Do Tai Chi
Do Tai Chi is a reader's guide to traditional t'ai chi ch'uan and the arts that grew up beside it. It is written for adults who are curious about the art, about to start a class, or already years into practice and looking for a clear account of its history, principles and training.
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.
What the guide covers
The guide is organised around the questions students tend to ask, roughly in the order they ask them.
- Start here explains what happens in a first class and answers common questions.
- History and styles covers the legends and documented history of t'ai chi, the family styles and some of the traditional Yang-style lines, including the symmetrical Old Form and Kuang Ping.
- Practice covers progressing through a form, partner training, choosing a teacher and meeting other practitioners.
- Weapons covers the sword, the sabre and other training tools.
- Related arts introduces baguazhang, xingyiquan and qigong.
- Health describes what research on tai chi has looked at, carefully and without promises.
The full list is on the articles page, and the home page gives a guided overview.
How it is written
The guide treats t'ai chi as a traditional martial art with a long history and a living community of teachers, and it tries to describe that tradition fairly. Where legend and documented history differ, the pages say so. Where accounts are uncertain, they use cautious words such as "accounts say" rather than presenting a story as fact.
When a page relies on an outside source—an encyclopedia article, a government health page or a published study—the source is named in the text and linked, so that you can read it for yourself. Descriptions of research stay close to what the studies themselves report: who was studied, what was compared and what was found, including the limits the authors point out. The guide does not quote the classic texts at length; it explains their ideas in plain language instead.
What the guide is not
- It is not a school. Do Tai Chi teaches no classes and has no instructors. The pages on choosing a teacher and what to expect as a new student are meant to help you find good teaching in person.
- It is not a shop. It sells nothing: no classes, videos, books, uniforms or equipment, and it carries no advertising.
- It is not medical advice. The health pages give general information only. Anyone with a health condition, or who is pregnant, should talk with a health care provider before starting any new exercise.
- It is not a directory. Class times, venues and teachers change often, so the guide does not list them.
- It is not the voice of any lineage. Where it describes a particular teacher or style, it does so from published sources, not on anyone's behalf.
A note on names and spelling
Chinese terms appear in this guide in more than one romanisation. Older English books tend to use the Wade–Giles system (t'ai chi ch'uan, ch'i kung, pa-kua chang, hsing-i ch'uan), while newer ones use pinyin (taijiquan, qigong, baguazhang, xingyiquan). Both are correct; the guide uses whichever is most familiar in context, and often gives both. Wikipedia's article on tai chi explains how the everyday English name "tai chi" came from shortening the Wade–Giles form.
Using the guide
Read it in any order. Each page links to related pages in the text, so a question about the sword leads naturally to the sabre, and a question about balance leads to the knees. If you are new to t'ai chi, the best starting points are New to t'ai chi? and the frequently asked questions. If you have practised for years, the pages on the classics and progressing may be the most useful.
Corrections are welcome in the sense that matters most: if you practise and find that something here does not match what a good teacher shows you, trust the teacher in the room, and keep asking questions.
Above all, the guide is an invitation to practise. No page can replace a patient teacher and time spent moving slowly in a quiet place.