What is Taijiquan?

Everyone wonders, though few actually ask, what is Taijiquan? For many it's a mysterious exercise the elderly are sometimes spotted doing together in a park on those morning when most of us are safely tucked in our beds, warding off the inevitable alarm by just another 15 minutes. To state that Taijiquan is an exercise to promote health and longevity simplifies thing far too much to become aware of it's true value and potential. Let us take a few minutes to explore one of the most commonly under estimated and valuable arts available to us today.

Taijiquan is many things. Art, exercise, martial system, dance, ritual and more. To begin to understand Taijichuan we will first break down the name into something less exotic and more descriptive than a word in a foreign tongue.

Tai - Ultimate, Great, Vast, All; the idea of Tai is that of a force that is so large, old and primal that is inhabits everything and encompasses everything. Literally it means "Ultimate" or "Total", but these are only approximations for our language.

Ji(or Chi) - Breath, Life, Energy; the concept of Ji is even slipper than Tai is as important to understanding Taijiquan than as it is difficult to understand in itself. Literally "Breath" or "Energy" is the common translation of the term, but again this is a gross synonym at best. Ji is better explained as "a force that can only be observed by the effect it has in or on visible matter". This means that Ji is as much wind and electricity as life and breath. For our purposes Ji relates to the general idea of existence itself.

Quan(or Chuan) - Dance, Fist, Ritual, Art; in Quan we have a concept that has a deep history in the social and religious communities of a very ancient country. Commonly the term loosely means "fighting style" in context, but Quan is much deeper and broader of an idea. Once upon a time it was village life that dominated the civilizations of the orient and as a part of village life came a certain village pride. To demonstrate the power and pride of the local community groups would travel from village to village spreading their regional religious beliefs local arts. This behavior was essential for refreshing commerce, social ties and even mutual defense between villages. As part of these travels small festivals were held and martial styles were demonstrated by the visiting party, along with music, dance, circus and theater. This is the root of Quan - the traditional ritual demonstrations that showed a village's prowess and value.

Combining these terms we have the following equation: All + Energy + Dance = Taijiquan.

That, at it's most basic, is what we are discussing. In this blog I will explore openly the quirks, magic, and mystery of the "Supreme Ultimate Fist" and it's various benefits that can be won through hard work, diligent practice, a little faith and a good dose of humor. What is Taijiquan? I never did really answer that question.

Perhaps I don't really know myself. That's the funny thing about the Way: "The Tao that can be explained is not the Tao."

Some questions just don't have good answer. Usually the best ones are like that.