About Tai Chi Ch'uan

It's important to remember that Tai Chi Ch’uan is now famous primarily because, at one time, it was the most formidable martial art in China. Yang Lu Chan was named the instructor to the Imperial family because of his incredible fighting skill.

However, we must remember that China's rulers at the time were Manchu's from the North. The Chinese thought of them as invaders and outsiders. Being deeply patriotic, Yang did not want to give his art to the Manchu's, and still an Emperor's direct request is dangerous to deny. So Yang created a modified Yang Style, similar in posture to the Chen family's style, but leaving out many parts of his personal style. One style kept within the family and the other open to the public. (Yang Jia Mi Chuan, aka, the Yang Family Hidden Tradition.) There are various arguments as to which form is good for combat and which is better for generating ch'i. But the important thing to remember is that the core of Tai Chi Ch'uan is a breakthrough system of martial arts.

More recently, Tai Chi has been relegated to an "ancient Chinese discipline" that integrates mind, body and spirit. Moving meditation. Dynamic breathwork. The therapeutic benefits include reducing stress, promoting balance and flexibility, and even easing arthritis pain. And you know, this is a good thing, considering the insanity of this modern world - so keen on tazers and handguns and mace. Thus, the heart of Tai Chi Ch'uan is the fact that it embodies the complex and non-linear tenets of Taoist Philosophy. By doing Tai Chi, it makes it easier for you to be "one with the Tao".

For me, after 20 years of doing Tai Chi and other internal martial arts, it gets hard to talk about it, because it simply becomes a way of being. For me, to breathe is to be doing Tai Chi.