Tai Chi class at George Mason University Dance Department 2010
Tai Chi Chuan, T’ai Chi Ch’üan or Taijiquan — literally “supreme ultimate fist”, commonly known as Tai Chi, T’ai Chi, or Taiji, is an internal Chinese martial art. There are different styles of T’ai Chi Ch’uan, but most schools can trace their development to the system originally taught by the Chen family to the Yang family starting in the early 1800′s.
Tai Chi is often promoted and practiced as a martial arts therapy or exercise for the purposes of health and longevity. The movements of Taiji are slow and gentle and therefore excellent practice for anyone with physical limitations. The movements can be taken to deeper and more challenging levels offering more strength and flexibility to those who desire more physical challenge as well.
T’ai Chi Ch’uan is considered a “soft style”, or internal, martial art — an art applied with as much deep relaxation or “softness” in the muscles as possible — to distinguish its theory and application from that of the hard, or external, martial art styles which use a degree of force in the muscles.
Variations of T’ai Chi Ch’uan’s basic training forms are well known as the slow motion routines that groups of people practice every morning in parks across China and other parts of the world. Traditional T’ai Chi training is intended to teach awareness of one’s own balance and what affects it, awareness of the same in others, an appreciation of the practical value in one’s ability to moderate extremes of behavior and attitude at both mental and physical levels, and how this applies to effective self-defense principles.
Taiji
Tai Chi class at George Mason University Dance Department 2010
Tai Chi is often promoted and practiced as a martial arts therapy or exercise for the purposes of health and longevity. The movements of Taiji are slow and gentle and therefore excellent practice for anyone with physical limitations. The movements can be taken to deeper and more challenging levels offering more strength and flexibility to those who desire more physical challenge as well.
T’ai Chi Ch’uan is considered a “soft style”, or internal, martial art — an art applied with as much deep relaxation or “softness” in the muscles as possible — to distinguish its theory and application from that of the hard, or external, martial art styles which use a degree of force in the muscles.
Variations of T’ai Chi Ch’uan’s basic training forms are well known as the slow motion routines that groups of people practice every morning in parks across China and other parts of the world. Traditional T’ai Chi training is intended to teach awareness of one’s own balance and what affects it, awareness of the same in others, an appreciation of the practical value in one’s ability to moderate extremes of behavior and attitude at both mental and physical levels, and how this applies to effective self-defense principles.
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