About Taijiquan
 |
Taijiquan is often shortened to "taiji," which means “great polarities of yin and yang.” The “quan” refers to “boxing.” Thus, “taijiquan” can be translated as “the grand ultimate boxing” or “the great polarities boxing.” Due to the complexity and the difficulty of translating the Chinese language, sometimes taijiquan is written as “tai chi chuan,” “tai chi,” or more rarely as “t’ai-chi ch’uan.”
|
|
For most of its long history, taijiquan was passed down through families. Moreover, each family had their own spin on how to practice the concepts of taijiquan. As a result, these different methods became identifiable to a particular family and were given the surnames of their founders. Thus, today we have Chen Taijiquan, Yang Taijiquan, Hao Taijiquan, etc...
|
 |
Typically, the movements in the art of Taijiquan are soft and subtle and are done in coordination with focused breathing. Though Taijiquan was created to function as a devastating martial art...currently schools often emphasize its numerous health aspects or powerful meditative capabilities—often not having ranks, sparring, or competitions. In short, Taijiquan is a complete system of healing, martial arts, and meditation. Most importantly, it is accessible to anyone; regardless of gender, age or differing abilities.
