What is Tai Chi Chuan?
Most people think of the slow sequence of movements known as the
hand form when they think of Tai Chi Chuan. However, there is
much more to it than this: it is a Chinese martial art, and a complete
system provides a comprehensive method of self-defence as well as an
excellent method for maintaining health.
These pages present the art of Tai Chi Chuan as seen from the perspective of Wudang Tai Chi.
What Does the Name Mean?
The Chinese characters for Tai Chi Chuan are shown on the right.
The first character is "tai"; the literal meaning of this word is "extreme" or "great". The second character is "chi" whose meaning is best taken to be "pole", as in "an extreme point". Thus, the phrase "tai chi" is translated as "great pole".
This phrase is a reference to the fundamental polarity of yin and
yang, as represented in the well-known symbol shown on the left. Yin
and yang represent the basic pair of complementary forces in the
universe: yielding and firm, empty and full.
The third character is "chuan"; literally, "fist". Within the context of Chinese martial arts it is used to mean a style of fighting.
The name "Tai Chi Chuan" may, then, best be translated as "the style of fighting based on the principles of yin and yang".
Note that the character for "chi" in "Tai Chi Chuan" is not to be
confused with a different word, also written "chi" in the Wade-Giles
system (see Romanized Chinese Names below), which is
used in the term "chi kung". "Chi" in that context means "breath" or
"energy", and its character is shown on the left.
Internal and External Systems
The Chinese term here is "neijia" meaning "internal family" of martial arts. These are distinguished from "weijia" or "external family" of martial arts. The distinction may be made as follows: a system is internal if it does not rely on speed and muscular strength for the effectiveness of its self-defence applications. Instead, power is transmitted through the co-ordinated movement of the whole body connected to the ground.
In reality, there is not a hard and fast distinction between the two types of system. Rather, a spectrum exists with some arts emphasising different aspects. Much could, and has been, said about this and it is a contentious issue, but really there is no substitute for first-hand experience.
Other Chinese internal martial arts closely related to Tai Chi Chuan are Hsing I Chuan (literally "Form and Mind Boxing") and Pa Kua Chang (literally "Eight Diagram Palm"). The Japanese art of Aikido is also an internal system and shares many principles with Tai Chi.
Romanization of Chinese Names
There are two main systems of rendering Chinese characters in the Roman alphabet. The oldest, and probably still the most wide-spread in the west, is the Wade-Giles system. The newest system, and the one favoured by the Chinese government, is the Pinyin system. The two systems give quite different representations for the same words, and this can be quite confusing. The following table shows a comparison for some common terms encountered in the martial arts.
| Wade-Giles | Pinyin |
|---|---|
| Tai chi chuan | Taijiquan |
| Hsing i chuan | Xingyiquan |
| Pa kua chang | Baguazhang |
| Kung fu | Gongfu |
| Chi kung | Qigong |
Strictly, the Wade-Giles system makes extensive use of apostrophes to indicate pronunciation stress. So it should properly be written as t'ai chi ch'uan. Also, the Pinyin system uses accents to indicate tone, and it should properly be written as tài jí quán. On this site we use the Wade-Giles system with the apostrophes omitted for simplicity, as this is the most familiar transcription for westerners.
