Is it "Tai Chi", "T'ai Chi," "Taijiquan," "Taiji," "T'ai Chi Chuan," "Tai Qi," or . . . WHAT!

©PT Richard

So what's the story behind all these spellings? Why so many pronounciations? Good question, long answer: Taijiquan is the original term originating out of the timeless void around the mid-1800s when it was first used. Taijiquan translates (as close as you can get from Chinese to English) as "Supreme Ultimate Fist." The "q" in Taijiquan is actually pronounced at "ch" as in tai chi chuan, which itself is just a spelling thing.

The "q" spelling that is pronounced "ch" comes from Pinyin, which is a method devised post WWII to translate Chinese characters to a recognizable phonetic system that the western world could understand. Pinyin is the most commonly used system nowadays and will probably stay that way.

The "T'ai chi" with the apostrophe is an older system (Wade Giles) that is rarely used anymore except by people who have been using for a long time already.

The "chi" and "ji" are somewhat misleading, because while "ji" means "ultimate" as in supreme ultimate fist, "chi" means "energy" as in Qigong which means "energy cultivation."

Taijiquan or taiji are the most closely associated with the original words, so I like to use them. However, Tai Chi is becoming the most used and most recognizable spelling and pronounciation here in the US. I also differentiate between taijiquan the martial art and tai chi practiced for health and well-being. It puts the historical use and the more contemporary evolution and application pretty well.

So now you know the story behind the spelling and what the heck is going on with "Tai Chi", "T'ai Chi," "Taijiquan," "Taiji," "Tai Chi Chuan," "Tai Qi," or . . . WHAT!