What
is Taijiquan and Qigong?
Both tai chi and qigong have been practiced for centuries, originally
by Chinese monks for defense, meditation and health therapy, and most
recently increasingly practiced by people throughout the world almost
exclusively for the healthful effects they generate. You probably have
an idea already from the news or from seeing people practicing in parks
in so many cities around the world.
Tai chi, or taijiquan (tie chee chuan) has been practiced in China in some fashion since as far back as 1154 when legend says the Daoist monk Zhang Sanfeng witnessed a battle between a crane and a snake. Later, he dreamed of a new fighting method encompassing "secrets" of balance and power.
Then in the 1800s, after some 600 years of evolving into a few distinct styles mastered and kept secret by a few family lineages, practitioners began teaching others beyond the few families that had carried them down through the generations from master to student, usually father or grandfather to son or grandson or nephew, etc.
A now-famous taijiquan teacher, Chen Man-Ching, fostered tai chi practice after he immigrated to the US around 1936. He spent his life teaching and bringing attention to his art. It wasn't until after the end of the Cultural Revolution in China around the end of the 1970s that interest in taijiquan and qigong took off in the West.
There is more to tai chi than is commonly known. For one thing, tai chi is an "internal" martial art, as opposed to "external" martial art styles, such as karate or tae kwon do. Internal means essentially using your energy to move rather than initiating movement with muscles. Think of it as an exercise that has benefits like other exercises, but with advantages that other exercises don't offer. Taijiquan's closest English translation is "supreme ultimate fist." The name refers in part to the goal of continually perfecting the moves and postures that make up the form. Being "internal" exercises, both are perfomed with mindful intention as opposed to mindless repetition.
Qigong (chee gong) means "energy cultivation" or "work", or "training," in which you consciously stimulate your life force, or energy (qi or chi), to make it available to you for whatever purposes you want to put it to. It is often described as a regulation of body, mind, and breath. The slow meditative, repetitive movements stimulate blood circulation, a more stable posture, improved balance, and mysteriously generate feelings of well-being. The qigong set known as the Eight Pieces of Brocade was developed many centuries ago and is taught in Fundamentals of Taiqiquan.
Most people do both taijiquan and qigong, because both are based on the same principles. Each works on three levels of activity: the physical, the energetic, and the spiritual (shen) levels of your being. You can focus your attention (mind intention) on either, or all, of these three while performing the moves and postures. At first, it's awkward to focus the mind (yi) beyond the physical. There is so much in the physical alone to focus on; plus, focusing on the other two levels is an evolution of understanding that takes time for most of us.
Excerpt from www.chinafrominside.com on what is taiji.
Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan) is without doubt the most popular of all internal styles in the West. The name "Taiji" is often translated as "Great Ultimate" and according to Chinese cosmology refers to the state of the universe from which Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang are born. The theory of the style is based on this dialectics and uses pairs of contradictory but at the same time complimentary terms like "solid-empty", "hard-soft", "open-close", etc.
There are two theories concerning the origins of Taijiquan: one derives the style from Zhang Sanfeng, legendary Taoist hermit from Wudang Mountains. According to the other the art was developed by Chen clan from Chenjiagou village in 17th century in central China's Henan province. Lack of convincing arguments leads to never ending disputes between followers of both sides.
The art of Taijiquan is divided into five main branches. Chen style is based on "silk reeling energy" and is known for using many fast movements and obvious power. Yang style was created by Yang "the Invincible" Luchan and is the most popular of all branches. It is characterized by slow, flowing movements. Wu (Yuxiang) style is often called "scholar's style" and uses small, compact movements. Wu (Jianquan) style is based on small frame Yang style. Sun style combines Xingyi and Bagua movements using Taijiquan frame. There is also a style popular in Zhaobao village by some considered an off-shoot of Chen style.
The main feature of Taijiquan are its slow, relaxed, linked movements. Apart from standing and routine practice, one should engage in Pushing Hands - exercises with partner that not only allow to correct all errors within one's own frame, learn all basic "strengths" of Taijiquan, but also the ability to almost effortlessly defeat the opponent by using softness against hardness according to principle "to overcome the power of 1000 pounds with a power of four ounces."