Taijiquan

Taijiquan, or Taiji in short, which become Tai Chi in a different transliteration, is originally a Chinese martial art. Yet, many people today look for Tai Chi not for the enhancement of their self-defense capabilities, and rightfully so. First, because a traditional martial art and street level self-defense are two very different realms, secondly because they recognise that they need more control on their energetic system, both for their body, mind and spirit health, and they are correctly driven to believe that Tai Chi can help them achieving this.

Taiji principles and Taiji Form

Taijiquan is today widely known for the sequence of slow movements generally called Form (or “routine”). Practitioners correctly believe that by learning the complex set of movements and performing them in a relax, slow and focused way, they can act positively on their energetic system. The flip side of this is that learning the very complex set can take time, months and in some cases years, while if the practitioner is trained upon the principles guiding the Taiji process, she/he can be placed in a position to first practice the principles and then learning how those can be infused in the Form. Actually, the Taiji Form constitutes only a fraction of a traditional Taijiquan curriculum, while shorter and more intense exercises have an equal dignity place.