Of Combat Tai Chi!
- A Crazy Little Bird Told Me
- Apr 18
- 6 min read
Well, this one was an unexpected topic if ever there was one, a little golden nugget handed over by a friend (you know who you are!) who thought my Rabbit Hole Syndrome needed feeding. Therefore, today we will be talking about combat Tai Chi, because yes, there is such a thing!
Buckle up, Buckaroo, this is going to be a long one!
What is Tai Chi?
I naively thought that question would be easy to answer. Oh man, was I wrong!
The way we think of Tai Chi in the Western World seems to be relatively consistent (and simplified!):
a gentle, low impact activity, with slow and flowing motion movement and focusing on deep, slow breaths as in some kinds of meditation. Well, it is and it isn’t!
Little side note: Tai chi was included in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020.
How old is the term Tai Chi?
This question is once again not as easy to answer as one would think.
The term Tai Chi was first translated in English using the Wade-Giles system (a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese established in the 19th century) as "tʻai chi chʻüan". When China adopted the pinyin system (Chinese Phonetic Alphabet) in the 1950s, Tai Chi was spelled as taijiquan (tàijíquán).
I couldn’t get a clear answer on whether there was a specific term for this art before that. This means, the term itself seems pretty recent, and so is the form of Tai Chi that we know today. That being said the principles at its foundation are much older.
What are the foundations of Tai Chi?
There are many different styles and schools, even though they all seem to follow the same key principles:
· The Mind Commands the Body Movement
· Moving with Calming and Gentle Force
· Moving with Synchronizing and Harmony
· Circular Motion and Rounded Posture
· Flow and Continuality
If it is not clear enough, think of the TV show Kung Fu. Yes people, I am referring to the 1970s show. And for the younger people, no there was no dinosaurs in the 1970s, it is not that old!
Those principles, while being the base of Tai Chi, are not enough on their own to define it. This art was further developed and organised, and most modern styles trace their development to the five traditional schools named for the Chinese families who originated them:
· Chen style of Chen Wangting (1580–1660)
· Yang style of Yang Luchan (1799–1872)
· Wu/Hao style of Wu Yuxiang (1812–1880) and Hao Weizhen (1842–1920)
· Wu style of Wu Quanyou (1834–1902) and his son Wu Jianquan (1870–1942)
· Sun style of Sun Lutang (1861–1932)
Once again, you can see that those schools are all relatively recent, but yet again the conceptual background of Tai Chi is much older and rooted in ancient Chinese philosophy, particularly Taoist (an enigmatic process of transformation ultimately underlying reality, using things such as meditation, astrology, qigong, feng shui, and internal alchemy to practice self-cultivation and a harmonious existence) and Confucian (virtue through self-cultivation and communal effort, centred around benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and sincerity) thought. Early Tai Chi sources are also grounded in Taiji cosmology (cosmological state of the universe and its affairs on all levels, including concepts such as the two opposing forces of yin and yang, the Three Treasures, the four cardinal directions, and the Five Elements).
Somehow, I don’t know if it makes it all clearer or achieve rather the opposite, but hang in there!
Tai Chi's formative influences came from practices undertaken in Taoist and Buddhist monasteries, such as Wudang Mountains (Taoist counterpart to the Shaolin Monastery; one of the "Four Sacred Mountains of Taoism" in China, the monasteries such as the Wudang Garden were made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994) or Shaolin Temple (birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the cradle of Shaolin kung fu; according to legend, Bodhidharma, the 28th patriarch of Mahayana Buddhism in India, arrived at the Shaolin Temple in 527 and is honoured as the first patriarch of Chan Buddhism).
We are getting back in time as you can see but we can go a little further as freehand exercise to promote health was practiced in China as early as the 3rd century.
The practice of Tai Chi was then spread globally with Chinese emigrants in the 20th and 21st centuries. Choy Hok Pang, a disciple of Yang Chengfu, was the first known proponent of Tai Chi to openly teach in the United States, beginning in 1939 and his son and student Choy Kam Man emigrated to San Francisco from Hong Kong in 1949 to teach Tai Chi in Chinatown, and he did so until his death in 1994.
Sophia Delza, a professional dancer and student of Ma Yueliang, performed the first known public demonstration of Tai Chi in the United States at the New York City Museum of Modern Art in 1954.
Norwegian Pytt Geddes was the first European to teach Tai Chi in Britain, holding classes at The Place in London in the early 1960s.
How should we summarise this? Well, Tai Chi is kind of old but not really, but kind of a little. The philosophy and foundations are rooted in ancient Chinese wisdom and philosophy, while the modern and organised form is barely 500 years old.
Are you getting as confused as I am already? Let’s add to that combat Tai Chi, just coz we can! I warned you to buckle up, didn’t I?
Is there such a thing as Combat Tai Chi?
The short answer is yes there is, and it is known as Tai Chi Quan or Tai Chi Chuan (Chuan means Fist), and it is a much broader topic than one would think!
While Tai Chi is all I described above (and probably a lot more that I do not understand!), it is also a moving meditation that allows the practitioner to let go of the self and experience no-mind (wuxin) and spontaneity (ziran), with traditional schools emphasising the need to show wude ("martial virtue/heroism"), to protect the defenceless, and to show mercy to one's opponents.
In order to be a protector, you can’t always turn the other cheek, and you sometimes need to take affirmative action. That being said, Tai Chi Quan prioritise harmony and conflict avoidance whenever possible.
This is where Tai Chi becomes more than simply this slow-motion exercise we are used to see, and move toward secondary faster-paced forms. It is a complete martial art system with a full range of bare-hand movement sets and weapon forms, such as the jian (straight double-edged sword), dao (curved sword), qiang (2-meter-long spear), tieshan (folding fan) or gun (2-meter-long wooden staff).
In case you think that the weapons mentioned above are too “vanilla”, there are many more exotic and delightful-sounding ones such as:
· the large dadao and podao sabres;
· the ji, or halberd;
· the sheng biao, or rope dart;
· the sanjiegun, or three sectional staff;
· the feng huo lun, or wind-and-fire wheels;
· the lasso;
· the whip, chain whip and steel whip.
Fighting with Tai Chi involves training in techniques like strikes, kicks, joint locks, throws, and grappling, executed with precision, timing, and fluidity. It also involves cultivating internal energy (Qi – life force energy) through the practice of specific breathing techniques and visualization, to enhance and add a deeper level of effectiveness to combat techniques.
So, will you ask, what should you get out of this article?
First that Tai Chi is one practice resulting from ancient tradition, intended to be used to develop mental and physical balance. It can be done at all ages, it is for all genders, all abilities and what you learn there, with enough commitment and practice, can be used for self-defence and protection if needed. For the latter, channel your inner Kwai Chang Caine (if you don’t know who that is, watch Kung Fu. No, not the one with the panda!!). Disclaimer though, as for everything in life, practice is key!
Last note, to the friend who kindly pointed me in that direction, I found no mention of secret deadly toe wiggle move unfortunately, but I will keep looking!
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