“Tai chi chuan”- often abbreviated as “tai chi” – is an intensive, meditative, internal Chinese exercise. At its original core, it is a martial arts practice, but is nowadays mostly practiced and taught in a manner that strengthens and promotes the mind/body health of its dedicated practitioners.
Though lots of folks – several millions – practice it around the globe, most don’t even know what the term means. And those that believe they know the translation will offer the popular canned response, “Grand Ultimate Fist.” Ask those same folks what exactly that means and you’ll probably be met with silence and a blank stare.
Let’s first consider what the “tai chi” part means. To understand that, you first have to understand that it is a term from Taoist philosophy. Taoism is the spiritual, nature-based ancient philosophy native to China. The Taoists sought to understand reality and how they were a part of it and its natural laws. The Taoists explained that before the universe came into existence, everything (nothing!) was in a state of “wu chi.” Once you understand the concept of “wu chi” you will instantly have a deeper understanding of what “tai chi” means. “Wu chi” means “no polarity.” In essence, it is the nameless, incomprehensible state of void or nothingness. If there is nothing, then no differentiation can exist. It’s somewhat the non-existence of nothingness… space… void… When there was a “change” in the state of wu chi, then there was a differentiation – the original wu chi part, and, the changing part. That state of differentiation is a phase called “tai chi.” It means “great polarity.” The opposite poles on the continuum of this polarity are referred to as yin and yang. Just like plus and minus, or north and south – these opposites only each exist because of the existence of the other. The Taoists say that the existence of yin and yang (born from the state of tai chi) give rise to all things and processes in the universe.
So what does “chuan” mean? Simply put, it means “fist.” It implies the martial arts practice and discipline of something. For example, in Chinese kung fu, there is a practice of “bai he chuan.” “bai he” means “white crane.” So, bai he chuan is the marital arts practice of the way that cranes (and similar birds) fight. But it is more than that – it’s also about the cranes’ strategies, how they think, how they move, how they survive… Now, in the case of “tai chi chuan,” it means the martial practice of the state of “tai chi” (the change from no polarity to great polarity). That is why tai chi chuan delves into a serious study of the balance of yin and yang – physically, mentally and spiritually. The goal is to understand this balance in yourself and to be able to manifest a change in your balance of yin and yang. Then, if desired, you can extend that study out to martially affect an opponent. Yet, the martial arts need not always be expressed as outright sparring. The same principles can be used to affect the balance of yin and yang in anything outside of your body – this includes: your lifestyle, your working environment, your opportunities, and so on.
And if you really want to write it properly, it should be written as “taijiquan.” Just type that into your internet searches and THOUSANDS more search items will pop up for you! Taijiquan is the way it’s written in China when people transliterate the glyphic-looking Chinese language into our Latin alphabet (like what we use in the English language). THAT method of transliterating Chinese written characters into our alphabet is known as “pinyin romanization.” Why is that so important? Because that is what all of China now uses. It’s what all universities now teach when you learn Chinese, and it’s what all Chinese dictionaries use. Next time you go to a bookstore, pick out a Chinese-English dictionary and see for yourself. All ancient Chinese documents are also transliterated into pinyin when translated into a foreign language. It’s what all high-level Taoist scholars and researchers use. Writing it as “tai chi chuan” is the outdated Wade-Giles romanization which is slowly falling out of use around the world. Wu chi is also better written as “wuji” and Taoism is now being written as “Daoism.” If you use the pinyin way of spelling when you do internet searches about tai chi (taiji) and Taoism (Daoism) you will have have access to far higher quality material.
