What is Tai Chi ?
Tai literally
means 'Supreme' or 'Big', Chi here means 'Ultimate' or 'Best' while the
character Chuan denotes a fist.
A very crude translation of the whole phrase might be 'Supreme Ultimate Fist'.
Actually, tai chi/supreme
ultimate refers to an old Chinese philosophical concept regarding the creation
of the universe. Briefly, this was that out of chaos and nothingness, an event
- tai chi - gave rise to yin and yang, the complementary opposites which make
up the world in varying amounts. Yin alludes to softness, female, darkness,
earth, while yang alludes to hardness, male and brightness and heaven. In the
place or state of tai chi, the two co-exist, not in opposition, but in balanced
harmony, dynamically cycling from one to the other.
The fist character denotes that this is a martial art or exercise system that
founded upon the tai chi concept.
But tai chi chuan
is more than a martial art. Just as some people work out by doing boxercise
or tae-bo, but never want to get in the ring, wu style tai chi allows you to
learn internal technology that can greatly benefit your health without having
to be a martial artist.
The principle of tai chi practice is to be able to change from yin to yang in
a fluid relaxed manner.
What
is a 'Wu style'?
A 'Wu' is a person's name, not a thing.
Wu Chien Chuan is the name of the person who created and founded this tai chi
style. His own father was a top student of Yang Lu Chan, the man who first taught
tai chi publicly in 19th century China.
His style is characterised by smaller stances than the more commonly known Yang
style of tai chi chuan. This places less physical demands on the body and is
a very useful style for those recovering from injury.
For more info on this style, with picture of the founders, see this page on Frank Allen's web-site, the Wu Tang PCA.