Page 17 - Simplifying T'ai Chi Rev3 2017

Chapter 1 The Art of T'ai Chi 9

Each action in T'ai Chi must have a purpose, whether described allegorically or by
using a more descriptive martial term. As you will discover as you read on, T'ai Chi
is not just aerobic movement.

Martial Art - Soft or Hard - Internal or External?

The series of continuous, slow, smooth and graceful moves of the form, supplely
executed in a relaxed manner, and combined with an upright, balanced, rooted
posture, form the basis of the T'ai Chi art.

This supple movement without apparent tension in the upper body leads to the
categorisation of T'ai Chi as a ‘soft’ or ‘internal’ martial art. This is established
against the practice of the ‘hard’ or ‘external’ martial art regimes exemplified by
some of those taught by Wing Chun, Shaolin and other 'Kung Fu' schools.

These 'hard' fighting disciplines emphasising forceful, rapid, staccato moves
executed with strength and power, often with locked joints, are more aggressive in
approach. The more power, speed and accuracy that the person is able to
concentrate in a movement, the better is its effective execution.

So how can T'ai Chi, a ‘soft’ art, be considered as being able to withstand the
devastating power of exponents of the ‘hard’ school?
The key factor is that by practice of forms, a T'ai Chi exponent is very strong and
very supple. Strength is concentrated in the legs which are solidly “rooted” to the
ground, enabling a relaxed torso which is yielding and apparently ‘soft’. Any force
directed to the body will be dissipated as, effectively, there is no solid surface to
absorb its energy. The aggressor finds that he is unable to focus his attack and
vent the full force of his power, and the T'ai Chi opponent escapes maximum injury
in the event of contact.
However, major contact is rare as the leg strength and suppleness of the T'ai Chi
exponent allow a reaction like a coiled spring, recoiling away and avoiding any
strong aggressive force, before springing back to counter-attack or block further
aggression when that force is removed. The stronger the attacking force, the
tighter the spring and the stronger the counter-attack.
The analogy often used compares the body during T'ai Chi practice to a tree. The
legs are the trunk of the tree, rooted to the ground, with the arms and upper body
flexible, supple and strong forming the branches. The branches flow and move
gently resisting the wind, whilst the tree remains solidly supported by its rooted
trunk.

T'ai Chi as Exercise
So how does practising the T'ai Chi form develop such strength and suppleness?
The answer is by learning and practising the slow, flowing yet methodical
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