What Are Tai Chi And Chi Kung
Tai Chi and Chi Kung
What Are Tai Chi and Chi Kung?
"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and common sense."
The Buddha
Tai Chi is normally translated as 'the supreme ultimate', 'the universal energy' or 'the cosmos' and the symbol for Tai Chi is familiar to most people as a 'Yin/Yang'. Chi kung is usually translated as 'Energy' (Chi) and 'work or skill' (Kung). Sometimes 'Chi' is also translated as breath because in Chinese thought the ideas of energy and breathing are closely linked.
Both Tai Chi and Chi Kung are Chinese arts and are based upon the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and the ancient philosophy of Taoism. Tai Chi is itself a type of Chi Kung. The main difference between the two is that Tai Chi is not only a healing and meditative art like Chi Kung, but is also a powerful martial art as well. The postures in Tai Chi are designed for both their health benefits and as powerful martial applications.
'Tai Chi Chuan' which translates, as 'the supreme ultimate fighting style' or 'cosmic fist' is the full name for this martial art but it is usually shortened to just Tai Chi in the West.
It is worth mentioning that in different books you may come across will have different spellings for both Chi Kung and Tai Chi, for example 'Qi Gong' and 'Tai Ji'. Chinese has a different alphabet system to our own so using our own Roman characters we simply copy the sounds of the words phonetically. Choose whichever spelling you prefer and don't get confused.
The Different Types of Chi Kung
There are different types of Chi Kung used for different purposes. Perhaps the main type that interests us here as Tai Chi students is known as 'Martial Chi Kung' and in fact Tai Chi itself is often considered to be a type of Martial Chi Kung
Martial Chi Kung is defined as any exercise that obeys a set of strict rules and principles used for fighting purposes. Examples of these include 'turning your waist, not your spine' and 'keeping your elbows in front of your body'.
Another commonly used type of Chi Kung is known as 'Medical Chi Kung' and this is sometimes regarded as "Chinese Yoga". Medical Chi Kung is used for the purpose of maintaining and/or restoring good health. Some of the exercises are relatively simple such as moving your head forwards and backwards or circling your shoulders. Some exercises have more complicated choreography and some can be performed whilst seated or kneeling. Medical Chi Kung is designed to stretch and loosen different joints, muscles and even internal organs leading to many health benefits.
Another common type of Chi Kung is known as 'Standing Chi Kung' (in Chinese 'Zhan Zhuang' or 'Standing like a tree'). Standing exercises are excellent for 'rooting' or 'grounding' practice as well as useful for studying principles of relaxation, balance, breathing and meditation.
Most Tai Chi systems make extensive use of all of these various types of Chi Kung exercises and in my opinion any complete Tai Chi syllabus should include elements of all these types of Chi Kung.
Martial Chi Kung exercises can be greatly beneficial when studied alone but can also be used to study basic principles of Tai Chi movement such as how to 'shift the weight as if underneath the ground'. In my own Tai Chi classes I teach two different martial Chi kung series known as 'Eagle flying' and the '5 Immortals' as well as using other exercises such as 'playing the accordion'. In theory any movement from Tai Chi can be taken and practiced as a separate 'Chi Kung' exercise. 'Step back to repulse the monkey' and 'brush knee and push' are common examples.
Medical Chi Kung can be as simple as a few warm up stretches at the beginning of a class or can be studied in more depth. I teach a series of 'joint-loosening exercises' as well as several more traditional Chi Kung series including the '8 brocades of silk', 'Parting the clouds' and 'Swinging arms'.
Standing Chi Kung is also an important part of any Tai Chi training. In theory any move from the Tai Chi form or any Chi Kung posture can be practiced as a Standing Exercise. 'Push' and 'Stork Stands in the water' are common examples. Some standing postures are used solely for standing practice and these include 'Holding the belly of the Buddha' and 'The 3 circle stance'.
Perhaps the most commonly used standing posture appears at the beginning of the Tai Chi form and is known as the 'Preparation' posture or in Chinese 'Wu Ji'. All my students will be familiar with this particular move as we stand and "prepare" before commencing each form.
A Brief History Of Tai Chi And Chi Kung
Cave paintings and references in ancient medical texts show exercises similar to Chi Kung and Tai Chi appearing as early as 3000 BC. Like Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture the true origins of these arts date back to a time before written history and it is a much-debated topic in the Tai Chi world. Most people believe that Chi Kung type exercises are in fact much older and have their roots in ancient shamanic practices. There are many legends of great masters watching and copying the natural movements of various animals and it is clear that many Tai Chi and Kung Fu postures and styles are named after and inspired by animals.
There is one theory that I like about how the practice developed from Inuits. The Inuit tribes live in arctic conditions and hunt primarily for seals. An Inuit hunter will often stand motionless on the ice next to a breathing hole with his spear held ready to kill any seal, which pokes his head up. It is common for hunters to stand like this for several hours. If he were to move even a little, the ice would creak and any seal will be scared off and will simply use a different breathing hole. The Inuit also needs incredible concentration or else he will miss the brief moment when the seal pokes his head up before diving straight back down. These skills of stillness and concentration are crucial to meditation practice and to Tai Chi and Chi Kung.
Later in history, Buddhism and yogic practices brought across from India greatly influenced Tai Chi and Chi Kung. The first written records of the term 'Tai Chi' do not appear until much later and most credit a great Taoist master named Chang San-Feng with inventing the art. The legend goes that he created Tai Chi after he witnessed a fight between a snake and a crane and was so impressed with the fluid evasive movements of the snake.
For thousands of years both Tai Chi Chuan and Chi Kung were only taught and practiced in secret by a select Chinese elite. Teachers would select their students very carefully and would often make their forms deliberately mysterious so as to prevent others from stealing their art. Daughters were usually not taught because they would eventually leave to go and live with their future husbands. In the last century Tai Chi has finally begun to lose some of it's mystery and has become not just available to many ordinary Chinese people but has now become famous internationally.
In China today, Tai Chi is the official national health exercise and millions of people perform the art at regular intervals daily. It is estimated that there are now well over 100 million Tai Chi practitioners in the world today and this number is continuing to increase as it's popularity and fame grow.
Like acupuncture Tai Chi is moving away from its image of being 'new age' or 'alternative' and is being taken more and more seriously by Western medical opinion. An increasing amount of studies are now being performed and more and more health benefits are being proven. It is my opinion that Tai Chi's fame will continue to grow and will play a major part of our health care in the future.