Tai Chi History
Myth versus fact is a common question when searching for the history of ancient
things and the origins of Tai Chi are even today still somewhat uncertain. Since
Tai Chi cannot be carbon dated we must search for other clues in the rare,
sometimes cryptic texts of ancient peoples. Ancient Chinese texts are difficult
to decipher with ‘old style’ characters and metaphors intended to ‘indirectly’
express or hide concepts from the outside world. Even today we still protect
what is personal and valuable to us from others. Valuable family artifacts and
information is ‘carefully shared’, sometimes without written records, only
within families and perhaps with few other trustworthy persons.
Tai Chi as we
know it today is only a few hundred years old. However the old forms of Tai Chi
that were cherished and carefully guarded by monks, special families or heads of
state are believed to be at least 1,200 years old. Tai Chi is a derivative of an
older Chinese art known as Chi Kung (or Qigong), estimated to be well
more than 2,000 years old. Tai Chi Chuan (often translated ‘ultimate fist or
ultimate harmony’), Tai Chi for short, developed primarily as a martial art in
order to promote health and especially the self-defense of the Buddhist and
Taoist monks in their monasteries. Intensive meditation and stillness,
academics, gentle craft, and a mild life made for soft, weak monks that were
easily overcome by bandits. Tai Chi allowed the monks to maintain their health
and their livelihood. |
