What is taichi chuan?
We sometimes read publications that claim to clarify what taichi chuan is or is not.
If there were a single definition of what this discipline is, it would be a great help to the teachers who promote it to the public.
The many origins of taichi
There are many versions of the origins of taichi, from the monk who observed the fight between two bugs to the villagers who humbly defend their village, from the valiant general to the disciple who learned taichi between domestic chores like a spy.
A constantly evolving discipline
In reality, taichi, like many other martial arts, is not an object frozen in time, but rather an assemblage that has evolved through the ages. For example, it can be said that taichi was not originally a form of old-age gymnastics, since its martial gestures were borrowed from the warrior art of the Chen family, from the village of Chenjiagou. At the time, this art form lacked the “internal” dimension of taichi as we know it today.
Internal and external notions in taichi
We contrast the external notion based on brute strength with the internal notion based on the development of more subtle biomechanical skills. Of course, there are bridges between these two notions, since it would be absurd to deny the value of a minimum of muscle tone in any physical activity. This is why very old people with limited mobility will find Qi Gong more enjoyable than taichi chuan, a discipline that challenges balance, mobility and coordination.
Evolution towards Yang and Chen styles
Under the influence of a disciple who created his own current, known today as the Yang style, Chen boxing evolved into the Chen-style taichi chuan we know today.
A history revisited through dynasties
But as we travelled through dynasties, periods of repression, the publications of various masters and the spread of taichi abroad, this history was largely revisited and embellished so that everyone could derive maximum prestige and success from it, so much so that within the same style of taichi, sometimes within the same clan, there can be great disparities in the transmission of a historical heritage and pedagogical content.
Taichi chuan: a martial art, not a combat sport
However, we can agree on a few points about taichi chuan: today, it’s a martial art but not a combat sport, in the sense that few taichi teachers and students in the world train seriously to face the harsh reality of combat.
A technique based on body finesse
The particular technique of taichi is quite original, since it is based on optimizing the human body’s fine capacities in order to deploy maximum power using minimum muscular force. This is where it joins the notion of improving health, since emphasis is placed on postural alignment and balance, muscular relaxation, fascia sensitivity, unity of the body in movement and listening to its internal mechanisms. The relative slowness of taichi movements is not an end in itself, but a pedagogical means.
An accessible but often mislabeled practice
Yes, taichi is practised slowly; yes, it allows everyone to discover the discipline at their own pace and according to their own abilities, right up to an advanced age. But like other disciplines popular with the elderly, such as cycling, walking and swimming, it should be practised in an age-appropriate way, without being described as a discipline for the elderly alone. As you can see, it would be a gross error to associate taichi with gymnastics for the elderly. In any case, it’s a very simplistic image of a discipline which, to be mastered, deserves to be discovered from an early age, just like any other sport.
Taichi and the notion of internal energy
Taichi, described as an “internal” martial art, also combines notions of internal energy development with breath. With all the mystification that this can entail, and the search for superpowers, which is very much in vogue in today’s consumer trends. Audiences oscillate between the search for sensations associated with a mysterious internal energy and crossfit or krav maga-style performance activities. What these two seemingly antinomic pursuits have in common is a quest for sycho-corporal profitability, the acquisition of a fantasized superego, the ego placed at the center of all bodily practices.
A detailed knowledge of the body
However, taichi teaches a detailed knowledge of the body and its abilities, and it is through the acquisition of techniques and assiduous practice that self-knowledge and capacities that go beyond muscle work come into being. The body is described as a bellows that activates the breath. For me, defining or fantasizing about energy is like praising the wind or the air. It’s everywhere, and we can of course deify it, but we can also simply use it to navigate, humbly. What’s more, energy isn’t very photogenic on tik tok or instagram.
A rich and personal discipline
Taichi is a rich and complex discipline. As with any personal research, and with any sporting practice, each practitioner is entitled to bring a little of his or her own personal definition to it, as long as it doesn’t completely distort the object of study.
