In Mandarin Chinese, the word "Tai Chi" is pronounced more closely to "Taiji." If you want to pronounce Taijiquan, say it like this: Tie-Jee-Tchwanne. "Tai Chi" is essentially a Westernized pronunciation of the word "Taiji." Similarly, in Mandarin Chinese, Kung Fu is more appropriately pronounced as "Gong Fu" (spoken almost like 'Goon-Fu'). In summary, if you're a Chinese speaker, you wouldn't say "Tai Chi" or "Kung Fu." The terms "Taiji" and "Gongfu" are more accurate.
 |
| Photo by Uriel Soberanes on Unsplash |
The Yin-Yang cycle, or the interaction between complementary imbalances, is referred to as "Tai Chi" or "Taiji." "Chuan" or "Quan" means "Fist," and it refers to a martial arts system (not literally just the fists). As a result, Taijiquan or Tai Chi Chuan is a martial art system based on the interaction of Yin (Negative) and Yang (Positive) (Positive).
People frequently mistake "Chi" in Tai Chi with Chi/Qi energy. A basic examination of the Chinese characters reveals that Chi/Qi () differs from Chi/Ji (). As a result, Chi energy was never intended to be a part of the name in the first place.
"Grand Ultimate Fist" is another typical mistranslation. "Tai" actually means "severe." "Ji" denotes "end" or "extreme point." When these two characters are combined, the relationship between the extremely large/far and the extremely small/defined point can be deduced.
The main difficulty, though, is that Taiji is its own Chinese word; you should not separate it. Just as I shouldn't split apart the English word Butterfly to signify a stick of butter that can fly. Finally, it is "Taiji Fist" rather than "Grand Ultimate Fist."
The term "Tai Chi" is basically how non-Chinese speakers phrase it, similar to how they say "Kung Fu" instead of Gongfu.
To become an official disciple in Chinese culture, if the instructor accepts you as a long-term student and you accept them as your teacher, you must go through a ritual called "Baishi" in front of witnesses (other disciples). Then you're a "disciple"; you've walked through the door. You have pledged to work extremely hard and to reflect your teacher's craft. Chinese martial arts were once regarded a trade, similar to becoming a wood worker.
You are not learning some generic martial art; you are learning that specific teacher’s craft. Parents may bring their child to a wood-worker and request, “Please take our son as your disciple. That way, when he gets good at wood-working, he can have his own business and make a living when he grows up.”
This is a relationship between a Master and an Apprentice. This is when addressing your teacher as "Shifu" is appropriate. Shifu's "fu" literally means "father." You are the adopted son of this person. If you fail at gongfu as a representative of your Shifu, you reflect poorly on the teacher who is in charge of guiding you. People may not reveal their private "trade secrets" with the public in some instances, but they may do so with their Tudi (disciple). You may need to work several odd jobs to make ends meet while studying the skill.
This is where things start to go wrong. Many Kung Fu schools would distort this heritage through teachers who refer to themselves as "Shifu" . They regard it as though it were some type of title. It's also impolite to address someone else as "Shifu," as this is equivalent to addressing someone else's parents as "Mom" and "Dad."
You'll also notice a lot of people using titles like "Master" or "Grandmaster," but these have the wrong connotation. They probably do this because they translated "Shifu" to mean master, which removes a lot of context and connotation. There is no such thing as a "Grandmaster" (Dashi).
In today's world, highly commercialized schools would readily accept disciples for the purpose of profit. They mass-produce an army of low-cost goods.
Qi or Chi is quite ambiguous; different people will provide you with different responses. However, when learning a martial art, exterior characteristics such as your stance, foundation, alignment, and martial usage are typically given a lot of weight. Traditional Chinese Medicine informs much of the discussion about "Qi." Qi Gong is the practice of matching your breath, movement, and imagination to produce a sense - an effect. It could be a numbness or a heating sensation.
The further you deviate from the source, the more 'philosophical' it gets. The philosophy has taken the role of functionality. I feel that individuals who have truly strayed from the source have a stronger belief in the mystical life force than those who are closer to the source. I'd say that the "New Age" believes in it to an even crazier degree.
Taijiquan is a Northern Chinese martial technique founded in the mid-17th century by the Chen Family, hence the name Chen Style Taijiquan. It combines hitting and standup grappling. It comprises low-cost injections to the crotch, solar plexus, neck, and eyes. Punches, elbow strikes, kneeing, kicking, snapping joints, manipulating structure, sweeping, throwing, piercing with the fingers, clawing, deflecting/yielding, and so on are all examples.
You don't perceive Taijiquan as a fighting art since most Tai Chi you've seen is Yang Style Taijiquan. Chen Style influenced Yang Style. They are currently the most popular Taijiquan style since they were the first to make their art available to the public. Yang Style Taijiquan is responsible for the great majority of health promotion in Tai Chi.
Another reason Taijiquan isn't considered a martial art is because of Wushu performances. Wushu performances are not martial arts in the classic sense. They are purposefully made to be aesthetically pleasing. A lot of the choreography is unconventional. Acrobatic feats, flips, splits, flexibility feats, aerial antics, twirling weaponry, and so on may be seen. If you think those are unrealistic, you're right. This is for show, to look nice in front of the audience.
Finally, because Taijiquan is a disappearing art, you don't perceive it as a fighting art. The majority of the combative components of Chen Style Taijiquan have been retained, however even within this style, there are various lineages, many of which are broken. Many lineages have lost a lot of substance.
One of the primary reasons Taijiquan is done "slowly" is that it is more difficult; this is how they acquire raw structural strength. It's incredibly painful and upsetting.
That is how traditional Taijiquan appears! Even if people had access to this type of instruction, the majority of them would refuse to learn it! The majority of individuals would not pay money to suffer and be in pain. This is known as "Eat Bitter," and it involves a lot of suffering; it is a gongfu technique in martial arts. Most Taijiquan practitioners do not consume bitter foods and do not perform "gongfu" since "gongfu" denotes "hard effort." Most Tai Chi practitioners strive for the most comfortable, calm condition possible; "relaxation" is all they worry about right from the start.
Sun Lutang, the originator of Sun Style Taijiquan, promoted "internal" martial arts. He took it to suggest that Taijiquan, Baguzhang, and Xingyiquan all use "internal" qualities like "Qi," intention, spirit, the use of relaxation over physical strength, and so on... The term "internal" is vague. One of the issues with labeling martial arts like Taijiquan as "Internal" is that it causes people to believe that Taijiquan is not "External."
A functioning Taijiquan is no less "external" than other "external" martial arts since combat requires "external." After all, Muay Thai fighters and boxers perform admirably. For an art named after the Yin and Yang ideas, you'd think they'd promote both Internal (Yin) and External (Yang) - rather than only Internal. Unfortunately, there are numerous schools (mostly in Yang Style) that would argue that strength is bad for you and that you should have no stress in your body.
A lineage is similar to a family tree that may be traced back to its origin. From whom did your teacher learn? Who did that individual learn from? And so forth. If you have higher criteria, you should presume that you are not legally part of a lineage unless you are recognized as someone's disciple. Lineages are useful for a dying skill like Taijiquan because researching them allows you to undertake crosses of elimination to determine who is better or worse.
Being a disciple and being part of a good lineage does not ensure that person will be very competent, but if they are part of a bad lineage with a lot of lost content and a lot of garbage imported in, that person will be very skilled.
Comments
Post a Comment