Tai Chi - martial art or healthy exercise ?
If you’ve been reading my blog you probably already know my views on this topic. I still think it’s worth looking at.
Many people are not interested in martial arts yet are drawn to tai chi because they’ve been told it’s based on a martial art but really isn’t. My teacher and senior training sister cringes every time someone compares tai chi to yoga. I think this is actually a good thing.
Whenever someone is ‘drawn’ to tai chi with this misconception they usually learn more about it than if they thought it was a martial art and just dismissed it. One of the really great things about tai chi is that you don’t ever have to learn how to use it.
Tai chi can be treated as a healthy exercise and the person practicing it is much better off than with many other forms of exercise. Sometimes people start off learning it as an exercise and shift into learning it as a marital art.
Weather martial or not, the distinction is often unimportant to people who practice it for their own reasons. I’m grateful for the people who get worked up over this misconception though, because they help make more people aware of what tai chi really is and that it is accessible to nearly everyone. I say let the debate continue because that’s the only way many people will ever learn about or become interested in tai chi.
Master Cui Zhongsan says the important thing is for people all around the world to learn tai chi. This way we become connected with each other and can accomplish more as a team that through conflict.
I read a good post this morning about being willing to take risks before you can advance martially. It’s pretty deep. If you are interested in only the health benefits of tai chi you may find this to be less than interesting … but then again, maybe not. Here’s the link.
http://www.martialdevelopment.com/blog/investing-in-loss-or-ego/
Today I’ll leave you with this image from www.bodymindharmony.com
Bye for now.
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