Taijiquan

Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan)is an ancient martial art that originated in China. It was the basis of what is now called Kung Fu, Kung Fu influenced the development of Karate and Taekwondo in Okinawa and Korea.

You may have seen Chinese people practising Taiji forms on the television. The slow, smooth movements in perfect synchronisation with all of the other practitioners. It is within these movements that the many strikes and martial applications are hidden.

During the Manchurian occupation of China the chinese people were forced to conceal Taiji in order to protect the knowledge from falling into enemy hands. Taiji was then practised openly but it was hidden within the slow forms to avoid detection. Much of the martial aspects of Taiji were lost because of this but the art was still practised because it's movements were found to promote health both from the western concept of physiology and the eastern concept of Chi energy circulation.

Taijiquan focuses on open handed striking techniques and is a soft, internal, circular martial art (as apposed to Taekwondo which is a hard, external, Linear martial art). The strikes are often capable of inflicting far more damage than a mere punch would be able to. It is possible to strike many different points on the opponent's body which correspond to their internal organs and damage them. Many strikes result in extreme pain, unconsciousness or even death. The amount of power is greatly increased by using the maximum amount of force against an opponent with minimal energy expenditure.

The strikes are also far faster than a punch, a fa-jing strike is almost impossible to see. This makes it very difficult to dodge. When used by a competent individual Taijiquan is a formidable martial art form.

I am at present studying and practising Yang style Taijiquan, albeit on a very unskilled level. My teacher, Paul Dunbar, has astounded me on many an occasion by demonstrating what he is capable of utilising Taiji.