Tai Chi, rooted in the Taoist tradition, has much to show us about the development of spirituality through movement
Tai Chi is a soft form of internal martial art techniques based on taoism
When you take a look at the forms of Chinese martial arts, you will figure out that Tai Chi Chuan holds a prominent place. It is followed as a soft martial arts technique. It has existed within the country for more than 2,000 different years. Tai Chi Chuan can also be used to promote longevity and good health as well.
Many people tend to call Tai Chi Chuan as meditation in motion. That’s because it has the ability to promote serenity via gentle movements. While doing that, this form of martial arts can connect human body and mind. As of now, Tai Chi Chuan is not centered only to China, but to other parts of the world as well.
Throughout history, Tai Chi Chuan has heavily been influenced by Taoism. Apart from Confucianism, Taoism is the most influential and important school native to China. In fact, Taoism focuses on delivering a deeper insight to people about the principles that exist within the universe. It also focuses on harmonizing the human body as well as mind in order to attune a person to natural order.
Lao Tzu is the creator of Taoism. He went ahead and wrote the teachings of Taoism in a 5,000 character book named as Tao Te Ching. When you take a look at this book, you will figure out that all the teachings of Lao Tzu are based upon the principle named as Tao, or the way. It focuses on understanding the principles and using that for the betterment of life. As per the creator of Taoism, it is important to understand this principle intuitively.
According to Taoism, you should focus on flowing according to the flow of the universe. Flow of the universe is the force behind natural order as well. It would equate along with the influence, which would keep the entire universe ordered and balanced. The appreciation and contemplation of nature, which act as the centralized feature of Taoism have been portrayed through genesis of Tai Chi movements.
Taoism is the theology which emphasize vitality, naturalness, non-action, peace, detachment, emptiness, spontaneity, receptiveness and strength of softness.
Taoism has evolved significantly throughout the past few years. It flowed according to the teachings of Lao Tzu as well as other philosophers. It eventually became a spiritual development teaching, which can contribute towards the sound physical being. Teachers of Taoism, such as Chuang Tzu went ahead and introduced the movements of philosophy. It also created the core philosophy that can be found within Tai Chi Chuan as well.
Tai Chu Chuan focuses more on flexibility, balance and agility, instead of the use of force. This creates the very first shift towards the form intrinsic exercise. What is meant by intrinsic in Tai Chi Chuan is Taoism. It has the ability to draw inherent internal strengths of getting a better understanding about equilibrium. It emphasizes on using softness to overcome hardness, instead of using a brute external force.
As you can see, Taoism and Tai Chi Chuan are linked together. Tai Chi Chuan is more of a physical representation of the Taoist ideals. This also shows how Taoism has influenced Tai Chi Chuan technique.
