Chi is literally indefinable in English. All one can say is that chi seems to be akin to the well-understood force of electricity in that it flows, it is invisible, and it is present in the body.

Chi is the central idea of Chinese medicine—and of the Eastern understanding of the world. It is seen as the vital, animating force that gives life to all things and upon which our mental, physical, and spiritual health depends.

The therapeutic practices of acupuncture are based on directing the flow of chi (or qi, as the word is sometimes transcribed) to wherever it is needed.

In Japan, chi is called ki, and here too it is manipulated as a way of maintaining good health. Practitioners of Indian yoga also know this energy, which they call prana.

Tai chi, like yoga, is a means of gathering and managing life energy. This control is possible because chi, which we draw in with our breath, runs down fixed channels or meridians in the body.

The subtle movements, of the tai chi form are designed to regulate the flow of chi—speeding it here, slowing it there, and removing blockages in its path.

Tai chi also aims to store chi in the body. The main storehouse is the lower tan tien, which is just below the navel.

Tai chi practitioners say that all the movements of the form proceed from this tan tien: they draw on its strength and at the same time they build its power.

Tai chi philosophy states that there are three main centers of energy in the body. These are known as tan tiens, and the most important one lies just below the navel.

As you learn tai chi, you will become increasingly aware of these processes. You will be able to feel the chi flowing and growing within you. This is one of the aims and the pleasures of tai chi practice.

A World of Energy

Tai chi is traditionally done outdoors, where you can garner fresh chi from the clean air. If you go to China, you will see groups of people doing their daily practice in parks.

But you do not have to subscribe to the notion of chi to benefit from taking your exercise outdoors, and, of course, you do not have to do your tai chi outdoors at all if you do not want to.

Nevertheless, there are real benefits to be had from doing your tai chi under an open sky. Practicing outside can strengthen your connection with the natural environment.

As you develop the meditative state of mind that tai chi requires, you will automatically imbibe a deeper understanding of your place in the universe.

Yin and Yang

According to Chinese philosophy, yin and yang are the two forces that generate chi. They are seen as opposites: yin is feminine and yang is masculine. But neither can exist without the other.

And together they represent the perfect harmony that underpins all creation.

The balance between yin and yang is never static. The two forces are in constant flux, as yin first gains supremacy over yang, and then gives way to it. This ebb and flow of energies is a kind of cyclical dance that never ends.

It is a bit like the progression of the seasons: the dark, cold days of fall and winter (yin) lead inevitably into the spring and summer (yang). One season asserts itself as the previous one wanes—it is all part of the same universal process.

This natural see-saw effect is present in every life and in each person’s body. Anequilibrium between yin and yang is essential to happiness and good health.

Problems arise if one force dominates for too long. So, for example, if we continue to be busy (activity is seen as yang) when really we need to pause (rest is yin), then we are likely to become overtired and stressed. Illness will eventually be the result.

Tai chi aims to create a balance between yin and yang in the body, thus generating a healthy flow of chi. The practice can be seen as a physical manifestation of the interplay between the two forces.

For example, your weight is constantly shifting so that one leg becomes heavy (yin) and the other becomes light (yang); your posture is constantly changing from being expansive (yang) to more protective (yin).

Tai chi can be seen as a way of embracing the natural to-and-fro of yin and yang, and letting a sense of equilibrium permeate the body and mind.

This is especially true of tai chi, because the art was for many centuries practiced in secret. But what we can say for sure is that it originated in China, that it is related to other healing and martial arts such as chi kung and kung fu, and that it draws on the philosophy of Taoism.

Some time around 2700 B.C., the semi-mythological Yellow Emperor appears in a text that expounded on the invisible workings of the body, and gave rise to acupuncture.

The Emperor is said to have practiced health-giving exercises based on the movements of animals. This is the first reference to something resembling chi kung or tai chi.

The Taoist thread in tai chi is older still.The core text of Taoism is the I Ching, the Book of Changes, written in about 2850 B.C. This is the first text to talk about chi, yin and yang. Lao Tzu, the Taoist sage, strove to explain the Tao in laconic epigrams.

One of these could almost be a definition of tai chi: “Yield and overcome/ Bend and be straight/ He who stands on tiptoe is not steady/He who strides cannot maintain the pace.”

A thousand years later, in the 6th century A.D., a Chinese physician named Hua-tuo taught exercises based on “the movement of the five creatures”—the bear, tiger, deer, ape, and bird.

His system was called Wuchi chih hsi, and bears comparison with the Yellow Emperor’s regime: both were based on observations of nature, and both were intended primarily as a health-giving practice.

Around the same time, an Indian monk named Bodhidharma brought Zen Buddhism to China. He taught the monks at the Shaolin temple at Henan, and invented a series of exercises to help strengthen mind and body for meditation.

These exercises—called Shaolin boxing, developed into the martial art we know as kung fu. One of those to learn martial arts at Shaolin was Chang San Feng, who was born in 1247. He is usually said to be the true founder of tai chi chuan, as it came to be known.

The name is untranslatable but might be rendered as the “great strength of opposites.”

Chang San Feng’s eureka moment was the result of a chance encounter—and once again the inspiration came from the animal world.

Chang is said to have seen a fight between a crane and a snake. Neither could overcome the other: the snake could twist out of reach of the bird’s beak; the bird could step aside from the snake’s lunges, or disperse their power with his wings. Chang developed a martial art that was based on giving way to force, bending with the blow.

Some time during the medieval Ming dynasty, tai chi became the secret monopoly of the Chen clan, and was taught only to members of the family. This exclusive arrangement was broken in the 19th century by a servant of the Chens.

Yang Lu-chan learned the art and went on to teach an adapted form (Yang-style tai chi) to the courtiers of the Ching Emperor.

Tai chi was brought out of China in the 20th century. One of the teachers who did most to spread tai chi worldwide was Cheng Man-ching, who fled to Taiwan after the communist revolution in 1947.

Cheng Man-ching was a kind of renaissance man of Chinese wisdom and an expert in herbal medicine. He used his tai chi to control his tuberculosis, and put emphasis on the therapeutic qualities of the practice. He also invented a “short form” which, by the time he died in 1975, had spread to the West.

Tai Chi History Time Line

The origins of tai chi could go back as far as 5,000 years, but the form as we know it today did not emerge until the 13th century.

• 2700 B.C – The Yellow Emperor, the father of Chinese medicine, practices exercises based on movements of animals.

• 6th Century A.D. – Bodhidharma, founder of Zen Buddhism, teaches mind-body exercises to monks at Shaolin temple in Henan.

• 13th Century – Chang San Feng devises early system of tai chi, after seeing a snake and crane fighting.

• 18th Century – Chen family of Henan practice tai chi in secret.

• 1800s – Yang Lu-chan learns Chen style. He goes on to develop and teach Yang style.

• 1880s – Chinese emigrants spread tai chi to Singapore.

• 1930s – Cheng Man-ching trains with Yang Chen-fu, grandson ofYang Lu-chan.

• 1940s – Cheng Man-ching simplifies Yang style into short form, now the most widely practiced style in the world.

• 1949 – Cheng Man-ching moves to Taiwan, where he opens a school in Taipei.

• 1960s – Tai chi starts to become popular in the West. Cheng Man-ching opens a school in New York.

Tai chi is a gentle form of exercise that anyone can do. In China it is practiced daily by millions of people, old and young. And it is becoming increasingly popular in the West, primarily the United States.

Tai chi is rooted in the theory that well-being depends on the circulation of life force (chi) around the body—the same idea lies behind acupuncture and other Eastern therapies.

When chi becomes blocked or depleted, ill health or unhappiness are the result. Tai chi uses a combination of structured movements, deep breathing, and mental focus to enhance the flow of chi, thus promoting good health and helping to prevent illness.

The movements in tai chi are done gracefully and rhythmically— as though you are performing a dance (or a stylized fight) in slow motion.

The actions appear very simple at first, but in fact it takes strength and awareness to maintain the degree of balance and muscular control demanded.

The movements are done in a strictly choreographed sequence, which is known as the form. The order never varies: tai chi practitioners, from the beginner to the master, do the same form. This element of repetition is key to tai chi because, once you know the basic moves, the only way to improve is to go deeper.

The repetition does not become boring because tai chi engages the mind as well as the body. And there is always some element that can be improved upon—the flow of your breathing, the erectness of your posture, or the position of your hands.

What is more, tai chi is remarkably concise: once learned, the” entire form takes about six minutes to perform. You need spend just a few minutes a day on tai chi, and very soon you will be reaping the benefits of this ancient and beautiful practice.

The physical exercises combined with good breathing techniques help to improve your posture, flexibility, and balance.

They also relax the muscles and nervous system, which in turn aids the functioning of the internal organs: practitioners claim that tai chi improves the digestion, lowers the blood pressure, and boosts the immune system.

Many of the benefits proceed from the slow, measured rhythm of tai chi. It is impossible to do tai chi in a frantic manner, and so it is impossible to remain stressed while you do it.

So many of the afflictions that plague Western society are due to the fact that we find it impossible to slow down and relax our minds and bodies.

Tai chi is an orchestrated slowness, and that is its main strength. Simply watching a skilled practitioner doing tai chi can feel calming, and performing the movements brings a new sense of quietness to the mind and body.

As with acupuncture, nobody knows quite how tai chi works. Chi, the vital energy that all of us draw our strength from, is not detectable or quantifiable.

We know that tai chi works because the people who do it attest to its benefits, some of which have now been backed up by scientific research. One US study found that tai chi improved breathing technique; another showed that it lowered blood pressure.

Of course, the benefits of tai chi come only if you do it regularly–all teachers stress the importance of establishing a daily practice.

Getting into the habit of doing tai chi brings its own pleasure: it lets you earmark a short period each day in your body and mind—something that few of us remember to do in our daily lives.

After a tai chi practice, you do not feel tired as you do after practicing other forms of exercise. Instead, you feel refreshed and alert.This is because tai chi builds and conserves energy in the body instead of expending it.

Many practitioners use tai chi as their only form of exercise. But although tai chi benefits the entire body, it does not work the heart and lungs in quite the same way as aerobic exercise.

For this reason, it is ideally combined with regular brisk exercise, such as walking.

And the medical profession looked askance at any medical or therapeutic wisdom that originated outside the Western clinical tradition.

But this has changed in the last generation or so. It is now widely accepted that Eastern philosophies are based on a deep understanding of the body.

As a result, many of the ideas that underpin tai chi are now seen as complementary to Western understanding, rather than contradictory of it.

Scientific research has also validated many of the claims made for tai chi by its practitioners: studies have found, for example, that regular practice can reduce stress levels, and improve physical balance and muscular flexibility.

Doctors now commonly recommend tai chi as a relaxation technique and as a form of physical exercise.

Tai Chi in the West

The popularity of tai chi is one manifestation of a growing interest in—one might even call it a hunger for—the wisdom of Eastern cultures. In addition, the pioneering Westerners who learned from Chinese masters have had many years to refine their practice.

There is now a generation of senior Western teachers, and they have helped to demystify tai chi and make it more accessible to people who have no special knowledge of the culture from which it emerged.

And the new students of this ancient practice finds that tai chi meets a real and urgent need. Stress and anxiety have become endemic problems in our fast-driven society; about 80 percent of visits to the doctor can be ascribed to stress-related complaints.

Eastern health practices seem to offer a route to inner peace as well as real health benefits. The holistic nature of Eastern systems–their emphasis on integrating body, and spirit–is ringing true for more and more people.

It now seems only common sense that we should treat the mind and the body as an indivisible whole.

And of course, tai chi is eminently suitable for a busy lifestyle. It can be fitted into any schedule-because all you need is a few minutes a day. Each practice will leave you feeling relaxed, as if a weight has been lifted.

After a few sessions, you may start to notice changes in the way you stand and move. Eventually these changes will create lasting improvements to the way you feel.

Tai chi is probably one of the most effective, health-enhancing ways to spend ten minutes.

This website aims to tell you everything you need to know about establishing a tai chi practice at home. It can be used both by complete beginners, as well as more experienced practitioners.

Tai chi is well-established as a safe form of exercise, and very few people experience ill effects from doing it.

However, if you are older, ill recovering from a recent injury, or have a sedentary lifestyle, it is a good idea to check with your doctor before starting any new exercise. Tai chi movements should never cause strain or soreness.

If the exercises feel awkward or result in any pain, stop and consult an experienced teacher.