Every movie set in San Francisco seems to have the obligatory scene- a stone courtyard, or perhaps a perfectly manicured lawn, either one set against a rising sun; a handful of people dressed in silk pajamas, moving in concert, hands waving against an imaginary current, and at least one of them has to be Chinese. What, you may ask, are they doing? Why, Tai Chi, of course!
The practice of Tai Chi seems to have become synonymous with
people who have an insider's track to good physical, mental and spiritual
health; and it might very well be true.
What is it?
Tai Chi is first and foremost a Martial Art. Many mistake Martial
Arts to be combat oriented practices only, when in fact most have elements of
meditation and physical fitness as their primary goal. Created in China, Tai Chi is reputed to be
a perfect blend of physical, mental, and spiritual exercise, developing Chi, or
energy, through the use of the Tai Chi exercises. There are three popular
theories regarding the origins of Tai-Chi, with styles based on similar
principles in existence as early as the Liang Dynasty (502-557A.D.)
There are different styles of Tai-Chi, although all styles follow
the same ideas. They simply have different physical movements, called postures,
to reach the same goals. From the earliest to the latest, the five major styles
are Chen, Yang, W'u, Wu and Sun.