If your practice of tai chi does not embody the principles of tai chi, then it is not tai chi.
This is not a matter of opinion or of right and wrong.
Consider: karate is not tai chi because it approaches combat and body usage in a fundamentally different fashion to tai chi.
Karate is karate, just as a tree is a tree or a car is a car.
These qualities should not be present in any facet of your training:
This is not a matter of opinion or of right and wrong.
Consider: karate is not tai chi because it approaches combat and body usage in a fundamentally different fashion to tai chi.
Karate is karate, just as a tree is a tree or a car is a car.
These qualities should not be present in any facet of your training:
- contracted muscles/tension
- locked joints
- strenuous postures
- independent limb movement
- gaps and deficiencies of structure/flaccidity/no connection
- no groundpath
- strength versus strength
- dependency upon speed
Tai chi can only be tai chi if it reflects the nature, the essence, the way of tai chi.
