Summary: The best Tai Chi movies of all time

Circa 1960s, there was an abundance of Tai Chi themed movies or what we refer as video Tai Chi. At the turn of the decade though, other martial art videos started to share the limelight until video Tai Chi was unseated from its long held box office seat. But still, video Tai Chi was one of the principal successes of the majority of Hong Kong film producers, with films like “Once upon a Time in China”, “Iron Monkey” and “Tai Chi Master” under their belt.

The best would probably be the Once upon a time in China series. The evidence of the film’s success is that it managed to spawn a number of sequels that reached a fifth installment, all of them a huge success in their own right. This also catapulted Jet Li’s career. What really set this film apart from others of the genre was the movie’s attention to detail. Historical facts, figures, items, and authentic Chinese heritage were injected smoothly into the film resulting in a very balanced atmosphere in believable china. These films are definitely a must see, a timeless symbol of how great Hong Kong masterpieces are.
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Video Tai Chi

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Summary: Everything you need to know about Tai Chi

What is Tai Chi? It is a Chinese combat art system that developed way back ancient china. The name Tai Chi Chuan meant ‘Supreme Ultimate Fist’, so obviously this was developed primarily as a martial art. But instead of employing explosive kicks and hard punches, Tai Chi instead uses slow tempo maneuvers and subtle movements to overcome an opponent.

Tai Chi was claimed to be founded by a wise monk Chang San Feng. One night he had a dream about a battle between a crane and a snake. He believed it to be a divine dream so he proceeded to study it and made the 13 postures. This became the foundation of Tai Chi.
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What is Tai Chi

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Summary: The original Tai Chi was also a Taoist way of life that Chang San Feng followed.

The word ‘Tao’ (sometimes spelled as Dao) has the literal meaning of path, way, or truth. Tao is primarily associated with Taoism (hence the word), but Confucianism also refers to it since the social ethics and moral teachings of the two are blended together.

Tao or Taoism is the based on the principle that change is inevitable, regardless of the effort to stop it. And to properly harmonize oneself to the changes, changes within the self is imperative. Change is eternal; there is no end in that change. The symbol of Tao is two opposite teardrop, wedged together to form a circle, one called the Yin and the other the Yang.

Traditional Tai Chi can be considered a Taoist way of life, or Taoist Tai Chi, evidently since combat and health qualities of Taoist Tai Chi are founded in the teachings of religious Taoism. Its conception started when a Taoist monk Chang San Feng dreamt about two divine spirits of a crane and a snake fighting. Feng was amazed at the skills of the combatant that he created an art of fighting based on the divine spirits movements.
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Taoist Tai Chi

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Summary: The Chen style of Tai Chi was the forerunners of the art, but it was the Yang style that made it in the limelight.

The true history of Tai Chi was never known. The fact that the art is as old as the Chinese heritage itself has the history of Tai Chi shrouded in legend and mystery.

Birth of the Yin and Yang

The wise sage Chang San Feng had a dream one night. In his dream he saw two creatures battling, a crane and a snake. He was so enthralled by the sight for the combatants had fought with so much skill, yet neither one could gain the upper hand. He had this dream every night that he managed to learn the techniques and made the famous 13 postures of Tai Chi. The creatures were then symbolized as the teardrops of the Yin and Yang, symbolizing the infiniteness of the opposite powers.

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History of Tai Chi

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Summary: Tai Chi Chuan as a martial art, and its decline.

Before the evolution of Tai Chi as meditation practice, or as an alternative inner healing practice, Tai Chi was an efficient and deadly combat art that originated in ancient China.
As it was originally conceived, Tai Chi Chuan (the complete name translates as ‘Supreme Ultimate Force’) is a method of fighting based on neutralizing an opponent’s use of force before applying a countering force of his own. Thus, with this concept alone, one can judge that Tai Chi Chuan is more suited as a fighting art than anything else.

The most dominant argument of traditionalists is Tai Chi Chuan being used as any other practice except combat. Their argument states that if you practice Tai Chi for health reasons, you will not obtain its best benefits. Likewise, if you do Tai Chi as a dance, you may achieve the flexibility, elegance, muscle loosening and stamina, but not reap everything it offers. Practicing it as martial art alone can get you the full benefit it offers even if you are in a dance or on a health regimen. If you train in Combat Tai Chi, these elements are obtainable since all these features are essential for every Tai Chi fighter.
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Combat Tai Chi

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Summary: The Chen Tai Chi is the most original Tai Chi you can get.

Tai Chi traces its root way back ancient China, as old as the Chinese heritage. It is an ancient martial art that emphasizes speed, strength, flexibility, and balance. While no one was really sure if he exists, it was believed that a Taoist monk Chang San Feng founded Tai Chi Chuan and it originally had 13 postures. But over time various styles surfaced that further developed Tai Chi into a soft and subtle martial art.

However, some stories also talk about Chen Wang Ting as the founder of Tai Chi. He was a soldier and some believe he created the art based on his fighting experiences, his Tai Chi boxing methods - a compilation of different forms of boxing that existed during his lifetime.
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Chen Tai Chi

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Summary: Learn Tai Chi and have better mental and physical health. And learn discipline.

While it may be true that reaping the full benefits of Tai Chi can be only acquired through rigorous practice of its martial art nature, thousands of practitioners would readily claim that even without its combative nature, the benefits of Tai Chi can still be endowed by its finer aspects. True, thousands have taken up Tai Chi for health purposes, mental and physical, and yet others take up Tai Chi for its aesthetic appeal. In contrast, followers of the Combat Tai Chi has steadily declined over the past few years, amplified with the appearance of newer and more versatile, as well as more fiery forms of other martial arts.

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Benefits of Tai Chi

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Summary: The 108 moves of Tai Chi, also called the ‘long form’. Study it online.
A regular Tai Chi form consists of a series of movements that comprise a form. These forms go from 24 movements, 40 movements to 108 movements. The 108 moves of tai Chi (also called the ‘long form’) take some 20 minutes to go through and require much effort, both physical and spiritual to execute. Advanced Tai Chi practitioners familiar with the 40 forms finds that doing the 108 moves of tai Chi is just a matter of remembering the order of its shorter form, a rerun of those shorter moves.
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108 moves of Tai Chi

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Summary: All you need to know about Tai Chi video hunting.

Why learn Tai Chi? There are countless reasons why, and you could have a dozen why you should. Do it as an exercise. Not strenuous enough for you? Then do it to relieve stress; or as a meditation practice; or as therapeutic exercise. Or do it just to feel sexy. The reasons to study Tai Chi is quite abundant, but how to study it requires a bit of information digging.

So, where do you want to learn Tai Chi? You can find a Tai Chi teacher but this could be a daunting task; an abundance of bad teachers and a lack of good ones. An alternative is studying it online. But problems arise in the actual Tai Chi practice, or are you game between reading fine internet text and rushing to your Tai Chi spot to apply what you have just read. That is totally uncool. Of course, you could just print the material and bring it with you.
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Tai Chi Video

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Summary: Some pointers on how to select the Tai Chi uniforms available online.

So you are really up to buying yourself a Tai Chi uniform? It really helps, don’t you think? Well then, here are a few pointers on how to select your best on dozens of Tai Chi uniforms available online.

Primarily you need something comfortable. Comfortable means soft, supple, light and cool. And nice, cool colors too. You don’t want to wear something with eye-jarring colors that could blind anyone looking at you directly. Of those widely used, cotton and silk are often used. Cotton Tai Chi uniforms for hot climates and silk for those who are not affected with the blistering heat in using silk Tai Chi uniforms. And of the colors, black and white are mostly used.
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Tai Chi Uniforms

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