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Taijiquan is an ancient Chinese martial art form that – in its gentle and slow fashion – is perceived to be soft as cotton and to be hard as steel when one’s internal energy is activated at will to create an explosive physical (and internal) impact.

Taijiquan movements are soft and pliable, but explosive in energy. The Dao De Jing states that when two great forces oppose each other, victory will be yours if you know how to yield.

“The gentlest thing in the world overcomes the hardest thing in the world. That which has no substance enters where there is no space.”

Taijiquan movements principally involve the whole body and it has an overall beneficial effect on improving one’s strength, flexibility and stamina. The conception here is the cultivation of your mind and body to move in unison and as a whole in a well coordinated and balanced manner. When done correctly, the varied forms of taijiquan help your body joints to be supple and improve your overall physical and mental health.

There are two ways to look at taijiquan- as a form of exercise or as martial art. In China, and in many parts of the world, many people take up taijiquan to keep their body healthy. You can easily find the garden parks full with the young and elderly who wake up early at dawn to practice this art. Taijiquan movements involve breathing methods which is essential to work well on all of one’s muscles and joints in the body and helps to circulate one’s internal energy or ‘qi’ – when you have a constant good flow of ‘qi’ your body will stay fit and healthy.