What Does Tai Chi Really Mean? Episode 5

What does TC Mean? Why is it spelt in different ways? Why is it sometimes referred to as Tai Chi and others as TCC? And why, even after explaining all this do most people say afterwards, I'm no more clearer than before?


Literally it means the "supreme ultimate fist". Clear? Of course not...as as, this doesn't help at all..... so we need to take a look at something other than the literal meaning. And this is a good lesson generally in TC. Don't get hung up on literal meanings, for you are probably living in a culturally, politically, geographically and socially different time than when the art was conceived.

In short we need to move beyond definitions.

The two words, “Tai” and “Chi” together, mean the unity of Yin and Yang, or in Taoist circles: the mother of the 10,000 things.

See! I told you that literal meanings would get us nowhere! The "10,000 things" is just a name - - a name used to represent everything from the lunar winds to the clippings of your toenails. It was a description used a lot in early Taoist texts, and although it's not necessary that you grasp all the philosophy of Taoism to learn about Tai Chi, it is useful to know some of the concepts, such as Yin and Yang and Wu Wei. We will look at some of these in more depth later.

But for now just try to remember that when these concepts are brought together, “Tai” and “Chi” they mean the ideas and not just the physical movements.

So, when you add the third ingredient “chuan” to the first two, you get the complete name and the complete concept: T’ai Chi Chuan - The system of fighting based on the principles of the mother of all things.
There, clear now?

Okay, i hear you ask....so What's with the accents? Why is it sometimes written with accents after the T and the CH. ?

Well I could answer: Pedantry.

I could say...Who cares what the difference is, the important thing is what they are in themselves, not how they are written! And this would be a fair point of view. But, we do need to be aware of the arguments, even if we are then going to go ahead and pooh pooh them.

Tai Chi is often written with an apostrophe between the T’ and the ai. Technically, this is the correct spelling - otherwise the pronunciation changes from a T sound to that of a D sound. Can you imagine calling it Dai Chi?
However, popular use dictates we ignore the rule, much to the frustration of linguists, purists and fantatical forum activists on the net.

You seee, Languages, one has to admit, adapt and change and in this case the simple spelling of Tai Chi - without apostrophe - to denote the practice is used as a standard.

Even many teachers who claim to only use the apostrophe spelling end up using the simple version when it comes to selling a book or an article. As so often is the case, markets dictate, and individuals follow suit.

Which brings us to the question of why its called TC sometimes and TCC other times.

Well, the word ‘Chuan’ at the end of Tai Chi means fist and so the whole phrase ‘Tai Chi Chuan' technically refers to the practice of Tai Chi as a martial art. Therefore, some teachers have singled out the shorter phrase Tai Chi to mean the non-martial practice of Tai Chi Chuan. But not all subscribe to this view.

Confused? you should be because a lot of the time I believe that is the intention. The more confused u are, the more readily you will swallow anyones theory no matter how absurd it sounds.

Hmmm, i think im digging my own grave here....

Fortunately, we have the venerable discipline of Bean Curd Boxing to clarify matters.


Bcb's use whatever rolls off the tongue better, whatever is quicker to type and whatever avoids the use of tricky accents.

Having said all of this...you still may see TC written as Tai Ji Quan and may wonder - with some justification - if this is a distant relative

First, Don't worry too much because it is still pronounced the same.

What we are touching on here is the same problem practitioners of Chinese arts have had to deal with for decades...whether we are looking at Chi Gung or Qi Gong, Kung Fu or Gung Fu, and of course Tai Chi or Taiji.

It all depends on which transliteration of the original Chinese you are reading. Some systems favour the Tai Chi Chuan approach (Wade-Giles) whilst others favour the Taijiquan version (Pinyin). Followers of each argue about the merits of one over another, to the absurd point of throwing threats and challenges about on forums to try and win the point.

but perhaps we ought to remind themselves that the only correct version is that which is written in its original tongue. All other versions are simply translations.

If u visit my blog you will see the words Tai Chi liberally scattered here and there without too much caution. This is because I do not really want to spend an inordinate amount of time arguing about the order of the letters, or the presence of an accent.

(Something we have already spent far too much time on already)

I'd rather focus on the concepts and ideas behind them. Strip away the unnecessary. As a lover of language I want to see things simplified, not confused.

Ron hogans excellent rewording of the Tao te jing
48.
Usually, we try to learn something new every day.
But if we want to get right with Tao, we have to let go of something every day.
We do less and less, until we end up doing nothing. And it's when we do nothing that we get the job done

And that's where I want to finish today. Reminding ourselves that the objective of doing less, yet getting stuff done is a fine practice amongst bean curd boxers envy where.

So, if after all that you still wish to engage in debate, then go ahead and choose your weapon ....With or without, plain or accented, old or new,...... just remember ..scratch the surface, remove the fine robes and you'll find we're all pretty much the same underneath.