Overview

Details
Parent Category: Tai Chi
Category: Overview
Published on Friday, 05 April 2013 09:28
Written by Ian Sinclair (adminsinclair)
Hits: 237
Page 1 of 12

What is in a name?Taijiquan may be defined as the exercise or martial art based on the theory of yin and yang.

taijiquan - translation noun "Tai Ji shadow boxing", quan of taiji. Fist of ultimate polarity. Yin-yang boxing. Supreme duality martial art. Supreme Ultimate Fist.

  • 太極拳 (Traditional)
  • 太极拳 (Simplified)
  • Taijiquan
  • Tai chi chuan 
  • T'ai Chi Chu'an
  • Taiji or 
  • Tai chi

All of the above are simply different spellings of the same  (mandarin) Chinese word. It is often abbreviated as "tai chi" or "taiji." No matter how it is spelled, the pronunciation is the same. 

"Tai jee chwan"

taijitu-label

Most scholarly publication on the subject use the "pinyin" romanization of the word (taijiquan). But the term "tai chi chuan" is still in popular use. Most anglophones do not know the correct pronunciation of the pinyin, and do not know that taijiquan is tai chi. 

The first part of the word (taiji or tai chi), refers to the philosophical concept of yin and yang. The second part ("quan" or "chuan") literally means "fist" or "martial art" but is also used to refer to exercise routines or systems.