Master Tse’s Taiji Fist #5

Benefits of Taijiquan

What benefits will we get when we practice Taijiquan? Although there are five major styles but they all share the same principles, no matter which one we are practicing we can say we are practicing the same Taijiquan and we see people practicing all around the world.

The first and most obvious benefit of practicing Taijiquan is good health. Most traditional Chinese Kung Fu 功夫 or Wushu 武术 is good for health, but this does not include the modern Wushu as modern Wushu training is purely physical and not internal and so it can injure the body, same a lot wrong martial arts training Taijiquan is seen as making people healthier than other styles of Kung Fu as it is based on relaxation.

Practicing Taijiquan whichever style we follow the principles will make us healthy. The first principle is relaxation and because we move in a relaxed way it looks slower. Slow movements can help us relax as we can think about every part of the body instead of moving very quickly and missing the detail. However this does not mean Taijiquan does not move quickly. When the energy flows well, the body is relaxed and clear the movements can be fast and powerful. It is like water flowing in a river, the more water there is the faster it will run, and also it is like electricity, the more electricity the more power there is and the brighter the lights will shine.

Michael Tse