Where does tai chi come from?

We can trace the history of tai chi with varying degrees of accuracy, and with some confidence. In fact, we will do this, in stages, in future lessons. But the point I want to make first of all is that tai chi comes from people.

The art is, therefore, the product of strengths and weaknesses of human intellect, experience, ability, and character. I want my students to be careful when they think about what they are studying, when they study tai chi. When you learn from a person, you are learning from their experience. But when you learn a style, you are learning from the experience, ability, culture, historical context, and pathology of a person or a group of people. You will find yourself learning things that have little or no relevance to your life, to your time period, to your gender, to your culture. Medicine, science, and warfare have certainly changed a lot in the last few centuries. Learning methods that were current at the time of Johannes Kepler could stand to be updated. Learning medical theory that was current at the time when bloodletting or trepanning were the rage. Of course, we must also be careful to “not throw the baby out with the bathwater.” There is a surprising amount of ancient knowledge that is still current.

I remind my students that there is no guarantee that your teacher’s tai chi will be perfect for you. In fact, many traditional teachers will be saddened if their students are mere mimics, and don’t make the art their own. If you are a perfect copy of your teacher, there is a risk that you will be not so much a practitioner of an art, as you will become a curator of a style. History is extremely valuable, and understanding the historical style can be very useful. If you do curate a style, do it well. But also be an artist. A good musician can master Baroque and Classical music, and still become great at Jazz and Rap.

As much as we revere the ancestors, we must remember that the creators’ greatest attributes extended far beyond memory. The created the art form through their creativity, insight, and discernment. If we are to emulate them, and not merely mimic them, then we must be open to our own creativity. This is a much greater challenge. Can we take the lessons of the past and apply them to our own self-expression?

Tai chi comes from you.

Learn the foundations. Learn the principles. Learn the forms and routines. Learn the ancient terminology. But also learn to put that understanding into your own words. Translate the understanding into simple or complex terminology of your own, and present a new understanding that will survive myth, mysticism, idioms, philosophical insights, and future scientific revelations.

A lot of discovery has happened since the invention of tai chi. Science, art, dance, sport, martial arts, medicine, and culture have come a long way.

Over the decades and centuries, Tai chi has liberated a lot of minds and bodies. Don’t betray it. But you won’t keep it safe if you trap it a box.