It is a problem. That’s what it is.
For one thing, “qi” is a word, and words are always a problem.
Moreover, Qi is a Chinese word, and Chinese words are nothing but trouble. I sometimes think that if you don’t speak Chinese, you really have no business using Chinese words. They never mean what you think they mean. My nickname, “Tai chi panda”, sounds way too much like “taiji chest hair.”
The normal problem is that westerners have a hard time understanding the importance of tones in Chinese. You can tell them it is a bit like putTING the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble. Or the difference between desert and dessert. But it is much bigger than than. That is why beginners who learn Chinese are often taught a tongue twister like
Māmā qí mǎ. Mǎ màn, māmā mà mǎ 妈妈骑马。马慢， 妈妈骂马.
Mother rides a horse. The horse is slow, mother scolds the horse.
氣 Qi is pronounced “Chee” and is often written as chi, which leads to some confusion when people learn tai chi and don’t realize that it is a different word entirely.
But the particular problem with the word “qi” is that it has different meanings. And most of these meanings can be applied in the context of a tai chi class.
Taiji or Tai chi
(same word, two different spellings, same pronunciation)
The Chinese characters are
太极 (simplified version) or
太極 (full version)
It is often an abbreviation for
Taijiquan or Tai chi Chuan
(same word, two different spellings, same pronunciation)
太极拳 (simplified) or太極拳 (full)
Qi or Chi
(same word, two different spellings same pronunciation…”chee”)
The Chinese character is
气 (simplified version) or
氣 (full version)
A common meaning of “qi” is breath or respiration. Tai chi places a great importance on breath. Your teacher might say, 深吸一口气 Shēn xī yī kǒuqì. “Take a deep breath.” Whereas covid-19 can cause 上气喘促 Shàng qìchuǎn cù (Shortness of breath) also called 气促 Qì cù.
Qi can also mean air or gas , as in Hūxī kōngqì. – “breathe the air.” 呼吸空气
It could also be used to refer to flatulence qìzhàng 气胀 or shǐqì 矢气.
Once, a famous old Chinese tai chi teacher, while commenting on the effectiveness of tai chi at improving digestion and getting out the impurities, once said that the purpose of tai chi was “to belch and fart.”
This brings us to another meaning of the word qi.
• smell / odor. 气 / 气味 Qìwèi literally means “Gas taste”)
By the way, if you type the sentence, “Exercises like taijiquan can make you belch and fart.” into a certain online Chinese translation program, it returns the sentence “Exercises like