My understanding of Tai Chi

"Honey, come here, Let me teach you how to do Tai Chi", said my grandpa. When I was 10 years old, grandpa and I would go to a park to do some exercise as well as take a fresh breath every morning. Instead of sports like badminton and table tennis, my grandfather was very fond of doing Tai Chi. Although my grandfather has passed away for almost 5 years, I still remember his enthusiasm towards Tai Chi Chuan.

Unlike my grandfather, I was tired of this soft, gentle and slow sport at first. Every moment he tried to instruct me, I would show my impatience. However, rather than mad at me, he told me about the important status of Tai Chi Chuan in Chinese culture in order to raise my interest. Tai Chi Chuan, tai chi shoes one of the Chinese traditional martial arts, is the national intangible cultural heritage combining Yin and Yang in the book of changes and science of channels and collaterals. Amazed by its great honor, I began to change my attitude to it. Grandpa also told me that there have been different sayings about the origin of Tai Chi Chuan. However, most people agreed that the modern Tai Chi Chuan derived from Chen style Tai Chi Chuan, which first appeared during the 19th century of the Qing Dynasty. After a long term development, Tai Chi Chuan mainly consist of 5 forms which are the Chen, Yang, Wu, Wu and Sun styles.

After hearing the history of Tai Chi Chuan, I made up my mind to try to do Tai Chi with my grandfather, even if it seemed very strange for a young little girl to play such a old-fashioned sport. Up to now, I still more or less remember some movements, such as Kick with Right Heel, Needle at Sea Bottom and Cross Hands. Compared with intense exercise like basketball and tennis which are keeping the body fit by sweating, Tai Chi Chuan tai chi t-shirts seemed useless for me since I couldn’t see any changes of my body. When I talked to my grandpa about this, he smiled and said: “It’s wrong to judge whether a sport is useful or not just by looking the instant effect or the change of your weight. Just like what Yoga provides, Tai Chi Chuan is a practice with a perfect combination of physical movement, deep breath and meditation. According to the scientific research, it can improve our immune system, central nervous system, and strengthen the fitness. So, you see, isn’t it helpful to your health condition?” 

At last, I decided to stick to it and learn from my grandpa earnestly though I was still a little skeptical. Every time I wanted to give it up, grandpa would encourage me and show me some famous movies about Tai Chi Chuan. Besides, he also corrected my movements step by step. Even though his health condition was not very good, he tried his best to show me the right one. A year after, I found Tai Chi Chuan tai chi t-shirts really do good for me by strengthening my body as well as relaxing my mind. I also found that I could concentrate more on my study than before. Unfortunately, as soon as I wanted to tell my grandpa about the good news, he passed away without praising me for my attempt.

Nowadays, when I go through the park and see someone who is doing such a graceful, well balanced sport, I can’t help following his pace as if grandpa is instructing me aside. For me, Tai Chi Chuan is not only the honorable sport, but also the one contains my memory of love.