Key difference: Tai Chi and Tai Chi Chuan are practically the same, as the former is the abbreviated form of the latter.

Tai Chin Chuan, or Tai Chi, is an ancient Chinese practice of exercise and meditation. It aims at integrating the physical and mental propensities of a person. Tai Chi finds a mention in the various Chinese literatures of the yesteryears. Books like ‘I Ching’ and ‘Tao Te Ching’ have served to provide people with the knowledge of learning Tai Chi, implementing it in one’s daily routine, and using it to counter afflicting situations, in terms of one’s mind and body. 

The term Tai Chi, basically means the “supreme ultimate fist”. It is a discipline devoted to achieve unity and harmony between the mind and the body of a person. Tai Chi is highly influenced by the Taoist and Buddhist monasteries, and first originated in China. The basic tenets of Tai Chi include self-defense and maintenance of one’s health. The health here refers to the physical and also mental fitness of a person, which is why Tai Chi comprises the three important modules of: health, meditation and martial arts.

The fundamental premise of Tai Chi is to be responsive and aware of the opponent’s vital energy, also known as ‘Chi’. Tai Chi teaches a person to anticipate and react to the opponent’s moves and movements, without instigating any on one’s own. It is the knowledge of using an opponent’s vital force to one’s advantage. Keeping this in mind, Tai Chi involves the practice of slow movements, which enable a person to learn the art of balancing himself/herself in all conditions, and also eliminate the risk of falling.

Tai Chi is a soft and hard type of martial arts form. It emphasizes more on the soft part of martial arts, such as happiness of the soul, peace, inner harmony, meditation, etc. Tai Chi’s slow and relaxed movements feel like a rhythmic dance routine, which ease a person’s frayed nerves, and provide a much needed vent to his/her body for seeping out tensions, worries, anxieties, etc. Modern forms of exercises such as gymnasium, swimming, etc. render one’s body tired after a session of two, but Tai Chi enables a person to feel energized, even after a rigorous session.

According to many myths and legends, Tai Chi is said to have evolved from simple movements of ancestral birds and animals. The movements carried out by these creatures form the base of the current Tai Chi renditions. It is also notable that the concepts of Tai Chi reach far out wide to different faculties of the Chinese culture. These concepts feature handsomely in divination practices, literature, poetry, painting, calligraphy, traditional Chinese medicine, and the esoteric arts of Buddhist and Taoist temples, etc.

Therefore, Tai Chin Chuan, or Tai Chi as it is popularly known, not only provides a person with a tool to establish himself/herself in perfect tranquility, but also to ward off mental and physical ailments and disorders alike. 

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