About Tai Chi Exercise Steps

If you’ve seen people doing tai chi in your local park, chances are they were performing a continuous set of movements that take anywhere from 10 minutes to half an hour to complete. This series of movements is called the tai chi form or set. A tai chi set is composed of anywhere between 24 and 128 steps, depending on the style. Each step in a tai chi set makes a particular contribution to the benefits of tai chi.

Origins

In their book “Tai Chi Ch’uan: The Technique of Power,” Tem Horwitz and Susan Kimmelman note that the origins of tai chi date to the 46th century BC, when an ancient king devised a curative dance based on the I Ching to heal his people. According to Lawrence Galante, author of “Tai Chi: The Supreme Ultimate,” the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, also called Ta-mo, taught the Shao-lin temple monks meditation, martial arts and stretching methods to improve their health. Shao-lin boxing developed into distinctive forms based on the movements of animals, such as the crane, snake and dragon. Many of the steps of the tai chi set are named after animals, reflecting their origins in the Shao-lin temple system.

Innovation

Legend has it that tai chi became its own formal practice as a result of the innovations of Taoist monk Chang San-Feng sometime between the 12th and 14th centuries AD. According to Horwitz and Kimmelman, a fight between a snake and bird inspired Master Chang to modify the Shao-lin boxing form to incorporate the soft style of the animals. The Patience T’ai Chi Association’s online article about the history of tai chi notes that the Chen and Yang families went on to develop their own distinctive styles of tai chi throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

Characteristics

Tai chi steps are characterized by slow, steady movements designed to focus the practitioner’s attention and energy or “chi” while building her strength. Tai chi is an internal martial art. According to the website Martial Development’s article on the topic, internal martial arts are marked by softness and slowness. By relaxing and focusing, tai chi practitioners allow their organs to move freely, increasing internal circulation and employing their full range of motion. These actions are responsible for the health benefits of tai chi.

Names and Meanings

The names of tai chi steps reflect the origins of the movements in animal-based exercise and fighting styles. “White Crane Spreads Wings,” “Carry Tiger to the Mountain,” and “Snake Creeps Down” are names of three movements in the tai chi set listed on the website of the International Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan Federation.

Each step of the tai chi set is designed to work a particular organ system in the body by stretching the “meridians” or energy lines associated with that organ, according to traditional Chinese medical theory. “Wave Hands Like a Cloud,” for example, is considered a cat or rabbit movement, and exercises the lungs. “Brush Knee” works the liver meridian.

Benefits

According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine’s report on tai chi research, practicing tai chi exercise steps improves cardiovascular fitness, immune system function and overall well-being. A 2008 review of published research reported that 22 of 26 studies found that tai chi practitioners experienced reduced blood pressure. Overall, the report suggests that preliminary results of tai chi studies are promising, but more research is required.