What got you interested in Tai Chi?

[Soulthriller]

For those of you who practice Tai Chi, I was wondering what was the driving motivator for getting you interested in this energetic art? I ask because the answer for me is of a particularly emotional kind. I was 16 and decided to watch a film called Tai ji: Zhang San Feng (Twin Warriors or Tai Chi Master in english) and I was moved to tears of joy when I saw Jet Lee's charachter developing his tai chi mastery in a temple in China somewhere. I was so moved that I was ready to take a one-way flight to China and learn tai chi chuan in the genuine traditional way. I still plan to do this one day but that's my story, and I mention it because the initiating attractor field was a movie but it shows you that all paths lead to the summit (of course some paths take much longer and are more winding), if we can see them as such.

Edited December 3, 2010 by Soulthriller

[Junbao]

Hi Soulthriller!

 

As you can see from my nickname here I am also a fan of that film.

 

I got interested in Tai Chi after learning about Qigong. I have always loved watching Kung Fu movies and wanted to take classes as a kid but they were just to much money in a family with 5 kids. Later in life I got interested in learning about energetic stuff, and different theories related. I went to an open house at a massage school and we did a little qigong warm up. I had never heard of qigong before but felt the energy in my palms and it surprised me.

So I went crazy buying books and learning this and that and ended up looking into Tai Chi. So it's the best of both worlds for me. Qigong and Kung Fu. And it's also a meditative practice as well so there is another bonus!

I also think Tai Chi benefits other areas of life like balance, coordination, fluidity.

I don't think about it too much anymore but I do practice it each morning.

[Ten Thousand Methods]

I got interested in taijiquan for two reasons:

1. One of the schools where I train requires me to train both internal & external styles to attain rank
   
2. I thought it would make me better at northern external (wai jia) styles
   

 

I guess I'm guilty of using that dichotomy of internal vs. external which I know is not completely true. So-called external styles do have their own way of manifesting power which is not entirely "hard."

 

Taijiquan is not and never will be the main focus of my practice. I do hope that I benefit from it though.