Where Does Tai Chi Come From?
Ads for Tai Chi are popping up on phones. It is as though Tai Chi proponents are trying to make it the new Yoga — an “exercise” that will draw many people because it seems exotic and healthy. But it also appears spiritually neutral or maybe just with the tiniest tinge of spirituality that seems non-threatening and compatible with anything.
Tai Chi is based on belief in the Tao, which is the religion of Taoism, a religion that arose from early Chinese shamanism (see CANA articles related to Shamanism).
“…the roots of Taoism lie in the tribal and shamanic cultures of ancient China, which settled along the Yellow River some 1,500 years prior to that time. The wu—the shamans of these cultures—were able to communicate with the spirits of plants, minerals and animals; enter trance-states in which they traveled (in their subtle bodies) to distant galaxies, or deep into the earth; and mediate between the human and supernatural realms. Many of these practices would find expression, later, in the rituals, ceremonies and Inner Alchemy techniques of various Taoist lineages.” History of Taoism on Learn Religions
Belief in the universal energy “Chi” is also at the heart of Tai Chi, which is known as a moving meditation, though technically it is a martial art. We can’t stop there though; the forces of Yin and Yang are also involved. Yin/Yang are technically seen as one though appearing as opposing dual energies:
“Yin and yang literally mean “dark side” and “sunny side” of a hill. They are mentioned for the first time in the Xice, or “Appended Explanations” ( c. 4th century bce), an appendix to the Yijing (Wade-Giles: I Ching;Book of Changes): “A succession of yin and yang is called the Tao.” Yin and yang are two complementary, interdependent phases alternating in space and time; they are emblems evoking the harmonious interplay of all pairs of opposites in the cosmos.” From Britannica
This article has several parts:
- Answering a question I was sent
- Breakdown of a video on Tai Chi
- My past brush with Tai Chi
- A true story about Tai Chi and its effects
- Summary Warning
Question on Tai Chi
I received this question:
“My best friend is now involved in tai chai for exercise at the senior citizens center….She vows not to pledge allegiance to any other god than the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Jesus Christ! I have never heard anything about tai chai before, except that it sounds like it’s of Eastern origins. Have you ever done a post on it before that I may have missed?”
I would answer something like this:
Please know this: every movement in Tai Chi honors the Tao. The Tao is the source of everything in Taoism and is the “way” — Taoism doesn’t have a god but it has gods. And Tai Chi honors chi, which is the same ‘force’ used in sorcery and the occult.
Tai Chi is an integral part of Taoist spirituality.
It always has to do with finding balance between heaven (the Taoist view), man, and earth and connecting them. It is oriented to nature and to grounding you in nature as well as finding harmony through the flow of chi within and without.
The movements in Tai Chi are meant to manipulate both outer and inner chi in order to attain a harmony between self, nature, and the heavens, as well as to balance Yin-Yang. This information is easy to find on the Internet:
“The practice of Tai Chi is the physical interpretation of the Tao philosophy — a teaching built upon the belief in unity of all things found in the universe.
In this opening session, you’ll learn the pivotal, spiraling, coiling force of Tai Chi as it first emerges in form. You’ll learn how this opening Tai Chi movement activates the Yin and Yang energies of the body and moves Qi throughout your being… and dive deep to discover the role of the mind in harmonizing the Yin and Yang polarities.” From The Shift Network
Do you want to experience the “spinning, coiling force of Tai Chi” emerging in you? It is similar to kundalini in Yoga because all such energies are the same thing and, what is more, they are the same thing as the power or force in sorcery (see subsection below, “A Dark Side of the Tao”).
Video Exposes the No-god of Taoism
You can hear the spirituality of Taoism is in a basic explanation in this six minute video by a British student of Taoism and the words of his teacher, Master Gu talking about the Tao being within. At about 1:22, the student states:
“We don’t have to rely on an external God. Through our own actions, we can find balance….The Tao is the underlying order of the universe. What is important is to be sensitive to how the universe works and then try to live in harmony with it. That is what is meant by following the Tao.”
Tai Chi teaches how to get in harmony with chi and the Tao which is illustrated through movement. Every move in Tai Chi has a Taoist meaning. At 3 min., the Chinese teacher states:
“Human beings come from nature. We must follow the nature’s path.”
With no Creator God in Taoism, the focus is on nature and self. The teacher is a very likeable and energetic man, a good advertisement for Taoism and Tai Chi. This is the way it always is with Eastern and New Age philosophies and practices: Without fail, they always appear helpful, positive, and empowering.
A Dark Side of the Tao
But these beliefs also have a dark side. Taoism spawned a deeply occult set of practices (sorcery) that involve the manipulation of chi, and the line between what appears to be the uplifting side of Taoism and the darker side is very thin. On a page offering a video on “Taoism sorcery and its Cultural Practices,” the author writes:
“The practice of Taoist magic will be presented through its two branches: outer alchemy (waidan) and inner alchemy (neidan). We’ll talk about the greater spiritual objectives of practicing Taoist magic and what thousands of years of experience and wisdom have to say about how to achieve those objectives.
Starter tips will be offered, such as beginning work with Jiu Tian Xuan Nu, the Lady of the Ninth Heaven, recitation of Kuan Yin’s Great Compassion Mantra, and other thoughts for branching out in a direction that’s going to make the most sense for you.”
Taoist sorcery has been around a long time and is based on the same beliefs and principles as Tai Chi. (Feng Shui is also from Taoism and includes practices of divination).
My Past Brush with Tai Chi
I was very interested in Taoism, especially after reading Fritjof Capra’s The Tao of Physics, and I voraciously read it while I was getting into the New Age (I had read the Tao Te Ching in college). I was naturally drawn to Zen Buddhism (after a stint in Tibetan Buddhism) because Zen in Japan is derived from Chan, the Chinese form of Buddhism that combined Taoism with Buddhism.
My then-husband and I went to a Tai Chi teacher in Atlanta because we were interested in practicing Tai Chi. The teacher, an older Chinese man, was gravely serious and peppered us with questions about why we wanted to do Tai Chi. Then he gave us each several pages of a form to fill out. I can’t recall what was in the form but my we became discouraged by all the questions and the severity of the whole process and so we abandoned our quest.
We apparently had gone to a very strict and serious Tai Chi teacher who, I am guessing, would frown on the way it is promoted now.
Tai Chi is serious business because it is innately spiritual. It cannot be an exercise or harmless meditative movements. It honors the Taoist principles and beliefs and opens one to spiritual influence as much as Yoga does.
From CANA article on Chi/Qi/Ki:
“Chi/qi has parallels to prana (the divine breath of the cosmos in Hinduism) in India. Prana is an energy ‘upon which all things depend for health and life,’ (Rosemary Guiley, Harper’s Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experience, Edison, NJ: CASTLE BOOKS/Books Sales, Inc., 1991, p. 626).
Known generally as the ‘universal life force,’ this energy is also known as ‘bioenergy,’ (Ibid, 629-30), ‘vital energy,’ ‘vital force,’ or, most commonly in the United States, the ‘life force.’ Manipulating, channeling, and balancing the universal life force is the basis of many alternative healing methods, such as acupuncture and Reiki, and is sometimes termed ‘energy healing.’
Chi or qi is also the basis for acupuncture, Tai Chi, and Feng Shui. One of the purposes of Tai Chi is to facilitate “the flow of qi through the body,” (Guiley, p. 599). ‘Just as acupuncture, chakra balancing or shiatsu massage can adjust the flow of energy in the body, so can Feng Shui adjust the flow of energy around us,'(Henwood, Belinda, with Consultant Howard Choy, Feng Shui, Pownal, VT: Storey Books, undated, p. 6). The chi must flow ‘not too quickly and not too slowly,’ and will stagnate or become destructive if it is blocked (Ibid).> — From CANA article, “Chi, The Universal Energy”
This so-called life force is found universally in pagan religions and the occult, and used extensively in pagan and occult healing practices. It is the same power or energy used in sorcery, yet this dark occult principle is being sanitized (usually with pseudoscience) as the basis in many alternative healing modalities.
A True Story about Tai Chi
Some years back I spoke to an after-school Christian club at a high school. Afterwards, a 15-year old student told me she had been doing Tai Chi for 2 years. Her mother, a Christian, had been taking it and urged her daughter to do the same. This student wanted to know if it was okay, but she also told me she was bothered by a feeling of energy in her hands.
She held out her hands to me and said she could sometimes feel them throbbing with energy like electricity, and at times it bothered her because it was so strong. I immediately know this was from the Tai Chi. (I had experienced the same thing in the New Age via my meditation and “healing” practices).
I asked her if she still prayed and went to church. She said no, she had stopped.
I asked her when that happened, and she said “almost 2 years ago.”
My response was, “You realize that is when you started taking Tai Chi.” The look on her face showed a realization of the timing.
I saw the correlation clearly and then told her Tai Chi was taking her away from Christ. I told her the “energy” she felt in her hands was from the Tai Chi. I prayed with her and urged her to consider stopping the Tai Chi lessons. She seemed unsure about stopping, as though she couldn’t. She had my business card and I told her to keep in touch.
The student emailed me maybe a month later and told me that she was thinking about what I said, and that the feeling in her hands had become stronger. I urged her again to stop taking Tai Chi. We had a few more email exchanges; the final email from her was about 6 months or so later. She told me she had stopped the Tai Chi and was very glad she had done so. She was getting back to church and prayer.
I think this story illustrates the fact of the spiritual element in Tai Chi. It is an occult influence but one might not notice the effects or else might not care because that is the purpose — to woo you away from anything to do with Christ.
Summary: Tai Chi is Spiritual
Tai Chi is very much a spiritually based teaching. Although it is done with physical moves, it is based on supposedly aligning yourself with the universal energy, chi. When I am asked about martial arts (Tai Chi is considered a martial art), I always advise people to avoid Tai Chi and Aikido because both are strongly based on spiritual beliefs. In the 1990s, as alternative “healing” started mainstreaming, Tai Chi was offered more and more to senior citizens as a way to help them with balance. Now it is promoted as a method of exercise and relaxation.
In addition to these practices, the Star Wars series promoted many concepts of chi and yin/yang.
Some practices based on Taoism/Chi beliefs:
EFT (Tapping)
Acupuncture/Acupressure
Shiatsu
Feng Shui
Cupping
Qi-Gong
Aikido
Use the search box on this site for articles on Chi, Therapies Yin and Yang, Reiki, Feng Shui, The Tao and God, Life Force Energy, and Star Wars by putting those words in the search box.
Image from kabita Darlam