There is no philosophy about Taichi

For a long time, Tai Chi (marshal art) is seen as spiritual and philosophical. As far as I see, Tai Chi is a good way to move your body, but looking for philosophy from Tai Chi is like looking for sharks in the woods.

All Chinese marshal arts including Tai Chi require a half squad “stance” as the basic move, like this.

The question is: does it work?

In experiments, top boxers like George Foreman and Mike Tyson can punch with nearly a ton of force. However, when we watch boxing, their punches don’t look like a ton of force, right? Why? Well, when you punch a machine, the machine will absorb all the force. But an opponent can dodge, defense. Even they took a hard hit and fell down; they don’t absorb all the forces. On the other hand, if you take a stance and being hit by Foreman, then we will see what a ton of punch can do. He might knock your head off, because your stance is too damn steady.

What is Tai Chi? Well, Tai Chi is a military drill in disguise, so there is nothing too deep and mysteries about it. “The stance” is useless in fight. But think about it, if you were a solder in a cold weapon battle field, what is the most important thing to be alive? The answer is to be on your feet no matter how hard, how many people are pushing you. Now you know the real reason people practice “the stance”.

In Tai Chi there is a move that you use your back to hump your opponent, you know the move if you play video games. For example, Lei Fang from DOA uses that move. In fact, that move is not usable in real fight. But if you have a shield as weapon, that will be one of the most efficient move in combat.

It is probably not fair to say Tai Chi is not related to philosophy, but if philosophy is what you want, you will get nothing from it. If the answer is what you want, the answer is as simple as I told you.