It originated in China over 400 years ago and was traditionally handed down within families. It teaches a solo form, three two-person exercises and verious weapons. Its goal is to teach a decidedly counterintuitive technique that we call Ti Fang (an uprooting technique that causes both your opponent's feet to leave the ground as he is tossed away with an effortless push). Its meditative and martial practices are based on Taoist traditions, and in that vein its martial application does not rely on the practitioner's speed or strength. It is a practice that fortifies the body and makes the timid brave.

Ti Fang: Tai Chi’s Secret Uprooting Skill

Tai Chi is magic! Not in the sense that it is beyond the laws of physical reality, but in the sense of a magic trick. While sleights of hand may appear miraculous, they are actually techniques so subtly executed that their mechanics cannot be readily understood by anyone who has not properly studied the magician’s craft. It confounds assumptions we make about physical interaction and contact.

It is so subtle as to seem magical, and thus why the explanations of Tai Chi’s results are attributed to chi or other extraordinary concepts. But Ti Fang, which is the fundamental explanation for Tai Chi’s extraordinary combative capacity, can be explained in decidedly physical terms.