"A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral."

-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Tai Chi originally was designed for combat. As a combat system it has many martial arts encoded within it. Every art (or science) has it's unique approach and philosophy, Tai Chi's is very clear.

It was developed to defend against someone in strong armor. The goal was to easily make contact and then off-balance the opponent. The armor would then serve against them as they would struggle to get up, at which point they would already be overwhelmed with strikes or Qin Na (grab control) applications.

As some of the practitioners were of a smaller stature, more emphasis was placed on reserving energy and strength, and through necessity the techniques were formed.

In modern society the applications are that much more effective. The average person isn't wearing armor, so the ability to effortlessly manipulate a much larger opponent appears almost superhuman.

The strikes are also designed to penetrate armor (or at least be as effective as possible against it). This is one of the reason's for traditional Iron Palm and Iron Fist development.

"So similar to Karate" you might think... Pre-World War II, Karate translated to 'Chinese Hand' not 'Empty Hand', perhaps this eludes to Karate's origins.

Taiji is often viewed as inferior in today's world, but what you don't know can hurt you.

Tai Chi in short is awareness of human anatomy mixed with martial movements. Power is developed by controlling and turning your centre of balance, while maintaining proper alignment.

We focus on technique, application, combat, and form; in that order. This is the opposite flow of modern classes, instead we keep with tradition and our focus is on combat.

TAIJI APPLICATIONS - Chen Ziqiang