Читать книгу Tai Chi: A practical approach to the ancient Chinese movement for health and well-being - Angus Clark - Страница 4

TAI CHI IS a system of exercises or movements to promote health and longevity, and a comprehensive system of self-defense. Its roots are in China, where it evolved over many hundreds of years as a martial art and as a system of self-development. In the past, many of its techniques were preserved for generations as clan or family secrets, but very gradually, knowledge of the art spread throughout China. Now at the start and end of every day in villages, towns, and cities all over Chinese Asia, people can be seen practicing the slow, graceful movements of tai chi in courtyards, squares, and parks.

At dawn and as the sun sets in the evening, Chinese people go out to practice tai chi.

Tai chi was carried to the West in the 20th century, both by Westerners who had studied under Chinese masters, and by Chinese teachers who moved to the West. Nowadays, tai chi is well known in all Western countries, and a wide spectrum of people all over the world practice it regularly. In the West health organizations, schools, colleges, and even businesses now incorporate tai chi into their curricula and their training programs.

A cascade of cosmic energy sweeps through the body in the Squatting Single Whip posture.

Tai chi is a multidimensional art form that has the capacity to touch several important levels in the life of anyone who embarks on its exploration. Tai chi is not just about health or about self-defense, but about the development of the whole individual—body, mind, and spirit. This book will introduce you to tai chi as a system of movement with a variety of health, fighting, and self-development aspects. The roots of tai chi are ancient, but its principles remain applicable in the highly pressurized modern world.