Can Tai Chi Chuan be Used for Fighting?
Many people, especially in the West, will be quite surprised that Tai Chi Chuan can be effectively used for fighting. In fact the term “Tai Chi Chuan” means “cosmos martial art”. All great Tai Chi Chuan masters since classical times have practised Tai Chi Chuan as a martial art and all Tai Chi Chuan classics have described it as a martial art, although the older texts often paid more attention to its function in spiritual cultivation than in combat efficiency. If you do not know the martial dimension of Tai Chi Chuan, you would have missed the essence of this wonderful art, and would probably have practised it as a dance. Even if your main intention of practising Tai Chi Chuan is for health reasons, you would have missed the best health benefits of Tai Chi Chuan if you do not practise it as a martial art. This is because if you practise Tai Chi Chuan as a dance, the most you can get are the benefits a dance can give such as flexibility, elegance, loosening muscles and blood circulation
