Why is Taijiquan called Taijiquan?
This is because both the philosophy and application of this form of martial art are based on the concept of Taiji with its operating principles of yin and yang. Indeed, if you fail to understand the concept of yin-yang, you would have missed the essence of Taijiquan. For example, if you think that Taijiquan is only soft and never hard — a mis-conception not uncommon amongst many students of Taiji, and symbolized as regarding Taijiquan as only yin and never yang — you would probably be doing a Taiji dance rather than Taijiquan. If you perform only the external form of Taijiquan without appreciating its inner aspects of energy flow and mind — symbolized as performing only yang and missing yin — you would practise a physical exercise rather than an internal art for which Taijiquan is famous.
