Vol. 8, No. 3, 1991

Articles on Other Religious Topics

Tai Chi, as it is commonly known, means "supreme ultimate fist." For most people it is a system of slow moving exercise often billed as "meditation in motion" or "the tranquilizer of the East."

It is a martial art that is advertised in many community school programs and colleges as an exercise, yet it is based on and promotes the Chinese religious philosophy of Taoism.

The movement of Tai Chi is based on two ideas about man and the universe, the fundamental theme of a balance or harmony between what appears to be opposite forces - the yin and yang (Martial Arts of the Orient, ed. Bryn Williams, pp. l58-l59).

"One feature common to all martial arts is the state of zanshin or total awareness... not a state achieved through an intellectual analysis... but rather... an intense and intuitive use of the senses," (Ibid, p. l2).

"All of these methods including tai chi seek to let the mind dissolve its identity with form and to identify with a cosmic unity... tai chi overtly seeks to integrate the physical reality with its philosophy and spiritual values," (Total Meditation: Mind Control Techniques for a Small Planet in Space, Van Over, pp. 84-85).