Taijiquan and Qigong
Taijiquan
Usually called Tai chi. The phrase taijiquan is composed of three words:
tai, which means big, highest, grand or wonderful
ji, which means extreme, ultimate or pinacle
quan, which means fist or boxing
Taijiquan is often translated as the ultimate extreme of boxing, although it would never be confused with the UFC.
I like to translate Taijiquan as the boxing of Yin and Yang.
In practice Taiji, is a martial art but also as a soft-movement based therapy. The round and smooth movements of Taiji are the perfect combination of strength, flexibility and endurance that provide the practitioner with both a healthy low-intensity cardio exercise or a powerful martial art.
Qigong
We can translate the phrase “Qigong” as the work or study of the Qi*. So, any training or study of the behavior of qi can fall into this category. Traditionally there are three main branches of qigong: Martial arts qigong, religious qigong and medical qigong. Although the study of qi can be traced to all three disciplines. Most practitioners focus in to one or two areas.
My main interest is based on medical qigong and martial arts qigong.
* 氣 Qi can be thought as bio-electric, bio-chemical and neurological information traveling along our bodies.