T’ai Chi, Chinese martial art practiced for health and relaxation and as a form of self-defense. The name comes from Chinese words meaning “great ultimate.” It is also known as t’ai chi ch’uan, “great ultimate fist.”

T’ai chi is based on the Chinese principle of yin and yang, in which opposing but complementary forces combine to create harmony in nature. According to traditional Chinese medicine, disease is caused by a disturbance in the flow of qi (ch’i), or life force. Practitioners of t’ai chi believe that it can promote physical health because it enhances the flow of qi. T’ai chi is also taught as a form of meditation and mental exercise in which students learn to center and focus their mental powers.

Many legends surround the origins of t’ai chi. One states that it was invented in the late 14th or early 15th century by Zhang San-feng (Chang San-feng), a wandering Daoist (Taoist) monk who had studied martial arts for many years. He observed a fight between a snake and a crane in which the snake won through relaxed, evasive movements and quick counterstrikes. Inspired by the snake’s loose but controlled movements, Zhang San-feng devised a fighting form that emphasized strength, balance, flexibility, and speed. Over the centuries, t’ai chi has evolved into a system of exercise that utilizes soft, slow, relaxed movements.

Today, t’ai chi is most commonly practiced as a series of movements known as the form. The form consists of a sequence of slow, carefully coordinated movements that flow together into one continuous motion. Individual movements have names such as “hand strums a lute,” “part the wild horse’s mane,” and “the white crane spreads its wings.”

T’ai chi encompasses other sets of movements as well. One, called “pushing hands,” is a sequence practiced by two people together. In its most advanced form, t’ai chi can be a powerful martial art. According to tradition, 19th-century t’ai chi master Yang Lu-chan fought more than 20,000 times without ever losing. Today the most commonly taught basic form of t’ai chi is called Yang style, after Yang Lu-chan.

T’ai chi continues to be extremely popular in China, where in many places groups of people practice together at sunrise in city parks. T’ai chi is also practiced widely in the United States and other Western countries.