Taiji Quan (Shadow Boxing), is one of the Chinese National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, is an art combining Chinese traditional philosophy with martial art. It contents deep and profound thoughts of Chinese people about the cosmos and human themselves. On October 14, 2016, the International Faculties Club organized a Taiji Boxing course for foreign faculties with the direction of Professor Wang Dongmin from the Department of Physical Education and an invited expert on Taiji.
At 2:30 pm, despite of the awful weather, our foreign faculties came to Jingyuan Meadow, motivated by their great curiosity and enthusiasm of Taiji. With the direction of Prof. Wang, they started to do some warmups and stretching. Afterwards, the expert started introducing the history, styles and spirt of Taiji, hoping that the faculties could not only know the moves of Taiji boxing, but also understand the cultural core behind them. The expert stressed several times that the most important element of Taiji boxing is breathing, and he first demonstrated the moves of upper body and how it cooperated with breathing. After practicing for a few times, the faculties all mastered the moves very fast. And while they were practicing, two teachers went to correct their gestures patiently and taught them carefully how to use their breathing to lead their moves but not the other way around.
Having practiced for about half an hour, they took a break. In the meantime, the expert demonstrated two different styles of Taiji boxing to the faculties. One is Yang`s style, which is tender and smooth, the other is Chen`s style, which is strong and powerful. This demonstration showed them that Taiji boxing was not just a way to strengthen one`s body, but also a lethal martial art. The faculties were amazed at the strength behind those soft moves and attracted by Chen`s style.
After the break, the faculties began to learn the moves of lower body, that is feet and legs. Soon, they apprehended them and with the lead of the expert, they could combine the moves of upper and lower body together and play a complete set of Taiji boxing. The expert also showed to the faculties how the moves they have learnt worked in real fight. He invited one of the faculties to be his opponent and displayed how they worked on people, in order to help them better comprehend the moves. In the end, the expert also taught them the traditional salute in Chinese martial art and explained the meaning of it.
Soon, without any notice, it came to the time to end. The faculties took a picture with two teachers and expressed their appreciation of this course. Not only did they experience the culture of mysterious Taiji first-hand, but also can continue practicing back home.
