Known as the taiji, or more straightforwardly, the yin-yang symbol, this classic image is the circle with two teardrop-shaped halves that represent coexisting opposites.
The 24-posture Simplified Form of Tai Chi Chuan, sometimes called the Beijing Form or Beijing 24 for its place of origin, is a short version of Yang style Tai Chi (also spelled Tai Ji or Taijiquan).
The form resulted from efforts by the Chinese Sports Committee in the mid-1950s to create a simplified form of Tai Chi as exercise for the masses. The traditional Yang family form, containing up to 108 postures, was truncated to 24 postures that would take four to eight minutes to perform and would introduce the essential elements of Tai Chi Chuan while retaining the traditional flavor of the original Yang style.
The halves each contain within them a smaller circle of the opposite color. The yin and the yang, the black and the white, with a bit of the other inside each, just like male and female in all species.
In the symbol, the two bodies, often said to look like fish, or even spermatazoa, are “chasing” each other in a clockwise direction—always clockwise, with the large head of each at the tail of the other.
The two parts pass through each other on a line because yin and yang are never separated. The outer circle represents the Tao, the all and everything of perceivable phenomena.
The small black circle in the white part and the small white one in the black part indicate that each half contains an element or seed of the other and therefore cannot exist without each other. This image clearly demonstrates the need in each of us for our personal-emotional counterparts and for balance. The symbol becomes a graphic depiction of wholeness.
Qi Gong - Eight Pieces of Brocade
Because it had official promotion in the People's Republic of China, and was taught by Chinese masters in other countries, the Simplified 24 is assuredly the Tai Chi form with the most practitioners throughout the world.
The Eight Pieces of Brocade, or Baduanjin, is one of the most common forms of Chinese qigong used as exercise. Also translated as Eight Silken Movements, the name of the form refers to how the eight movements impart a silken quality (like that of a piece of brocade) to the body and its energy. The ancient Baduanjin, dating back to the twelfth century, is designated as a form of medical (rather than a religious or martial) qigong, meant to improve health.
Qi
Energy flowing
through the body
Gong
Work, practice
In the practice of medical qigong, the focus is on healthful movement of the qi through the body, so that energy flows to all organs through the meridians, or channels. Repetition of the exercises helps to establish and maintain energy flow.
The eight separate exercises focus on a different physical area and qi meridian. The Baduanjin traditionally contains both a standing and seated set of eight exercises. In the modern era, the standing version is by far the most widely practiced. The particular order in which the eight pieces are executed sometimes varies, and the movements themselves vary from teacher to teacher.
