Chi (chee-qi) is invisible life giving force know only by its effects.
Rivers streaming, plants growing, stars shining....
are manifestations of chi.

All functions of the body and mind are all manifestations of chi.

The goal of Tai Chi Chuan should be to stimulate the correct energy flow.

We are dealing with one and the same energy (chi).

Humans, animals, plants have their own Qi field,
which always seeks to be balanced.



How Qi works? Nature is an endless combination and repetition of a very few laws; there is only one Qi that connects and pervades everything that exists. The ancient Chinese described it as "life force", or "steam rising from rice as it cooks". Everything that exists is a manifestation of Qi. Qi is not just something surrounding us, it's part of us, and we're part of Qi. Qi (energy) is found in the Heaven (seen as the ultimate source of all being), in the Earth and "in every living thing found in the Universe". Within Heaven-Earth Qi, lives man with is own Qi.

Liesbeth, Rani and Friends.
The evolutionary roots of our own playfulness run deep.



Imitating characteristics and physical movements of animals
are the basis for Qi gong practice.

Taoism is the religion of "Heaven and Earth". The Qi of Heaven (the universal source of all being) is in the air we breath. The Qi of the Earth is our mother, she nourishes us (that which we put into the ground returns to us). Humans, animals, plants, everything that exists is influenced by the Qi of Heaven (yang) and nourished by the Qi of Earth (yin). And within this Heaven and Earth chi lives man with his own chi.

Taoists believe that Human Qi is affected and controlled by the immense power of Heaven-Earth Qi, and that they determine our destiny. Generally speaking Heaven Qi is the most powerful. Heaven Qi contains within it Earth Qi, when the Qi of Heaven-Earth is balanced, humans and animals will prosper, and plants will grow well. The best thing one can do is to let it grow: let it grow, and let it blossom. If Nature is your teacher the best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain, let it flow.

Taoists do not see Nature with their brains but with their understandings and their hearts. They need to view things from a cosmic perspective in order to see the big picture. To gain perspective means that we step back out of our own worldview and look at things from a cosmic worldview. We need to view things from a cosmic perspective in order to center ourselves, and we need to come back to our own perspectives "to ground" ourselves. But we also need to see things from other people's perspective in order to learn from them and relate to them. Raising awareness brings a Qi balance that allows us to be in tune with everything that exists. Perspective and awareness are like yin and yang.

Hua To:

Hua To (A.D.100-200?) has been called "the miracle working doctor".



Hua To's Five Animal play or the frolics of the five animals.

Hua To was a Chinese doctor and physician.

He practiced Chi Kung (Qi-Gong) and taught "the frolics of the 5 animals".

Since the discovery of Qi circulation in the human body (about 4000 years ago) Chinese doctors developed a successful medical science. They believed that in order to increase the Qi circulation you must move. Health is an ongoing process of maintaining balance and harmony in the circulation of chi, and from this you can see that we must live in harmony with the Qi of everything that exists.

Doctor Huo To's 5 animal play is perhaps the earliest form of Tai Chi. Inspired from the actions of different animals Hua To invented remedy dancing (Wu Qin Xi) to help maintain good health. He realized that abnormal Qi circulation is the beginning of illness and organ damage, and that specific body movements could increase the Qi circulation in specific organs. He thought that the best way to heal someone is to adjust and balance the Qi even before there is any physical problem.



Specific body movements can increase Qi circulation in specific organs.

Animal assisted therapy isn't a new concept. Doctor To advocated a system of imitating movements of animals to help exercise every joint in the body. His 'five animal play' (tiger-deer-bear-monkey-crane) are a set of chi stimulating and/or balancing exercises corresponding the five elements, and to the five Yin (zang) and the five Yang (Fu) internal organs in the human body. Each of this 5 animal movements is related to specific internal organs. In his vision the liver is the 'tiger in your body'. Later on came "the movements of 13 animals" (dragon,tiger,snake, horse, phoenix, monkey, bear, toad, chicken, magpie, crane, lion, lynx).

When one practices an animal play it is a combination of internal and external exercise. Body and mind, being yin and yang must come together to become one to function together. The mind (yang) must work to support the body (yin). Of all the body parts we train, none is more important than the mind.

What's the difference between Tai Chi and Qi gong?

Tai Chi is a martial art, it is a martial form of Qi gong. There are 3 categories of Qi gong. 1. medical Qi gong 2. standing standing meditation Qi gong 3. martial Qi gong. Tai chi is a martial form of Qi gong.

Qi gong means life energy work. Qi=energy, and Gong=work: physical, mental, spiritual. All categories are designed primarily to nurture the Qi, enhance its flow and massage the internal organs. Tai Chi and Qi gong exercises can be used to readjust the Qi circulation in the organs, they are your first aid as long as there is no physical organ damage. Keep in mind that all Tai Chi and Qi gong forms can be divided into two categories : external (limbs) and internal (torso). At that point you need a competent teacher. So, let's talk a little bit about medical tiger Qi gong...

So, let's talk a little bit about medical tiger Qi gong.....

Tiger chi. tiger qi

Tiger, let's talk about you!

Everything and everybody has his own 'chi'.
Even a tiger has his chi.
Tiger chi stands for great power and flow chi.


Science is knowledge, and knowledge has no end. The only limitations that knowledge knows of, are limitations imposed by human intellect. I am certainly someone who wants to take science seriously, but Tai Chi (Tai qi) is not science, basically it is an animal qi workout, an animal play. Chinese valued the profound connection between humans and animals, which represents the immense qi-power of the natural world. One thing that science says will make you happy : "Humans are animals too, and as animals we are just as dependent upon, and connected to nature, as any other wild animal on this planet". That's the rule, we should obey the rules, the problem is that humans are free to obey or disobey natural laws. The consequences are that nobody will escape the consequences of their choices. However, we can reduce our ecological footprint by not wasting qi.

Most wild animals don't waste their qi. Most of them are great martial artists, they have a much greater ability than that of humans to perceive danger or respond to a connection initiated by another being. If they did not, they would not stay alive very long. Today we depend on others for our nurturing, health and defense, we lost our survival skills. Survival is a common element in all human beings, we lost the natural ability we had as children to play, to do nothing, to fight and defend. Although ours has been lost over the years, the primordial instinct for survival is inside all animals, including human beings. Just remember that you have within you the drive (qi) and the ability to protect yourself.

The great power and flow of tiger chi.

   Photo : Olivier Matthijs

Tai Chi is meant to make the bones heavy and strong
(tiger or dragon bones)

Basically Tai Chi Chuan is an animal play. The goal of Tai Chi self defense is to feel again the dynamics of animal survival qi, and copy it to "become an animal". For that reason most martial arts tell us something about how we should imitate different actions of many different animals with the whole body-mind. In this case the purpose is that you develop the relaxed power of a pouncing tiger, the great power and flow of tiger chi. Why are tigers so strong and how do they defend themselves?

Tigers are extremely flexible, their bones are attached to the muscles and tendons without strong ligaments, shoulder bones are attached to the sides of the body by muscles. Tigers have spinal vertebrae which extend all the way to the tip of the tail, their movements are based on the sequential rotation of all joints of the body. Tai Chi tiger movements duplicate the fluidity and twisting motions of the tiger as it fights, you should twist and rotate, you should move your toes, your fingers, your anything. That way a tiger can attack with tremendous force and speed, and remain on balance and control of his body. His defense is just as offensive, but not only that, a tiger's goal is to explore forward with the entire body when advancing and cause the maximum damage possible with each individual strike.

The Tai Chi posture "Hua Bao", embrace tiger.

Poetry has played an important role in Taoist praxis. In Tai Chi Chuan there is a posture called "Hua Bao", what means embrace tiger. Embrace tiger; one Tai Chi posture, we embrace all possibilities in one. As Erle Montaigue said "we must treat a Tai Chi animal workout as a training device to teach us something, then we must forget it and put it deep inside, and this is were this advice becomes subconscious. Long Har Chuan is the area were we learn to forget advices, concepts and all we have learned about chi bringing it into real living life".
How tigers defend themselves, how do they survive? To survive, tigers need aggression (in life threatening danger we need aggression, not anger), we could call it 'fitness or adaption'. In traditional Chinese medicine aggression and anger are linked to liver qi, and for this reason the tiger is a metaphor for a strong and healthy liver- chi. Tiger represents the wood element in nature, and the balanced energy of wood is expansion, growth and movement, when the liver is weak that drive is diminished. The liver is related to the brain. Liver and eyes are closely related, the liver 'nourishes the eyes' and the logic of the five elements theory becomes clear as we know that 'the king of all beasts on earth', is able to see well in the dark. Tigers rest during the day, but come to life at night to hunt, they see things we cannot.

Tiger represents the wood element in nature (season: spring / organ: liver and gall bladder, the element associated with liver-yin organ- and gallbladder-yang organ- is wood). In TCM the liver and gall bladder are interconnected, the gall bladder is the decision maker.

Tiger movements in Tai Chi Chuan.

Wild animals, tigers don't know they exist, they just do their thing. We all have experience in dealing with tigers, tiger (=tiger qi) is within us. We have the power (chi) of the tiger within us, what means we all have "a tiger (=liver) in our body" (Chinese saying). Frustration, bitterness, resentment, rage, stubbornness, irritability, quick temper, impulsiveness, explosive outbursts, mood swings, arrogance, anger, aggression are linked to liver qi, and for this reason the Chinese symbol for tiger is a combination of danger and opportunity. The deeper meaning is that when we "embrace tiger" we embrace the danger as well as the opportunities. In fact we embrace all possibilities.

This is the essence of what I think to know : tiger chi allows you to do your own thing, when you are no longer freezing your chi, it will return to its natural state all by itself. But however, we need an eagle vision too. Erle Montaigue: "We should pounce like a tiger, but most important is that we should have the eye of an eagle ready to strike. In Kung Fu we see that the eagle has an unique seeing system which tells us exactly how we should be seeing when fighting". Your tiger-chi allows you to remain connected to your opponent, even though you are both moving rapidly (short range tiger vision), and your eagle vision allows you to see the entire context (long range eagle vision).