(Moved from TaoTeChing)

''TaiChi is a Taoist martial art.''

Yes. Now why does taoism need a martial art?

''It doesn't. TaiChi is just a martial art which uses TaoChia. There are many others, like HsinYee.'' -- GuillermoSchwarz

* TaiChi is influenced by Taoism, however, it is also influenced form the other Chinese's religions/philosophies Buddhism, Confucianism... To western eyes it may look like the Tai Chi should rise from Taoism  however history dose not support this notion. Here is the site with most reliable history of the art that I know: http://web.singnet.com.sg/~limttk/index.htm 

''There are three classic forms of Tai Chi. One is a meditation, one is a dance, and one is a martial art. BTW HsinYee is often transcribed Xin Yi.''

* I don' think there is an aspect of "dance" in TaiChi. The "Form" is a ChiKong (Qi Gong) - Movements aim to balance your body and make you healthy and vital. It is based upon the ChineseMedicine.  

''There is nothing in Taoism that prevents fighting per se. But as is taught in Aikido, which is indirectly derived from Taoist traditions (via Zen via Ch'an Buddhism in China, which was heavily influenced by Taoism), it's a good thing to learn to avoid having an attitude of fighting - what they call "fighting mind". The ultimate art in Aikido is to have non-fighting mind, which allows avoiding fighting when possible, but to more efficiently fight when it can't be avoided. This is compatible enough with Taoism to serve as an explanation for TaiChi as a martial art. -- DougMerritt''

[While the Aikido/Zen/Taoism connection is undoubtedly true, you risk overselling it. O Sensei was a devout practitioner of a form of Shinto, which provided a much more direct basis for Aikido's philosophy.]

* Yes. But there '''is''' an historical relationship, unlike e.g. western boxing, which has no connection whatsoever to eastern martial arts. The vast majority of sophisticated martial arts share a history with a single point of origin, although obviously that genesis is indirect.

Actually when two warriors fight, the one who avoids combat and engage in combat as a last resort is always the one who wins.

''To be more specific, the one who completely avoids combat always wins, since he doesn't have to fight. If he does fight, I hate to burst your bubble, but he might still be overpowered by superior skill, strength, or luck. Classic example is Steven Seagall. The Aikido community in Japan was (is) very, very unhappy with him, because he never learned non-fighting mind nor the rest of the philosophy, but nonetheless learned the physical skills well enough to get up to 7th or 8th dan. He's quite good, and there's no question but that he'd kick butt on someone of 1st dan, even if they had non-fighting mind.''

''But all else being equal, non-fighting mind will tend to win, because it brings greater mental harmony.''

I find your thoughts very natural an obvious. I agree with them in an intellectual level, but unfortunately TaiChi teaches that without using force or effort you can win. I would not fight StevenSeagal, but I would be really afraid to fight a good Taichist. TaiChi is the most lethal martial art known, it just only takes too many years to master how to do damage without doing anything. It feels like the attacker hurt himself and the TaiChist is never hurt or in pain. It scares the attacker, but as I said, if you practice TaiChi every day with a really good master, and if you are a good student who practices every day, it would take 10 years to have any ability to defend yourself. Simply too much. I've never heard that any Aikidoist was able to defeat a Taichist.

''It's hard to see how the situation would arise; the natural outcome would be for the two not to fight. But mind you, the mental/spiritual aspect of both Aikido and of Tai Chi are difficult to learn, and comparatively few do so, compared with the physical part, in either art.''

That's interesting. Taichi practitioners are told to never fight. Ever. There is risk of serious damage and even death. What taichists and also aikidoists do is to practice a very funny PushingHands practice that is totally inoffensive called in Taichi at least Tuiso [2-ee-soh]. Both people stand one in front of the other and they both rotate left 45 degrees and stand in horse riding position. Right wrist connects to right wrist. No force. No effort. They both do not move the arms, the feet can't move either, only the legs and the rest of the body. It is like falling from one leg to the other consecutively without stopping the movement. This is usually done very slow and the joined wrists describe a circle, parallel to the floor. practice this for 10 years and you can't be beaten by any martial artist. LOL.

* ''As a Taichi practitioner for more than 7 years, I can say that you are right.  In my opinion, If "Pushing-hands" performed this way, there is no chance that a fighter will come out of the process. We do it " a bit" differently - we really challenge each other, in turns. While I push I'm relay pushing - I do want to throw my partner away. Neutralizing such a push isn't easy, you need a lot of "listening" with your body, and you need that your body will be agile. The agility is learned in the Form. In addition, these exercises are just the basis for the fighting ability. It is crucial but not enough.''

I forgot to say that one person tries to touch the other's body or tries to separate the hands. The other tries not to be touched by the others hand or by his own hand and tries that the hands do not separate. When they tire, they use the other hand or they switch places. There are several forms of Tuiso. Some are really complicated. There are so many I can't remember. I can't claim to know Tuiso very well, even though I've practiced many years. Practicing Taichi takes a lifetime. 
 
''Touching hands is also practiced in Wing Chun kung fu; in fact I thought that was where it started - but maybe not, maybe I'm misremembering, and it was borrowed from tai chi.''

Many martial arts have similar '''PushingHands''' practices. In fact there were villages in ancient China in which they practiced no known martial arts except something collectively known as ''PushingHands'', predating all martial arts in China. Some say it even predates Taoism. Taichi is supposed to have borrowed ideas from PushingHands and if I remember correctly Tuiso means exactly ''PushingHands''. That said, it is not surprising that many Chinese martial arts have a form or another of ''PushingHands''.

I've practiced many ''PushingHands'' from several martial arts and nothing compares Tuiso in smoothness and effectivity. A common practice for a Taichist that practices Tuiso with a practitioner from another martial art, is to let the other practitioner fall down to the floor several meters away. This is usually performed over grass for safety and it doesn't require any force or effort. That doesn't require more than 3 years of Tuiso practice. 

Great masters may do something more delicate like put some Chi (InternalEnergy as TaiChi calls it) in any part of your body just by touching your hand. It really hurts and may produce internal damage if the energy is not made to flow rapidly. Great masters may make your energy (chi) flow without even touching you. Stopping the Chi is considered extremely harmful, because all living beings need the Chi to flow. TraditionalChineseMedicine is based on this idea and accupuncture and accupressure is only about letting Chi flow through the right channels.

''Um, DeathTouchIsaMyth. On the other hand, PointingTheBoneWorks.''