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Glossary
- Tae kwon do
- A Korean external martial art that emphasizes kicking techniques; also known as Korean karate.
- Tai Chi
- One of the three internal martial arts of China, most known for its emphasis on softness, slow-motion movement, and its sophisticated chi gung methodology based on whole-body physical coordination. Done by the majority of its practitioners primarily for health.
- Tai chi chuan
- Also known as tai ji quan, taijiquan or tai chi ch’uan. Supreme ultimate martial arts fist. One of the three internal martial arts of China, most known for its emphasis on softness, slow-motion movement, and its sophisticated chi gung methodology based on whole-body physical coordination. Done by the majority of its practitioners primarily for health, not combat. As a martial art, tai chi emphasizes softness, yielding techniques and counterattack strategies, and a blending of soft and hard internal power.
- Tai Chi Classics
- A nineteenth-century treatise on the foundational principles of tai chi chuan, said to be written by Wang Tsung Yueh. Contains short, cryptic phrases having multilayered meanings.
- Tai chi men
- A tai chi chuan school that has the complete martial tradition of tai chi chuan intact, usually from a lineage source.
- Tang ni bu (t'ang ni pu)
- Mud-walking. The basic chi and physical mechanics principles upon which the circle-walking steps of ba gua are based.
- Tantien
- Also known as tant’ien or dantian. The three primary centers in the human body where chi collects, disperses, and recirculates. They govern the energetic anatomy of a person. The practices of the three tantiens are at the operational root of all Chinese chi practices.
- TAO
- Also known as tao or dao. The Way. The practical mystical religion of China that forms the original underpinnings of classical Chinese culture, including the yin-yang play of opposites, Chinese medicine, and the art of strategy and war.
- Tao jia (dao jia, tao chia)
- The mystical inner esoteric practices of Taoism. Includes the beginning stage of Taoist meditation that involves methods for completely stilling the mind and an advanced stage, which involves internal alchemy, or transformation of inner energies for realizing and becoming one with the Tao, the nature of the universe itself.
- Tao jiao (dao jiao, tao chiao)
- The outer aspects of Taoism, including mediums, idol worship, and fortune telling.
- Taoist master
- An accomplished or “enlightened” adept of Taoist meditation, who has reached and completed the highest practices in Taoism. These individuls are exceeedingly rare.
- Thai boxing (muay thai)
- The traditional external martial art of Thailand. Originally practiced with gloves studded with ground glass, Thai boxing is now done with regular boxing gloves in a boxing ring. Known for its kicks, knee butts, and elbow strikes, this style of boxing is the original input for the full contact karate/kickboxing circuit that has become a major venue in the world of commercial martial arts tournaments.
- Three burners (san jiao)
- A Chinese medicine tenet concerning how the chi of the body is separated into three parts that need to be integrated to achieve optimum health and balanced chi circulation. The upper burner refers to the part of the body that includes the chest, arms, upper spine, neck, and head. The middle burner begins at the the solar plexus and ends at the lower tantien. It includes the middle spine, liver, kidneys, and spleen. The lower burner includes the lower belly, lower spine, sexual organs, hips, and legs.
- Ti tang earth boxing (di tang)
- Various systems of Chinese martial arts concerned with ground (earth) fighting.
- Ting jin (t’ing chin, ting jing)
- The ability to listen to and interpret the energy of another person in the internal martial arts.
- Toe-out/toe-in (bai bu/kou bu)
- Basic step performed in ba gua Circle-Walking.
- Tomeki style
- See Aikido.
- Traditional Chinese martial arts
- The martial arts that traditionally existed in China before the Communist revolution. Traditional martial arts are based on pragmatic fighting skills with the religious and philosophical underpinnings of Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist precepts.
- Tsa jr chuei
- One of the forms of hsing-i based on the Twelve Animal forms.
- Tsai (cai)
- Pull Down energy in tai chi chuan.
- Tsuan chuan (zuan quan, juan chuan)
- Drilling Fist. One of the five basic techniques of hsing-i chuan.
- Tui na
- Also known as twei na. The therapeutic bodywork system of China, which is considered to be of a higher level than ordinary Chinese massage (known as ammo). Included within its therapeutic interventions are acupressure, bone setting, and joint and vertebral manipulations, along with deep tissue myofascial, craniosacral, tendon and ligament work, and internal organ/gland realignment and rebalancing. When combined therapeutically with chi gung, it is called chi gung tui na.
- Tui Shou
- See Push Hands.
- Tun tu
- The Shaolin martial art term for sucking in and spitting out, which is not the same as, but which on the gross level bears similarities to, the internal arts practice of open/close.
- Universal Consciousness
- The underlying something, which cannot be defined, of which the whole universe is composed. Called the Tao in ancient China.