Tai Chi Chuan and Taoism
Outside of Confucianism, Taoism is probably the most important and influential school of thought native to China. Taoism promises us a deeper insight into the principles that underlie the very operation of the universe itself. It stresses harmonizing the mind and body in order to attune oneself to the natural order.
Lao Tzu, the legendary founder of Taoism, wrote the 5000 character classic and central treatise of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching (Classic Book of the Way and Its Virtue). The teachings of Lao Tzu are based on a great underlying principle, the Tao or "Way," which is the source of all being. Through the understanding of this principle, all the contradictions, divisions and distinctions of our existence are ultimately resolved. This principle can only be understood intuitively. Grasping the Tao intellectually or through some rationally derived procedure is pointless.
"Tao" is usually translated as road, channel, way, doctrine, or line. Tao can be roughly stated to be the flow of the universe, or the force behind the natural order, equating it with the influence that keeps the universe balanced and ordered. The contemplation and appreciation of nature, which are central features of Taoist thought seem to have been reflected in the genesis and even the names of many Tai Chi movements.
Taoism theology emphasizes naturalness, vitality, peace, "non-action" (wu wei), emptiness (refinement), detachment, the strength of softness (or flexibility), receptiveness, spontaneity, the relativism of human ways of life, ways of speaking and guiding behavior.
As Taoism evolved over the years through the teachings of Lao-Tzu and other philosophers, it was realized more and more that spiritual development also called for a sound physical being. Teachers like Chuang Tzu (399-295 B C) first introduced the movement philosophy through their writings, which forms the core philosophy of Tai Chi. It stresses balance, flexibility and agility rather than on the use of force, and marked the first shift towards the "Nei-chia" (internal intrinsic) school of exercise. By "intrinsic" it is meant that Tai Chi, as also Taoism, draws on the inherent internal strengths of the being, through an understanding of equilibrium - of "Using softness to defeat hardness" – rather than using brute external power ("A force of 4 ounces can overcome a force of 1000 pounds").
The Tao Te Ching seems to reflect philosophically the physical movements and skills which underscore the art of Tai Chi.
Tai Chi Chuan and Taoism are therefore inexorably linked together. Tai Chi is a physical representation of Taoist ideals, the ungraspable made graspable through physical principles whose very movement reflects the motion of the Tao itself.
Curriculum
Hand Forms• 24 Form • 8 Form
• 16 Form • 40 Form
• 108 Form
Weapon Forms
• 32 Tai Chi Straight Sword
• Tai Chi Fan
Class Times
Mondays:
5:30pm – 6:30pm
Thursdays:
5:30pm – 6:30pm
Tuition
Single class: $13
Location
THE BEAT -
Eddie Brown Center
for the Arts
2560 9th Street, #119
Berkeley, CA 94710
Map 
Photos
Contact/Inquiries
Please contact Andreas Asmus at 510.849.0892 or 
asmusa@pacbell.net