Tai Chi Chuan at the SHINDOKAI Dojo

Taikyoku Ken is a Japanese version of the Yang Tai Chi Chuan who is founded by Yang Ming Shi (Japanese Yo Meiji) often compared with shadow-boxing in Europe. Translated, "tai kyoku" means the highest, the ultimate, and "ken" hand or fist.

Tai kyoku ken is a sequence of movements executed in a harmonious and slow way. It serves the maintenance of bodily health and can also function as a soft way of self-defence if trained in partner exercises.

Its movements are designed to make the practitioner's joints lithe again and reestablish the balance of his or her inner flow of energy.

Tai Kyoku Ken is a Taoist exercise in close contact with the teachings and basic ideas of Taoism. It is also closely related to the philosophy of Ying and Yang, the contrasts of hard and soft, black and white, full and empty, etc. and the ways (Do) of heaven (Tendo), earth (Chido) and humankind (Jindo). This art of movement can be learnt at any age and practised right into older age. As many other Martial arts from China Tai Chi Chuan comes to the mainland of Japan and is now known as Tai kyoku ken in Japan.

The beginnings of Tai kyoku ken date back to the chinese As many othe Martial art Tang dynasty (618 - 907 A.D.). However, there is no documentary proof for this, since the knowledge was passed on only orally, and even the technique was passed on only within the family. At that time Tai kyoku ken was hardly widespread: it had, however, already been prepared for a long time before by the experiences of medicine, martial arts, and religion.

There are different theories about its origins. On the one hand, the Indian itinerant monk Bodhidarma is accredited with a primitive form of all Chinese martial arts, for in about 520 A.D. he went to China, into the Province of Henan where he taught the monks of the Shaolin monastery a few Yoga forms of movement with the intention of strengthening their bodies grown weak by long sessions of meditation. As it is still true for Tai kyoku ken today, Bodhidarma's exercises served the strengthening of body and mind. The following three persons are considered to be the founders of Tai (jap. Tai kyoku ken): Hsü Hsuan-P‘ing from the era of the Tang dynasty, Wan Tsung Yueh from the era of the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644) and Master Chang San Feng, who lived at the end of the era of the Sung dynasty (1127 - 1279) and was a Taoist master and philosopher. Today, the most well-known Tai Chi styles are the Chen, Wu, Peking, and Sun Styles.

At the Shindo Dojo we train the "24" form, which is also regarded as a form for beginners and consists of "24" forms of movement, in contrast to other styles practising more than 80 forms. Apart from that, we also train in Taiji Qi Qong Yangsheng according to the rules by Jiao Guorui, exercises of traditional Chinese medicine promoting health and increasing inner energy. And the form of Kiko (Qi Qong) Hatchi dan kin, the eight precious practise.