Taijiese is what I call my lexicon for Tai Chi. It encompasses many terms of art, words and phrases used during instruction, as well as the names of the forms and movements of Tai Chi…[Read more]
Words for:
- Numbers and Counting
- Names of the Moving Forms
- Body Parts
- Steps and Stances
- Kicks and Punches
- Swordplay
- Instructions
- Animals and Heroes
- When and Where
- Pleasantries
Pronunciation
There are numerous guides to pronouncing Pinyin, the standard system for rendering Chinese in our familiar ABC alphabet. It is well worth the time it takes to study up on this. Here’s one good source:
The vowels and consonants are not difficult. What’s tricky is the different tones, indicated by accents. The good news is that when speaking Taijiese (as opposed to conversational Chinese), the context is so narrow that even with very sketchy pronunciation, you are likely to be understood.
A Basic Vocabulary
For everyday conversation in most languages, you need a vocabulary of about a thousand words. A vocabulary of fifty words is a very good start in Taijiese. One hundred words will have you well on your way. Here are ten useful words from each of the ten categories above:
100 Useful Words/Phrases for Tai Chi
A Useful Aid!
My neighborhood group always practiced with music. Some purists decry the use of music, often griping that people who do Tai Chi with music are “just dancing.” But music does help keep a group together, and it’s kind of festive and fun. But also it can help you learn Taijiese.
音乐 yīnyuè music
口令 kǒulìng with instruction/commands
Yinyue kouling is music that has a voice track calling the names of the movements. My group has yinyue kouling for just about everything. It helps people learn the sequences of the forms and keeps the group together. But for me, it was a way to learn the names and how to pronounce them. In fact, it was doing 24 to music with the names that got me started learning Chinese for Tai Chi. To find downloadable music with names, search on the Chinese name of the form (see #2 above) followed by 音乐口令.
Tai Chi Notebook 
Hello from Germany,
Thank you, this is great and useful for me! It´s accidentally I find this, but just today I was wondering, where to find “Tai Ji Chinese” important and useful expressions.
Thanks a lot, I will keep checking this out.
Christiane
Um, thanks. I have friends who would love to see this, so I’ll send them a link. Question, tho: I know there is a consortium of copy editors who would rather save ink, but fuddy-duddies like me still believe that the correct Romanization of the system name, using the standard Wade-Giles method, is best rendered T’ai Chi Ch’uan, not Tai Chi Chuan. FWIW, those same copy editors insist on using Wade-Giles to wrongly Romanize the energetic concept Romanized in the more modern pinyin as qi (氣）as chi instead of the more correct ch’i. This has led more than one TCC expert to assert that this system is “Great Ultimate Chi (氣) Boxing,” ’cause it’s “right there in the name.” Happily Pinyin tai ji quan and qi help dispel that notion.
Any how, thanks for the compilation, I’ll distribute it to both of my friends who seem to care.