Tai Chi for Health Purposes

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2006. — 7 p.
(Authors not specified).Tai chi (pronounced tie chee and also known by some other names and spellings) is a mind-body practice that originated in China as a martial art. A person doing tai chi moves his body slowly and gently, while breathing deeply and meditating (tai chi is sometimes called moving meditation). Many practitioners believe that tai chi helps the flow throughout the body of a proposed vital energy called qi (pronounced chee, it means air or power). In the United States, tai chi for health purposes is part of complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM. This Backgrounder provides a general overview of tai chi and suggests some resources you can use to find more information.