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Lynda Hickman
The Mayo clinic says Tai chi is a "gentle way to fight stress." That calmness is achieved by the meditative aspect (NOT exercise) of Tai chi. Commonly seen in regards to Tai chi is the symbol for "yin" & "yang," a circle with a black & a white swirl entwined. It represents the Chinese concept of "perfect balance." The roots of Tai chi go deep into Daoism/Taoism (belief in many gods & a universal flow that keeps all things in balance & in harmony with the Tao - translated Way) & Buddhism. Hebrews 1:3 that it is Jesus Who hold all things together "by the word of His power." Tai chi is translated as "supreme ultimate." The ultimate purpose of Tai chi is to bring total harmony into both inner & outer self, to enhance one's own self esteem. In the 3rd century BC, "Master Zhuang" (Chinese) compiled a text that is the foundation of Daoism/Taoism. A few excerpts from that work describe it as the Way: "The Way has attributes & evidence, but has no action or form." "From the root, from the stock, before there was heaven or earth, for all eternity truly has it existed." "It inspirits demons & gods, gives birth to heaven & earth." Though yoga is an integral part of Hinduism, it has the same dangers. Many years ago as a junior in high school, a girlfriend convinced me to begin yoga lessons. The woman giving the lessons was Swedish, very typically so, with blond hair, very slender & lithe, truly a lovely woman. My friend & I were impressed. The lessons began with just basic positions. As the lessons progressed she began to encourage us to empty our minds by using a mantra to "tune in to our inner conscientiousness." Then she introduced us to "mind mapping." We were told to identify our "Dharma & Shraddha" by asking ourselves 3 Q's which were: What are my core beliefs? What am I most passionate about? What are my most valued virtues? We were instructed to think deeply about the answers & write them down. My answers were: My core belief is in Jesus Christ as my Savior & LORD. My greatest passion is that I want to serve Him. And because I believed that I was a sinner saved by His grace, I didn't think of myself as virtuous. In fact, I knew I was still struggling with a very carnal teenage mind. My friend's answers were more in tune with what the instructor wanted. Mine, not so much! In fact, she began to critique my answers as though I was mentally deficient. That was the last class I attended. I could not bring my faith in Christ alongside yoga with any sense of peace. And over the years I have had many opportunities to get involved with things like Tai chi & yoga which sadly came through women in church. Women whom I can only describe as silly & gullible women such as are described in 2 Timothy 3. There is only One Way, and He is the Christ. John 14:6 Every fish ever caught on a barbed hook thought at first that it had grabbed a wonderful snack. But wait a minute or two & that fish will find out the sorry truth! Such is the bait in all things that would lead us away from the true Way & such is the lure that comes to draw people into things that have hidden agendas. For peace & a tranquil mind, I center my thoughts on Christ & His Word. He has already provided for me His peace, John 14:27. My hope is in Him, Psalms 16:9; 39:7; 71:4-6; 119:43; 119:81. He gives me His counsel, He is at my right hand, He shows me His path for my life, in His presence is fullness of joy & pleasures forever, Ps. 16. By His Word, He works patience & comfort into my life. Romans 15:3-5 I need nothing more. As counsel from an old woman, I would say to anyone who has taken the lure, back away now. Life on planet earth is hard enough without adding to those imaginings that need to be cast down. 2 Cor. 10:5 Never forget His words, "love the LORD your GOD with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind" Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27 If you accomplish that, there is no room in you for anything else!
S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
Tai Chi is more specifically called Tai Chi Chuan, which can be translated as "supreme ultimate force." Tai Chi is a martial art, though it's often called a "moving meditation" since the movements ...
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A Lamb
All forms of martial arts are stemmed from a spirit of murder. As controversial as my statement is when I started taking my kids for Aikido my spirit was disturbed and finally I stopped. Then after further study its focus is more spiritual and physical like all martial arts and behind these are demonic forces and deceiving spirits. Sure you may learn to keep it under control but the fact remains, that it’s like having a chained hungry wolf. You never know when it’s going to turn on you and have you for dinner.
Lawrence wong
Tai Chi is an Asian form of marital arts which derives its power from Satan, or as I would put it Mr. S.A.Tan Martial arts in Asia is related to what the Bible refers to as pagan temples where demons are worshipped (1 Cor 10:20) - usually Buddhist or Taoist and initiated by their monks as a form of defense involving in the first instance defensive aprring movements followed immeditately by a killing movement usually aimed at the head area. Anyone who watches Asian martial arts movies will be impressed with the direct assocation with an Asian Temple. The modern day teachers say is it just a form of exercise and is useful for self-defense in an increasingly violent world - and so many children are introduced to the various schools. The basic philosophy is the "Yin and the Yang" - concept that there is a balance between good and evil, light and darkness just as there is night and day. Sounds good, The problems is that in the spiritual world there is no balance between good and evil, light and darkenss - Jesus is that light and the world rejects Him - Satan is anti Jesus, anti Alohim, the Creator - that is active opposition. In Ephesians 6 we are warned that the powers of darkness are organised in a hierarchical structure. The battle against all disciples and mankind is ongoing and unrelenting, 24/7 (Eph Chpt.6). It is aimed at our minds (2 Cor 10:1-6). Satanworks through people, as well as on his own through demons. The demonic world is real, ask any Asian, or Satanist. The movements of devotees copy animals - this is worship of the creature, not the Creator. We are to imitate Christ Jesus, not animals, nor even to make sounds like them as is common in Martial Arts. People who become disciples of Jesus, followers ot The Way, Jesus the Christ (Mt 4:19, John 14:6) who used to do martial arts suddenly discover that they have serious problems in their spiritual lives. Many of their problems are resolved when they recognise that they need to repent of their occultic practices via martial arts and get the demons they take within themselves cast out in Jesus' name. It's pretty serious stuff! When people in-breathe the "Chi" they are actually taking in demons as they meditate. The demons can be so strong that a real battle which takes place inside their bodies until the demon recognises that the body of the disciple is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and that this is no longer a place where they can reside. Many can sin without knowing it. Some do so deliberately. Participating in Matiral Arts, Yoga, Eastern Meditation, Levitation, and being associarted with anything of Pagan Temple Worship contaminates our Temple, our spirit (2 Cor 7:1). We must reject all the pholsophies and ocultic practices of the world, and its pagan religions. Some churches even teach Martial arts and encourage their congregation to participate. Asian churches may also condone ancestor worship (worship of familiar spirits), Asian cultic practices. What a tragedy! Alohim-YHWH hates pagan worship and its ways (Dt 18:9-14). We must have the same attitude, that of Christ Jesus who hated evil. It is our own responsibility to maintain good health and well-being - phyiscally,mentally, and emotionally. We have only one body which requires regular repairs and maintenance. We must eat well and carefully, exercise, and keep our minds peaceful, at ONE WITH ABBA, JESUS. We must also keep our own spirit clean so that we stay holy, like ABBA is holy. May we never take our eyes off Jesus The Lamb, keep ourselves clean by His blood, and maintain a humble walk before ABBA ever repenting when sins are pointed out! We all can ask for forgiveness through Jesus (1 Jo 1:7-9). We just need to confess with our mouth to Him and His blood will take the un -righteousness away, leaving us RIGHTEOUS Remember we are been transported out of this world of darkness, into the Kingdom of His righteousness, LIGHT. (Ac 26: 18; Col 1:13) Lawrence NZ
Alistair Cotton
Unlike most commentators on this subject, I have experience in being both a Tai Chi practitioner for more than 5 years, have recently graduated as a new instructor in our system, and have also been a Christian for more than 25 years. I've attended all types of denominations from Anglican through to charismatic churches, have regularly attended prayer sessions and house churches and am now regularly attending Catholic mass. If you want to judge something by its roots - as many of you want to when providing comments about Tai Chi and the martial arts, then you may as well give up on fire (pagan fire worship), wedding rings (pagan symbols) and even Christmas (pagan festival). For that matter, better find new names for the days of the week, because those too are pagan in origin. These pagan symbols and festivals are somehow acceptable to the Pharisee mindset, but a martial art like Tai Chi is so quickly and thoroughly demonised without any experience or critical thought. I'm living in New Zealand and our people and all of the churches and schools are quite happy to embrace the haka. I have no beef with the haka, but rather the double standards that are applied here. Do any Christians prevent people from performing the haka because of its pagan, war dance roots? No, of course not! The haka is performed with pride at every school and Christian youth camp in the country - apparently without any spiritual ill effect. So why are some things acceptable to Christians no matter how pagan their roots, but others are not? Are the Pharisees asserting that Christ has different standards for different cultures and cultural practices? That would imply an unjust God, which we know is not the case at all. The mistake many people make is by lumping Tai Chi into the same box as yoga and reiki. Tai Chi is and has always been a martial art. All Tai Chi forms are martial art forms with fighting applications. These forms are intended to train your body much like a gym and provide you with muscle memory. Almost all of Tai Chi is this training - slow movements that ultimately teach martial art skills. If you have spent time in a gym, you may have noticed the difference between doing heavy weights at a normal pace and lighter weights really slowly. You get a lot of physical benefit from training lighter and slower than heavier and faster. So too in Tai Chi. So are there some bad actors in Tai Chi? Absolutely! There are some diabolical things that happen in all kinds of places and systems - including some churches! Here is the bottom line: Either all practices from different cultures and religions, no matter how old or how embedded they are into Western culture and Christianity are utterly pagan and from the devil, or Christ is able to "clean the shirt" of anything from different cultural practices and put it to His good use. If you choose the former then you may as well give up the basis of all Western civilisation because you can't extrapolate it from its pagan Greek and Roman origins. I choose the latter. Not because I think that I have any of the answers. But because I asked Him myself. Repeatedly and over many years. His message of encouragement has always been the same. I believe that Christ wants to use Tai Chi for His own good purposes. Consequently, my instructor and I have developed what is quite possibly the first online Christian Tai Chi training course and community. So the question is not whether Tai Chi is acceptable to other Christians or not. It's more about how that Tai Chi is practised and if that practice is acceptable to Christ Himself. So, why don't you ask Him yourself? He died so that you have direct contact to the Father through the Son. Ask Him what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. Or better yet, ask what is His will in your life. Allow His Holy Spirit to guide you to do what He wants you to do instead of even trying to control the outcome. That's the real faith.
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