Tai Chi Ruler History
A brief outline of the Tai Chi Ruler History
The Tai Chi Ruler is a unique form of qigong. It is a system of Taoist Yoga, or energy exercises, which employs a special tool-the “chih”, or ruler. The Tai Chi Ruler has seven “internal” basic exercises and eight advanced exercises. The Tai Chi Ruler exercises are performed in repetition with the ruler held between the palms on a meridian point called the pericardium point. Each exercise specially coordinates movement, breath, mental, and visual focus along the energy meridians of the body, cultivating the body’s energy or chi.
The true story of the rulers inception, like so many other oriental things, is shrouded in mists of legend and folklore. Legend however, holds that the ruler was invented by a famous Taoist Chen Hsi-I. Chen Hsi-I was a friend and retainer to the first emperor of the Sung Dynasty, and taught many styles of martial arts to the royal family. The Tai Chi Ruler history was then transmitted down through the ages and disseminated by the Sung emperors descendents. Although the Tai Chi Ruler and Tai Chi Chuan share a similar name, they have different origins and histories of transmission. Due to the widespread exchange and crossover between various martial arts, several Tai Chi masters also teach the exercises of the Tai Chi Ruler.
The Tai Chi Ruler aligns and empowers major energy reservoirs, or “dantians”, and energy meridians of the body. This Chinese energy philosophy somewhat parallels the human sympathetic nervous and cerebral-spinal systems. The human body has three dantian energy reservoirs. The lower dantian is located one to two inches below the navel. The second is located in the chest area close to the sternum, and the third dantian is located in the head area. The practitioner must always take care in aligning his/her movements with these energy centers. Constant practice of these exercises imparts good health and longevity by cultivating chi, and balancing it throughout the body. The ruler is typically made of light porous wood and comes in many shapes, depending on which ruler system is being practiced. Like all martial arts there are several different versions of the Tai Chi Ruler exercises existing today.
This is only a brief outline of the Tai Chi Ruler history.