If you've talked to anyone about your taijiquan practice and used the term "taiji", you might have gotten confused looks. When you say "Tai Chi" your conversation partner's face clears up and they suddenly know that you're talking about old people waving their arms around in parks! This confusion happens more frequently when sending emails, texts - and especially on one of our most popular venues - Facebook!!

This cross communication happens because there are two Chinese transliteration systems - Wade Giles and pinyin. The Wade Giles system was the original system and many Americans learned to recognize Chinese words and concepts through that system. In later year, pinyin has taken it's place and is now the preferred system.

Below is a cut and paste of a recent conversation on The Facebook. I've taken screen shots for those not able to enjoy these kinds of debates because of lack of access. It is also possible that this link might take you to this thread.

We can cover this ground more in depth in classes but it would be educational for you to glance over the comment thread below. You'll see an extended explanation from LaoMa within this thread.

Take a second an leave your thoughts on this debate in the comments section below.