Tai Chi is Tai Chi is Tai Chi is Tai Chi...In my classes and discussions I hear comments that "Internal Discipline is LIKE belly dancing...so I will dust off my belly dancing dvd", "Internal Discipline is LIKE isometrics or IS Isometric exercise", "Tai Chi is LIKE Yoga, like upright Yoga", etc., etc. These are all wrong because the art is not an "analog" and therefore is not subject to "analogy"...this is due to the concept of "Yi", the martial intent of movement. Read on gentle reader to see what my teacher Master Stephen Hwa says to Lori N. when she calls it dance and subjects it incorrectly to being an "analog" and therefore analogous to dance. 

From Forum 6, October 2003, Lori N. writes:
"I just completed my first lesson -- the walk. Very tricky but also very
fun. This is going to be exactly what I have looked for so long. I have always loved to dance but never enjoyed performing for people. This dance of Taiji will be that dance I have been needing for so many years!"

MASTER HWA’S RESPONSE:
"I am glad you have made a good start. It is important that you feel fun and challenged while you doing it. Your comments about Tai Chi as a kind of dancing is what prompted me to write about the topic Yi  click here for article on "YI" (martial intent)– the martial art intent. I remember my teacher became unhappy when someone referred to Tai Chi as an exercise. Again, the “intent” is lost when it was called as an exercise. "