Many people begin practicing Tai Chi to improve their balance, reduce stress, or enhance their health. Yet after years of practice, many discover that Tai Chi offers something far deeper. It becomes a path of self-discovery, inner transformation, and spiritual growth.
To explore this fascinating dimension of Tai Chi, I recently sat down with Sifu Marc Sabin, an interfaith minister, longtime Tai Chi instructor, martial artist, writer, and environmental advocate. Having studied multiple martial arts since 1976 and taught Tai Chi for decades, Marc has devoted his life to understanding not only how Tai Chi moves the body, but also how it transforms the human spirit.
Our conversation revealed why Tai Chi is far more than a sequence of graceful movements—it is a living expression of Daoist wisdom.
A Spiritual Journey That Began in Youth
Unlike many spiritual teachers, Marc did not grow up in a religious household.
“My family was very secular,” he explained.
His spiritual journey began unexpectedly during high school when he befriended a teenager who had undergone groundbreaking open-heart surgery. Having experienced clinical death during the operation, his friend became deeply interested in meditation and spirituality. Together, they explored books on enlightenment, meditation, and philosophy.
One book led to another until Marc encountered the Dao De Jing.
“I spent a lot of time in nature,” he recalled. “The simplicity of the language of Dao De Jing, yet the depth of its meaning, really spoke to me.”
As someone who has read the Dao De Jing countless times in both Chinese and English, I smiled when Marc shared his early fascination with the ancient classic. Even after decades of study, many of its passages continue to reveal new layers of meaning.
Perhaps that is precisely the beauty of Sage Laozi’s masterpiece.
The Dao Cannot Be Explained—Only Experienced
During the interview, Marc repeatedly returned to the opening line of the Dao De Jing:
“The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao.”
For him, spirituality resembles tasting a peach.
“You can describe a peach as sweet, juicy, and fuzzy,” he said. “But none of those words give you the actual experience of eating one.”
Likewise, no definition can adequately explain spirituality.
Instead of trying to define spirit, Marc prefers to help students experience it directly.
He believes there is an animating force within every human being—the mysterious spark that distinguishes life from death.
Returning to that inner center, he believes, is the heart of spiritual practice.
Tai Chi as the Physical Expression of Daoism
Marc sees Tai Chi not simply as a martial art inspired by Daoist philosophy, but as its physical embodiment.
For Marc, ”Tai Chi is the physical realization of the philosophy expressed in the Dao De Jing.”
This perspective shapes the way he teaches.
Beginning students do not receive lengthy philosophical lectures. Instead, they learn how to stand.
That may sound surprisingly simple, yet Marc believes proper standing teaches one of life’s greatest lessons:
“The first thing I teach is the right to be.”
Every person has the right simply to exist without constantly trying to become someone else or living according to other people’s expectations.
Once students establish correct posture, they begin discovering stillness within movement.
“In movement there is stillness,” Marc explained. “When you’re moving, there is stillness inside. When you’re still, there is movement.”
Anyone who has practiced Tai Chi long enough recognizes this paradox. The body appears to move continuously while the mind becomes increasingly quiet.
A Rainy Day That Changed Everything
Marc’s teaching career began unexpectedly.
After moving from California to New York City, he and his wife were involved in a serious automobile accident almost immediately after arriving. His injuries prevented him from practicing Tai Chi for four months.
Finally, on a rainy day, he felt an overwhelming urge to practice.
Ignoring the weather, he went to a nearby Central Park and began performing the traditional Yang-style long form.
A stranger watched silently from across the park.
When Marc finished, the man approached and asked a simple question:
“Do you teach?”
Marc invited him to return the following day.
The man did.
That single encounter launched Marc’s decades-long teaching career in New York City.
The student’s motivation was unusual. He wasn’t merely interested in learning Tai Chi. He wanted to leave behind a life connected to drugs and crime.
Marc realized he was doing much more than teaching martial arts.
“I was ministering to him through Tai Chi.”
Rather than preaching, he used Tai Chi to help the student develop balance, confidence, and the inner strength necessary to change his life.
Learning to Release
One of Marc’s central teachings is learning to release.
He developed what he calls the “Eightfold Path to Release”:
Stop. Listen. Hear. Recognize. Acknowledge. Accept. Embrace. Release.
Rather than immediately trying to fix discomfort, students first learn to become aware of it.
Only through awareness can genuine transformation begin.
Marc compares this process to comforting a child who has fallen down. Instead of rejecting pain, we embrace it with compassion until it naturally dissolves.
Listening to his explanation reminded me of a modern psychological approach RAIN, coined by Tara Brach, Ph.D in psychology and spirituality that encourage mindful awareness before attempting change. Although Daoist philosophy emerged more than two thousand years ago, its wisdom aligns remarkably well with contemporary understandings of emotional healing.
Tai Chi provides a practical way to experience this process through the body rather than merely thinking about it.
The Greatest Opponent Is the Ego
Many people assume Tai Chi’s martial applications focus on defeating an external opponent.
Marc sees something different.
“The biggest opponent is the ego.”
Through Push Hands practice, students quickly discover their habitual reactions.
Some instinctively resist every push.
Others immediately collapse under pressure.
Neither response represents true balance.
Marc helps students recognize the tiny moment before these automatic reactions occur.
That brief instant contains freedom.
Instead of fighting or fleeing, students learn to release.
Gradually, their emotional reactions become less automatic and more conscious.
This ability extends far beyond the training hall.
Whether dealing with grief, workplace conflict, family disagreements, or life’s inevitable disappointments, practitioners begin responding with greater calm instead of reflexive emotion.
Finding the Center
Marc often describes Tai Chi as a process of discovering one’s own center.
Proper body alignment creates structural integrity.
Relaxation releases unnecessary tension.
From there, practitioners develop what Tai Chi Classics describe as “central equilibrium” or Zhong Ding.
This equilibrium is not merely physical.
It is emotional.
Psychological.
Spiritual.
Marc describes a harmonious relationship among the three Dantians.
The upper dantian represents intention.
The middle dantian—the heart—embodies wisdom and compassion.
The lower dantian governs movement and action.
When intention passes through the heart before becoming action, harmony naturally emerges.
It is a beautiful image that reminds us that wisdom must guide both thought and movement.
Philosophy, Not Religion
One question I frequently receive is whether Tai Chi conflicts with religious beliefs.
Some people mistakenly assume Tai Chi requires practicing Daoist religion.
Marc offers a thoughtful distinction.
He does not identify with religious Daoism and its rituals.
Instead, he studies the philosophical wisdom found within many religious traditions.
“My pursuit has been for wisdom,” he said, “not necessarily for religion.”
He believes the philosophies underlying many faith traditions share profound common truths.
Tai Chi, therefore, need not replace anyone’s religious beliefs.
Rather, it provides a practical discipline through which people can become more present, compassionate, balanced, and fully alive.
In my own decades of teaching, I have instructed students from virtually every religious background, including professors from Christian seminaries. I have found that sincere Tai Chi practice complements rather than contradicts genuine spiritual life.
The Wisdom Reveals Itself
Toward the end of our conversation, Marc offered an observation that resonated deeply with my own experience.
Many people read extensively about Tai Chi philosophy. They can quote the classics perfectly.
Yet understanding does not come from memorization.
It comes from practice.
As Marc explained, genuine knowledge grows deeper, not wider.
Each time we revisit the Dao De Jing or the Tai Chi Classics after years of practice, familiar passages reveal entirely new meanings.
That has certainly been true in my own journey.
The wisdom of Tai Chi cannot simply be studied.
It must be lived.
Perhaps that is why this ancient art has endured for centuries.
Its lessons are not confined to books or words.
They are discovered through every posture, every breath, every moment of relaxation, and every return to our own quiet center.
As Marc beautifully summarized, his life’s work is simply this:
“To teach people their right to be.”
Perhaps there is no better description of the spiritual heart of Tai Chi.
NOTE: Marc Sabin published “The Tao of Peace”, which is inspired by only by the profound thoughts of Dao De Jing but also the simple language used Dao De Jing. You can fine his book here.