for stress reduction and other health conditions. Often described as meditation in motion, seated tai chi promotes serenity through gentle, flowing movements. Seated tai chi exercises is touted by the medical community and researchers. It is based primarily on the Yang short form, and has been adopted by the general public, medical practitioners, tai chi instructors, and the elderly. Seated forms are not a simple redesign of the yang short form. Instead, the practice attempts to preserve the integrity of the form, with its inherent logic and purpose. The synchronization of the upper body with the steps and the breathing developed over hundreds of years, and guided the transition to seated positions. Marked improvements in balance, blood pressure levels, flexibility and muscle strength, peak oxygen intake, and body fat percentages can be achieved. Etymology Tai Chi was known as "大恒" by the Ancient Chinese. The silk version of I Ching recorded this original name. Due to the name taboo of Emperor Wen of Western Han Empire , "大恒" changed to "太極.". Sundial shadow length changes represent traditional Chinese Medicine with four elements theory instead of Confucian politician-based five elements theory. In the beginning, the color white was associated with Yin, while black was associated with Yang. Confucianism uses the reverse. The term taiji is a Chinese cosmological concept for the flux of yin and yang. 'Quan' means technique. Tàijíquán and T'ai-chi ch'üan are two different transcriptions of three Chinese characters that are the written Chinese name for the art form: The English language offers two spellings, one derived from Wade–Giles and the other from the Pinyin transcription. Most Westerners often shorten this name to t'ai chi (often omitting the aspirate sign—thus becoming "tai chi"). This shortened name is the same as that of the t'ai-chi philosophy. However, the Pinyin romanization is taiji. The chi in the name of the martial art is not the same as ch'i (qi the "life force"). Ch'i is involved in the practice of t'ai-chi ch'üan. Although the word is traditionally written chi in English, the closest pronunciation, using English sounds, to that of Standard Chinese would be jee, with j pronounced as in jump and ee pronounced as in bee. Other words exist with pronunciations in which the ch is pronounced as in champ. Thus, it is important to use the j sound. This potential for confusion suggests preferring the pinyin spelling, taiji. Most Chinese