What are the 5 elements of tai chi?

Answer 1

I believe they are, although this is not the cycle;

Water, Earth, Wood, Fire, and Metal, but, these are not the "five elements of Tai Chi," in Daoist alchemy they are the five elements of nature. Additionally, in Chinese face reading, the five elements are often used. An example of a "fire" face, is Halle Berry, another example is Wesley Snipes, and a third one, although his is a mix of Wood and Fire, is Mike Tyson. The head of the Shaolin temple in New York Shi Yang Ming, is Earth and Metal I believe.

Those are just guesses though you'd have to purchase a book; the reason the Chinese place importance on "face types," has to do with the chi flow. For example, on a person with a "fire" face, their chi flows in a manner which makes them more prone to react emotionally to an injustice. As the element implies, "fire" faced people, are protective towards their loved ones, but, against people who attack them they, well, "burn" them. Metal faced people, their chi flows in a manner that grants them strength, both physical and mental.

However people are never exclusively one element, usually its a combination of two, and up to three elements. The most auspicious type of face to have, is a face that does not fit any one element, in other words a face that has all elements, and makes for optimal chi flow. It is people with "neutral" faces, among some Kung Fu experts in China, who are believed to posses the ability to master Martial Arts the fastest. Usually though in China, most martial artists are fire dominant, or metal dominant, when it comes to the shape of their face.