What makes Taiji genuine?

I've come across a few blog postings lately that talk about learning "genuine" Taiji. My natural first question is, 'what constitutes "genuine" Taiji?' Often the poster is referring to a traditional system where the sifu has a lineage tracing back to one of the originators. In this way, you're guaranteed a "pure" path. But in the case of Yang Lu Chan, who himself learned from the Chen family, he was forced to develop his own style and not teach anyone what he learned from them. Later his form was altered by himself, then both his sons and grandsons until we now have multiple forms identified as 'Yang' style.

So we can't really say "genuine" Taiji is determined by the purity of the form, as that's ever changing (and should be to continue as a dynamic art and not a stagnant and static art). So what makes Taiji genuine?

If you look at the underlying purpose behind Taiji, it's to build harmony with Yin and Yang in your art and from there, like a pebble dropping into the water, into the rest of your life.

If I asked you to draw a circle, divide it into half, and color one half black and one half white, you'd likely come up with this:



And that's only natural because that's how our thinking mind likes to look at the world: "something is this and it's not that."

But if you've truly lived in this world, you know that nothing is purely "black and white." Live a little longer, and you'll start to figure out that nothing is truly separate. Now look at the Yin and Yang:



The circle is divided in half, and one half is black and the other half is white. The difference is that each half contains a small aspect of the other half. Additionally, they aren't divided by a straight line, rather they're drawn to be dynamic; to imply movement. This symbol is called the Taijito, hence the name of our art being Taijiquan (quan, pronounced chwan, means fist).

This is the dynamic we are asked to live up to. A balance of the flow of Yin and Yang. Yin, the black half, is representative of passivity, or non-activity while Yang, the white half, is representative of activity. Nothing in nature is all active or all passive. Striving for a balance between the two helps us better deal with our lives just as easily as we deal with our opponents.

So "genuine" Taiji should emulate the Taiji and we should seek out harmony between Yin and Yang in our forms, our art, and our lives. In my experience, you don't necessarily need a lineage that stretches back generations (though that can help), what you need for "genuine" Taiji is to have a competent instructor that can help you find the balance between Yin and Yang.