Tai Chi Monk in Tiger Stance

Tai Chi has often been described and written about as form of meditation, a moving meditation. The purpose of meditation is to alter one's consciousness in order to achieve a variety of goals from relaxation and healing, to extending one's lifespan and many believe, developing supernatural abilities. The picture that most often comes to mind when we consider meditation is that of the Yogi, the Buddhist, and the Taoist, sitting cross-legged in a temple. The key ingredients are silence, stillness, and solitude. Contrast this image with one of continually flowing, and sometimes explosive movements of Tai Chi, and it would appear to be the antithesis of the conditions needed for meditation. From where then did this unique concept, the linking of physical movement with an altered state of consciousness, originate?