Is it Tai-Chi, Tai Chi, or T'ai Ch'i? (with or without hyphens, apostrophes')

Is it Tai Chi or Tai Chi Chuan? (with or without the Chuan) Or T'ai Ch'i Ch'uan?

Is it Tai Chi Chuan or Taijiquan? (i.e. spelled using Romanization or pinyin)

As I understand it, using the Romanization method, it's really T'ai Ch'i Ch'uan, but it's often shortened and mutilated into Tai Chi or Tai-Chi, so that's what I'm using Tai-Chi. BTW, the professional world isn't consistent either; masters like David-Dorian Ross use T'ai Chi while Patrick Martin and Dr. Lam use Tai Chi, or maybe that's just their marketing people. (Technically, Tai Chi, or taiji, is the concept of infinity as symbolized by the yin-yang symbol, or the taijitu.)

Using the simplified Chinese characters for Tai Chi Chuan found in wikipedia, 太极拳 , then looking them up, one by one, in the Chinese-English Dictionary at mandarintools.com, I get these translations:

char.	pinyin	translation
太	tài	highest; greatest; too (much); very; extremely
极	jí	extremely; pole (geography, physics); utmost; top
拳	quán	fist

So, let's call it, "Greatest Top Fist." :)

BTW, putting in the tài, jí, and quán back into that translator turned out crazy. First, I had to strip off the accent marks, making them tai, ji, and quan. Then, I searched the results with the accent marks. They don't translate into a single character or concept. Go try it yourself. However, 太极拳 and taijiquan did yield a single translation, "a kind of traditional Chinese shadowboxing."

To me Tai-Chi is a way to allow me to grow old healthfully. I do not wish become old only to find my joints and muscles (among other things) are failing. Tai-Chi is often used by seniors to regain their strength, flexibility, and balance; I wish to never lose them. Therefore, I'm learning and practicing Tai-Chi now, as I begin the downward spiral into old age.

David-Dorian Ross is an accomplished Tai-Chi competitor and has a huge presence on the web, mostly selling his videos or advertising his workshops. I found a few bios on the web, but no official site.

Bob Teachout, one of my former instructors at the YMCA, views Tai-Chi as a medium in which to meditate; he could be in a video testifying to the benefits of mediation to calm and control oneself. However, teaching Tai-Chi is not his day job and he's studied Tai-Chi only a few years, so in spite of his enthusiasm, I wouldn't consider him an expert.

Brandon Forbes, my current instructor at the YMCA, views Tai-Chi as a martial art, as a self-defense discipline. He calls it insurance, something you get hoping you never need it but you're glad you have it when you do need it. Brandon is even teaching me weapon forms, like Tai-Chi Sword and War Fan. Brandon studied many martial arts styles from a Korean master for many years; he is actually a Kung-Fu instructor, teaching Tai-Chi and meditation on the side, but he has a real day job too. He may not be a master, but he is the closest thing to an expert that I personally know.

Dr. Paul Lam sells many videos too. Supposedly, as one beginning to suffer from arthritis, he developed the Tai-Chi for Arthritis form for himself, but he also sells more hard core martial arts videos too.

Patrick Martin appears on Dish Network's channel for NAUH (Northern Arizona University House). His bio shows he tours the nation presenting Tai-Chi.