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Tai Chi
Tai chi is a Chinese martial art that is primarily practiced for its health benefits, including a means for dealing with tension and stress. Among the martial arts, there are two basic types: the hard martial arts and the soft martial arts. The latter are also called internal arts. Examples of the hard martial arts are karate and kung fu (or wushu). Examples of the soft martial arts are ba gua and tai chi.
Tai chi emphasizes complete relaxation, and is essentially a form of meditation, or what has been called "meditation in motion." Unlike the hard martial arts, tai chi is characterized by soft, slow, flowing movements that emphasize force, rather than brute strength. Though it is soft, slow, and flowing, the movements are executed precisely.
The history of Tai Chi is a difficult one, since it is often difficult to sort out fact from legend. But we can say loosely, at least, that Tai chi traces its roots back to approximately the 2nd mellennium b.c. with the practice of yoga in ancient India. In China yoga came to be developed into what is called Saolin chuan ("chuan," briefly, means boxing). In the 13th century a.d., a Taoist monk by the name of Chang Sang Feng developed what has come to be known as Tai Chi. Subsequently Tai Chi came to be associated with different families in China. These family names came to designate the different styles of tai chi. The tai chi family or style from which all other current styles or families of Tai Chi developed was the Chen family. A man by the name of Yang, subsequently studied with the Chen family and later modified the Chen style, thus developing the Yang style of Tai Chi Chuan. The Yang style is the most common traditional style of Tai Chi Chuan practiced today. The Yang style has three different forms that are practiced: the simplified form, the short form, and the long form.
The Founder of Tai Chi
The founder of Tai Chi is historically a Taoist monk called Chan Sang Feng, who lived in China in the 13th century.
He was reputedly a great master of the Shaolin Martial Art, and a former Shaolin Buddhist Monk. It is said that he was not happy with the hard straight oriented techniques of Shaolin, and wished to use a softer method in training.
One day while resting on the veranda, he watched in fascination a battle between a large bird and a snake. The bird was ten times the snakes size. But as the bird lunged and snapped at the snake, the wily reptile, coiled, dodged, and lashed attacks back at its giant foe. Eventually the bird gave up in exhaustion and flew off in search of easier prey.
It is said at that moment Tai Chi was invented. Chan San Feng combined the softness of the snake, with his profound martial art skill, and Tai Chi Chuan was born.
The next five centuries are shrouded in mystery; it was not until the 18th century when a man called Chen Chang Hsing was teaching the then secret art of Chen Tai Chi to his relatives, that history becomes clearer.
| A man called Yang Lu Chan, who was employed as a servant by the Chen's, had been secretly watching, and learning their art. Already a skilled martial artist, Yang had learned their art very well, and when it was discovered, Chen Chang Hsing was so impressed he allowed him to learn the whole system. It was from this moment the Yang Style of Tai Chi was born. Yang Lu Chan became very famous over the years, and was asked to teach the Chinese Royal Family who ordered him not to teach anyone but themselves and family members. In secret, Yang disobeyed and taught many students. Yang Lu Chan passed his art to his two sons Yang Pan Hou and Yang Chien Hou. But it was Master Yang Cheng Fu, son of Yang Chien Hou, who revolutionised the art. He wanted the ordinary people to gain good health, both mental and physical from practising Tai Chi. He modified the art making it simpler, and more straight forward, and emphasised the health giving qualities more than the martial arts aspects. The art spread across the whole of China, and through the teachers that followed Yang Chen Fu to other parts of the world.
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Yang Cheng Fu Yang Shao Chung
From the teaching of Yang Cheng Fu many styles of Tai Chi were born. Apart from the Yang and Chen styles already mentioned, there is the Wu, Sun, Woo Chien Chuen, Chen Man Ching and many varieties of these styles.
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