Tai Chi is both a martial art and a form of meditation. As a system of exercise it is suitable for people of all ages and requires little or no special equipment. It will help you improve your physical health, it can give you skills in self defence and will teach you how to relax. Tai Chi is an ancient practice that has a history going back hundreds of years. You will recognise it as a form of internal martial art that focuses on slow movements linked to deep breathing, that uses the opponents force to neutralise their attack. It draws on traditions such as the external martial arts of Shaolin Kung Fu, the healing movements of Qi Gong and the philosophical [...]

Taiji (tai chi) as a practice, meaning "grand ultimate" or "grand extreme", first appeared in Yi Jing (Scripture of Changes); quan, meaning "fist", is a word used as a suffix in the Chinese language to denote a certain martial art system. Traditional Chen Taijiquan is widely acknowledged as the oldest ancestor of all other Taijiquan styles. It was created by Chen Wangting, 9th generation ancestor of the Chen Family. He created taiji as a family art with the intention of passing it to his descendants. Thus Taijiquan (tai chi chuan), is a complete martial arts system incorporating the taiji principles rooted in the various manifestations of the two oppositional, yet, at the same time, reciprocal energies - Yin and Yang. In the [...]

One of the best web pages I have seen that discusses the complex "History of Tai Chi Chuan" is that provided by Tai Chi Wizard which you can read in full here. Of course much of the early origins is shrouded in mystery and much of the story is guess work. I am sure there are scholars who would argue with the details fo the timeline in Tai Chi Wizards historical review. However for the purposes of most students having a basic understanding of the history of Tai Chi Chuan will suffice. Each generation, we are talking at least 600 years from the early origins of modern Tai Chi Chuan, has brought its own variations and styles into the system. With such [...]

Tai chi has many myths about its origins. One of those myths says that one day the Taoist monk Chang San-feng was disturbed by the sounds of a snake and a crane fighting in his courtyard. Each time the crane's rapierlike beak stabbed, the flexible snake twisted out of reach. And the crane's wings, like shields, protected its long neck from the snake's striking head. According to the myth, from observing this battle, Chang San-feng developed the art of tai chi chuan, which is based on the concept of yielding in the face of aggression. As we have seen, the images conveyed in the telling of a myth lend themselves well to the spirit and the ideas of tai chi chuan. For [...]