Taichi Kung fu

The Origin and Style of Taichi (Taiji)

At the very beginning, Taiji fist was called “Long Fist”, “Cotton Fist”, “13 Positions”, and “Soft Hand”. During the years of Qian Long emperor in Qing Dynasty, it was firstly called “Taiji Fist” in<The Theory of Taiji Fist> written by Wang Zongyue who lived in Shanxi province. The word of “Taiji” comes from <ZhouYi>, and it means “supreme, absolute, unique”. Taichi Kung fu

There are many versions of the origin and creator of Taiji fist. The main versions are XuXuanping in Tang Dynasty, ZhangSanfeng in Song Dynasty, ChenWangting and WangZongyue in Qing Dynasty and so on. But, most of the Taiji Fist artists think the creator is Chen Wangting. Generally, the origin of Taiji Fist absorbed the essence of the artists in Ming Dynasty, especially absorbed 32 Form Long Fist of Qi jiguang, and coordinated ancient guidance, the technique of inhale and exhale, the theory of Chinese medicine, and the theory of ancient Yin Yang Five Elements, on the basis of the philosophical theory of Taoism, Zhouyi Bagua, and Taiji Fist contains abundant Chinese traditional culture and traditional philosophical thought. Firstly, the movements are very continuous which show in the whole Taiji Fist form. At the same time, Taiji Fist is one kind of contradiction movement with unity of opposites and can convert each other, there are several contradictions including hard and soft, empty and full, peace and movement, fast and slow, stretch and curl.

During moving, it demands the practitioners keep calmed, the movements are guided by consciousness, coordinate movements with breath , and breathe smoothly, even and naturally. The movements are soft, slow, natural, continuous and Taichi Kung fu the route of movements is arc. At the same time, the waist is axisand the upper and lower parts of body coordinate each other, which make all parts of body the whole part. It looks soft but in fact very powerful.

Taiji fist has been developed into many kinds of sects, for example, ChenshiTaiji(taichi Chan style), Yangshi Taiji(taichi Yang style), SunshiTaiji(taichi Sun style), Wushi(武)taiji (taichi Wu style), Wushi（吴）Taiji(taichi Wu style), they are called “Five Styles Of Taiji”.

Yang style derives from Chen style. Yang Lu Chan, the creator of Yang style, studied Chen style Tai Ji from the Chen family in Chen Jia Gou. When he returned to Beijing, many people wanted to study Yang Lu Chan’s new form of Kung Fu, i.e. Chen style Tai Ji. However, many of the movements in Chen style were too difficult for many of the people who wanted to study. Therefore, Yang Lu Chan simplified Chen style Tai Ji to make it more accessible to more people. For some people, Yang style is a good way to start their Tai Ji training, especially the 24 forms which you can often see being practiced in parks around China. Yangshi sect Taiji was taught secretly by YangLuchan in the emperor garden, so it keeps the original style of Taiji different from the Taiji practiced in the park.

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