It's a good idea to know something of the origins and history of Tai Chi so that you have a better picture of its background and also learn about some of the leading proponents of the Art.
Tai Chi is the shortened name for T'ai Chi ch'üan, which means "Supreme Ultimate Fist" or "Grand Ultimate Fist" and was used by ancient Chinese astronomers to describe the cosmic forces. They had studied the sky meticulously for over 5,000 years and found that the cosmic energies are cyclical, moving and evolving into each other. Thus the Universe is constantly changing. These forces run according to a single principle: the Supreme Ultimate (Tai Chi). This single principle comprises two opposite sub-principles - two principles that oppose one another in their actions: Yin and Yang.
Tai Chi's legend starts with a Taoist monk named Zhang Sanfeng, Chang San-Feng, who created the Art of Tai Chi around 700 - 800 years ago at the Purple Summit Temple on Wudang Mountain in Henan province, China. Zhang Sanfeng learned the fighting arts in his youth and then, in later years, became a Taoist monk. One day, he observed a fight between a snake and a crane. He interpreted their moves as Yang and Yin, embodied these principles, and developed the fighting Art.
Conceived as a Martial Art, it is also typically practiced for various other personal reasons, primarily for competitions and its significant health benefits, resulting in the many training forms that exist today. The conditions of training that are used now are a mix of traditional approaches, together with those employing more modern techniques, which may be seen as suited to today's society. Evolution has always been the key to survival, taking what is useful and disregarding what is not. Most training forms of Tai Chi are primarily known for being practiced with relatively slow and fluid movements. Today, Tai Chi has spread worldwide. Most modern art styles trace their progression to one of the five schools: Chen, Yang, Hao, Sun, and Wu. All of them trace their historical origins to Chen Village (Chenjiagou), in Henan Province of China - the home of Tai Chi.
While most Tai Chi is known by most for its slow, calm, and continuous gentle movements, many of the styles have secondary forms practiced at a quicker pace. Traditional schools teach partner drills known as Tui Shou ("pushing hands") and martial applications of the various moves in a different form. Since the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, it has developed a worldwide following of practitioners, famed for its benefit to personal health, particularly those with little or no interest in Martial Arts training. Yang Luchan (Yang Lu-Chuan) was an influential teacher and The exponent of the Yang style of Tai Chi. He had previously studied with the Chen family for 18 years before teaching the Art in what is now Beijing in the middle and later decades of the 19th Century, suggesting that the Art he had developed has concepts of, or is heavily based on, the Chen Style. The Chen family can trace the progression of their craft to Chen Wangting in the 17th Century.
What we know now as Tai Chi appears to have received this appellation from the middle of the 19th Century. In the Chinese Imperial Court in Beijing, a scholar by the name of Ong Tong witnessed a demonstration by Yang Luchan sometime before he had established his reputation as a teacher of the Art. From the 1850s, Yang was recruited to train members of the Chinese Imperial family and the Manchu Guards Brigade within the grounds of the Forbidden City. In 1939, Choy Hok Pang was the first known proponent.
Of Tai Chi to teach Art openly in the United States of America, he had been a student of Yang Chengfu, the grandson of Yang Luchan. Yang Chengfu was, arguably, the leading teacher of the Yang (or "soft") form of Tai Chi until he died in 1936. Subsequently, Choy Hok Pang's son and student, Choy Kam Man, emigrated to San Francisco from Hong Kong in 1949 to teach Tai Chi in San Francisco's Chinatown. Choy Kam Man continued teaching until he died in 1993.
Zheng Manqing (also known as Cheng Man-Ch'ing) established the Shr Jung Tai Chi school in the Chinatown district of New York in 1964, shortly after moving to the United States from Taiwan in the same year. Zheng created a shortened version of the traditional Yang form of Tai Chi, comprising 37 moves, which he started to teach in 1975. His form of Tai Chi was dominant in the eastern United States until other teachers began to emigrate to the USA in more significant numbers in the 1990s.
The Art of Tai Chi has been described as harmonizing the body's vital energy with its physical manifestation. Harmony is accomplished by combining posture, breathing, and consciousness when in static and moving states.
Putting the Arts into a family tree, Qigong is the grandparent of Tai Chi. Qigong is not the mother of Tai Chi because there were other Arts in between, notably Shaolin Kung Fu. If there is a parent for Tai Chi, then it is probably Shaolin Kung Fu.
"Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching
I remember my Master saying: "Tai Chi is the Supreme or Grand Ultimate Fist because it shows nothing is more powerful than gentleness. Nothing is as gentle as real strength which flows from Yin and Yang." My Master knew that what people usually see on the surface is not always what is underneath - that the gentleness of the energy of Tai Chi can encompass and neutralize all different sorts of adversities, not only protecting you from physical attack but also giving you mental agility.
The 4th - 6th Century Taoist philosophical and religious text, the Tao Te Ching, tells us that using force only builds resistance - that you receive more by letting go! My Master understood this could be a way and means to benefit the world's peoples. Undoubtedly, the essential concept is recognizing the urgency of saving ourselves from weakness. To overlook this, you may as well keep your backside on the couch. When considering how to strengthen yourself, one day's training yields one day's benefits; one year's training yields one year's results. Once you understand this, we can begin to start fulfilling your wishes... your aims in life.
As Yang Chengfu said:
"It is not that I value this Art as a sentimental attachment: rather, I wish those worthy individuals with the highest aspirations will use it for self-strengthening. Let us enlighten each other as fellow countrymen".
Tai Chi, short for T'ai chi ch'üan, is also written as Taijiquan. Tai Chi is a philosophy that contains
both Yin and Yang elements, as Tai Chi is the Martial Art practiced for both defense and well-being. Although all Martial Arts are excellent forms of exercise, Tai Chi tends to be fluid and smooth, like the Tao (the road or pathway).
Tai Chi is a type of Qigong, and if practiced correctly, you should learn to use Qigong breathing techniques - breathing energy methods. Qigong is the harnessing of energy through the skill of controlled breathing, meditation, and movement exercises. As stated, Taijiquan (T'ai chi ch'üan) means Supreme Ultimate Fist, and it makes use of the skills of Qigong to harness movement and power.
We all know that we need to be in better health and keep in good health. And everyone should learn how to defend themselves! Tai Chi's concepts and moves demonstrate the philosophy of the forces of Yin and Yang. All animate things contain two opposing details that harmonize to make them whole. Tai Chi is applied to natural movements that generate health, longevity, internal strength, and power when combined with relaxation and controlled breathing.
Who couldn't use a little more power? Right?! The benefits of Tai Chi are innumerable, so we will go over some of the most relevant and immediately noticeable ones, some of which can be experienced from the very first day that you start your training! In China, Tai Chi is said to slow down the speed at which we age, increase flexibility and help our muscles and tendons become more robust. It can strengthen our hearts and build more excellent resistance to many illnesses. I acknowledge that evidence to support such claims is scarce, but notwithstanding the lack of documented authority, here are some of the recorded benefits.