History and Origin of Tai Chi
 Tai
Chi Chuan has its origins based on legend and historical evidence.
Legend has it that Tai Chi was founded by the Taoist Chang San
Feng, who lived during 12th century China. Chang traveled the mountains
of central and northern China, where he learned Kung Fu and studied the
Chinese Classics, and the I
Ching, which describes the way of nature and Taoism.
One day, Chang observed a flying bird staring down at a snake coiled firmly on the ground, with its head and neck facing up toward the bird. The bird swooped down to strike the snake with its beak. The snake rolled to the side to avoid the bird's attack. Appearing surprised, the bird recovered in flight and attacked again and again with more precision and determination. The snake kept rotating its body from side to side, neutralizing the bird's strikes without giving up its coiled position. Chang saw how softness can overcome hardness in the flexibility of the snake's posture and its constant shifting from side to side to evade the hard, powerful thrusts of the bird's beak. He then realized how the philosophy and principles discussed in the I Ching had practical applications to the martial arts. From these realizations Chang created Tai Chi. Within the Tai Chi movements, one can observe the basis of Taoism and the I Ching, the Yin and Yang. These are the opposing, but complementary forces in nature, which are in constant change from one to the other. Many things in nature, like the days and the seasons, are constantly changing in continuous cycles. The movements of Tai Chi are also continuously changing, the body weight shifting from one leg to the other as the person moves from posture to the next. The origin of Tai Chi Chuan has been formally credited to Chen Wang Ting, an army officer living in Ho Nan Province during the late 16th and early 17th century. He developed Tai Chi Chuan by combining various martial art techniques and adding Taoist philosophy, breathing technique, and acupuncture theory. Chen's system of Tai Chi Chuan was handed down through several family generations. It remained within the Chen family until Chen Chang Hsin taught it to Yang Lu Shan. Yang Lu Shan, after 30 years of study and practice, went to Beijing to teach Tai Chi Chuan to the royal families and he became very well known. Because of growing public interest to learn Tai Chi, and in order to meet the needs of more people, Yang Lu Shan began to delete the difficult jumps and leaps, explosions of strength, and vigorous foot stamping found in the Chen Style Tai Chi Chuan. Similar modifications were made by his son, and then his grandson, Yang Chen Fu, resulting in the present-day Yang Style Long Form. Yang Chen Fu's Tai Chi Chuan is characterized as having extended and naturally relaxed postures that are composed of slow, even movements which incorporate deep breathing. Yang Zhen Duo, the third son of Yang Chen Fu and present heir to the Yang School of Tai Chi Chuan, continues to teach Tai Chi Chuan at his home in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. The Yang Style is the most popular style of Tai Chi Chuan throughout the world today, due to its ability to improve one’s health and longevity and to prevent and treat chronic disease.
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