The origin of Taiji Quan

Anitwang

Taiji Quan (Shadow Boxing), which can be used to self-defense and improve the corporeity and prevent and cure the illness, is a kind of traditional Chinese boxing with gentle and slow actions. It has a long history with various schools and wide popularity.
Taiji Quan (Shadow Boxing) originated from the late Ming Dynasty of China (about 400 years ago). Chen Wangting, a villager of Chenjiagou village, created a new kind of Chinese boxing based on the integration of the ancestral boxing, the essence of the excellent folk boxing types and the Chinese medicine meridians, so it is called “Taiji Quan (Shadow Boxing)”. The theory of Taiji Quan (Shadow Boxing) evolved from the classical works of the Chinese traditional philosophy, leechcraft, Wushu, such as the Book of Changes, Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine and so on, and absorbed the proper contents of the Daoism, Confucianism, Sakyamunism and so on during its long time development, so Taiji Quan (Shadow Boxing) is called as “the Quintessence of the Chinese Culture”. Taiji Quan (Shadow Boxing) is a kind of martial art to make people strong and healthy; it is not used to attack people. The actions of the Taiji Quan (Shadow Boxing) are gentle, slow, coherent and flexible, and it can dredge the main and collateral channels, regulate Qi and blood, nourish the viscera and strengthen muscle and bones. Nowadays, Taiji Quan (Shadow Boxing) has become one kind of sports played by more and more people in parks, squares,schools, colleges even neighbourhood .
Taiji Quan (Shadow Boxing) is also popular among the foreign countries. There are Taiji Quan (Shadow Boxing) activities in Europe, America, Southeast Asia, Japan, and etc. Many countries have established societies such as Taiji Quan (Shadow Boxing) Association to carry on communication activities with China. As a unique Chinese sport, Taiji Quan (Shadow Boxing) has aroused interest and love of many foreign friends.

Anitwang

Tai Ji Quan is a major division of Chinese martial art. Tai Ji Quan means "supreme ultimate fist". Tai means "Supreme", Ji means "Ultimate", and Quan means "Fist".   

There have been different sayings about the origin of Tai Ji Quan. The traditional legend goes that the wise man Zhang Sanfeng of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) created Tai Ji Quan after he had witnessed a fight between a sparrow and a snake; while most people agreed that the modern Tai Ji Quan originated from Chen style Tai Ji Quan, which first appeared during the 19th century in the Daoguang Reign of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Tai Ji Quan has its philosophical roots in Taoism and is considered as an internal martial art, utilizing the internal energy, or Qi, and following the simple principle of "subduing the vigorous by the soft". Taoism is the oldest philosophy of China which is represented by the famous symbol of the Yin and Yang which expresses the continuous flow of Qi in a circular motion that generates two opposite forces, plus and minus, which interact and balance with each others to bring existence to the physical and metaphysical world.

The most famous forms of Tai Ji Quan practiced today are the Chen, Yang, Wu, Wu and Sun styles. All the five styles can be traced back to Chen style Tai Ji Quan. According to historical records, Tai Ji Quan was founded by Chen Wangting (1597-1664), who lived in Chen Village, today's Henan Province in China. Based on the Chen style and created by Yang Luchan, a Hebei native of the Qing Dynasty, the Yang style is now the most popular style worldwide. The Woo Style is based on the Chen and Yang styles and created by Woo Yuxing.

The Sun style is derived from Chen and Woo styles and created by Sun Lutang. The Sun style is a combination of the more famous internal Chinese martial art forms of Ba Gua, Xing Yi and Tai Ji. The Wu style is based on Chen and Yang styles it was created by Wu Jianquan.

Nowadays, when most people talk about Tai Ji Quan, they are usually referring to the Yang style, which has already spread throughout the world and is practiced by millions of people.

From http://blog.myspace.cn/e/400278284.htm

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