Tai Chi

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Tai Chi Kung Fu - Some Authentic Facts

Tai Chi is a Chinese internal martial art which has a "legendary" history because some sources claim it goes back as far as 5000 years.

Tai chi chuan means Supreme Ultimate Fist or at a stretch, Grand Ultimate Boxing. Tai chi comprises of forms which consist of a number of postures which flow into one another.

When performed fast, tai chi looks just like a kung fu form or even resembles a "karate kata"

The kmain styles of tai chi are Chen, Wu, Yang Sun and Lee. There seems to be variable dispute between different authors and soruces as to which came first out of Wu, Chen and Lee.

Yang style tai chi is probably the most popular style and came from Chen style. Grandmaster Lu Chan Yang establishjed the old yng style which was altered and became the New Yang style by his grandson Yang Cheng Fu.

The yang family style of Tai chi chuan consists of 115 postures, some of which are repeated. The core postures can be learned by firstyl learning the Beijing 24 style which is not a porper tai hi form but came into existence in the last century.

The Chen style consists of slow and fast movements combined again it has an old and new form.

Other styles can be researched on the internet.

In tai chi there are important things one must do to get the most benefit and improve your tai chi. One is to relax the body. this does not mean "let go" as i the Western sense of relax. More it means relax the jpints and lossen the shoulders, especially relax the waist area - this efers to the internal aspects of the waist area which is the muscles which should control the movements in tai chi.

The second important thing is to "clear the mind" clear the mind of all extraeneous thoughts and motion so that it is clean and pure. This will put you in the meditative concentrating state for tai chi practice.

Practice every day and your tai chi and your health will improve, under the guidance of good instruction.

I think it is important that if you are thinking about tai chi to commit to learning it for the rest of your life, no matter what. This is required because tai chi takes more than one lifetime to master, so you will always have something to get better at.

My website has some good resources for instruction if you take the time to explore it and the recommended resources. Click HereThe new tai chi website I created is founding by clicking here: http://www.tai-chi-kung-fu.com

Tai Chi History

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Tai Chi, also known as Tai Chi Chuan, was handed down from different generations since its creation by Chang San-Feng. It was during the Sung Dynasty that this was introduced and from that moment on, there were numerous accounts of the form.

The form, or kung chia in Chinese language, are the different movements made through Tai Chi. One of the most common and famous form is the manipulation of the snake and the crane fighting. Master Chang, one of the advocates, copied this kind of fighting style and transformed it into a softer version of their coiling movements. The form that was developed had 13 postures that correspond with the trigrams and the Five Elements.

Master Chang’s lineage was not clear but what historians know is that he is a certain Chiang Fah. Chiang’s form was taught to a young man named as Chen Wang Ting. Chen was known to practice the art of Tai Chi in 1644. Descendants of Chen Wang Ting practiced their family form. Some of the characteristics of their form is done with emphasis on low stances, a silk-reeling move, and fast movements and were practiced periodically.

Tai Chi that was formed by the Chen family was secretly practiced and no one was allowed to use it outside of their home. But during the time of Chen Chang Hsin, which was in the year 1800, the tradition broke. He taught all of his family Tai Chi secrets and styles to his student, Yang Lu Chan.

The modern-day Yang style came from the grandson of Yang Lu Chan named Yang Cheng Fu. This paved the way to introducing one of the longest accounts in the history of Tai Chi. Its form consists of 128 postures. It is characterized by the warding off of energy using leaning movements with slow motion techniques.

The generation of the Yang family taught their students the techniques on Tai Chi. The masters chose their earnest students and made a lineage that gave birth to other styles namely Sun, Wu, and Hao. These styles may differ in the way they are portrayed and the performance differs as well but the principles that were observed by Chang San Feng remains the same.

There was this one student of Yang Cheng Fu named Cheng Man Ching. Cheng became the master of his own generation because of the revisions that he made with Tai Chi Chuan. One of the most famous changes that he made was shortening the form to a 37-posture Tai Chi. This is change made by Cheng is now the most famous form of Tai Chi that is practiced till this day.

When Cheng came to the U.S., he tried to teach and took on the interest of some students in all aspects of life. By doing so, he made the form popular to every men and women. This new form introduced by Cheng is originally known as the Yang Style in the shorter form. It become widespread, today, it is more popular with the name Cheng Style of Tai Chi.

The form of Cheng’s Tai Chi is characterized by an upright spine position, rolling back of energy and a softness that has its powerful attitude.

Taoism is the main contributor of the idea why, in the first place, Tai Chi was formed. This is because Taoism reflects teachings that fundamentally contribute to the reflective, mystic and serene view of the world and the nature we live in.

Learning the Sword of Tai Chi

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Usually, teachers will give the students sufficient time to practice all the basic moves first before quarrying in the more intense techniques. It will take a student at least 2-3 years of experience before letting him handle the tao (knife or short sword). If the student is really good and has already mastered all arts within a year, then he can be a candidate to learn the tao earlier than expected.

It will take a student at least 10 years of Tai Chi experience to handle the real thing. Point is, teachers take their craft very seriously. That is why some hesitate to teach the sword unless they are sure that the person can handle the blade in its essence. It is seldom to encounter a master that teaches the sword because it is a very dangerous thing to learn especially if the person in not really equipped to learn it. Some will not teach it at all.

That was before. In this generation, there are a lot of teachers that allow the students to learn the way of the sword, instantly, after knowing the basic of Tai Chi. As a sort of progression first, they would teach the students the basic things like standing meditation. Push Hands will come next. There would also be some specific moves like the Tchoung style in its fast form. Practicing these conveys a solid foundation of the techniques and movements of the body.

Weapons will be introduced. They have varieties of teachings regarding swords like tao, chien, etc. After mastering the independent use of the swords, they would continue to practice but this time, in twos. Practitioners will arrange the sword patterns then comes the moment of sparring.

When chien is used in sparring, it is like practicing Push Hands with a weapon. Similar circular movements are the ones that are used to nick, thrust, slice and cut. Chopping movements can be found in tao but not in chien applications.

Concepts
Every type of martial art revolves around concepts. An art’s methods of training must always reflect the concepts and must see to it that every movement is in harmony with the entire faculty. In Tai Chi sword, there are specifications, that wouldn’t be a surprise. Sadly, the stiff and wooden way that is taught by some instructors doesn’t reflect the energy predicted in Tai Chi.

Tai Chi Chuan derives its concepts from several forms of performing the chien single-handedly. Yang style is the most common form. It is composed of 56 – 64 movements. The variations of the standard pattern will greatly depend on the school of thought and the emphasis of each one.

During practice of the sword, a person must focus on the smoothness and calmness of the movement. The mind should be as calm as the quiet ocean to be able to reflect the innermost feeling of a person. The body must stay afloat like sailing into clear skies.

One of the reasons why people study the art of the sword is because the weapon brings the elements of the mind and the body in unity. To use the sword correctly, one must assume that is it a part of his body and not just a weapon of destruction.

He must realize that the sword is a matter of importance that when taken away is a bigger ordeal.