Tai Chi Chuan is derived from Taoism which believes in tranquility of mind and improvement of temperament. Tai in Chinese means ‘Great’ and Chi denotes 'ultimate energy’. The practice of Tai chi, therefore, generates energy and vitality through movement by using the Taoist practice of harmonizing positive and negative forces (the Yin and the Yang) into transcendental peace.
Tai Chi is the life force behind good living and is as relevant to modern lifestyle as it was in ancient times.
The earliest stories about Tai Chi dates back to the 12th century in the legend of Chang San Feng. While one version state that Tai Chi originated in his dream of a contest between a snake and a crane, another tells the story of Chang San-Feng studying the fierce fight between the snake and the crane as a contest of opposites in dynamic harmony, like Yin and the Yang of nature.
The practice of Tai Chi has come down to the present through three major family traditions. Chen, Yang and Wu.
The original Tai Chi Chuan form called the "Chen" style was passed to a family named Chen in Honan Province. Chen style was a combination of soft and explosive power techniques. It was practiced in the Chinese Shaolin Temple since the Fifteenth Century. The Chen clan kept Tai Chi Chuan a secret practice for fourteen generations, passed down only through families and loyal students. It was forbidden for anyone to teach it outside the family. All other common Tai Chi styles were later derived from the Chen style.
The centuries old tradition of the Chen Tai Chi secret was finally broken in the end of the eighteenth century. A young man named Yang Lu-Chan was then working as a servant in the Chen family. Yang Lu-Chan was intensely interested in the Chen clan's secret of self-defense. He spied upon them whenever they practiced Tai Chi and retained the knowledge within him to practice when he was alone.
One night Master Chen caught Yang Lu-Chan practicing. But he was so impressed with Yang’s talent and dedication that instead of punishing him, he broke a four hundred year tradition and made him a student. When he was finished apprenticeship, Yang Lu Chan returned to his village to practice and teach his distinctive style of Tai Chi Chuan. His fame took him to the Royal Palace to teach Tai Chi Chuan which gradually spread the Yang style further symbolized in its smooth and even-flowing tempo. The Yang style is the most common traditional style of Tai Chi Chuan practiced today.
While Yang Lu Chan was teaching Tai Chi Chuan at his hometown, he had a disciple named Wu Yu Xiang. Wu Yu Xiang went on to develop his skill further to learn the Chen form of Tai Chi from Chen Qin Ping. Once he finished his training he created the Wu Form Tai Chi Chuan, an unique agile and flexible form, which was a combination of both the Chen and the Yang styles.
The Sun Form Tai Chi Chuan was created by Sun Lu Tang who learnt the art from Hao Wei Zheng, a Wu Form Tai Chi Chuan master in the early 20th century.
Sun Lu Tang created Sun Form Tai Chi Chuan from The Eight Diagrams Palm, Xin Yi Chuan and Tai Chi Chuan.
