Thursday, June 2, 2011

The History Of Tai Chi: Weird Ironies

By Amber Dawson


The historical past of Tai Chi is surrounded in mystery. No one knows incisively when it all started. To date, the best guess is the 14th century, which is suggested to be the period when its founder Chang San-feng was likely to have lived. A monk of the tremendously respected Wu Tang Monastery, Chang is said to have lived a very long life, owing to the teaching of the philosophy.

Some say that he did not in reality exist, that he was, really, and allegorical figure, the topic of legends. Yet in some manner, the five essential tenets of Tai Chi have been enshrined in the the I Ching, or the ancient Chinese classical tracks. Perhaps one other weird trait of Tai Chi is that while it looks like a passive exercise, it is in actuality a type of martial arts like Kung Fu or Shaolin.

In reality, the literal translation of Tai Chi Ch'uan is extreme fist, which conjures images of extreme sports like boxing particularly. Ironically, this philosophy teaches maneuvers to ditch enemies or to use the opponents' impetus against them. This is why pliability, grace, and elasticity are important qualities of the Tai Chi warrior. Primarily, this is what separates it from other martial arts in the ancient Chinese arena.

The art of Tai Chi has expanded and improved over its history, which makes it one of the more vibrant of all martial arts. For example, in the current time, there exists eight diverse schools of thought for Tai Chi. This can be explained by its historical foundation when Chang and his sidekick Chiang Fa happened upon a village and found locals eager to learn the philosophy.

This caused eight unique types of Tai Chi being born: Yang, Old Frame, New Frame, Wu, Zhao Bao, Hu Lei, Wu Shi, and Sun. All eight types are active today, ripe with training schools and regular exhibitions to improve the trade while sustaining the purity of every branch. Thus, it could be reported, the history of Tai Chi is alive and well on planet earth, not only in China where the discipline was born, but in many other countries, thanks in part to nimble and mobile Chinese immigrants.




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