Taiji Quan 

Chang San Feng

Taiji Quan is one of the oldest documented forms of martial arts. The question of its origin is highly controversial, and supporters of one theory over another base their arguments on differences in:

· posture and form
· training, techniques and combat strategies
· philosophy and legend

Most people recognise Chang San Feng, a Taoist monk of the thirteenth century, as the founder of Taiji Quan. The Chang San Feng legend can be viewed as having three phases: phase I (prior to 1669) merely claims that Chang was a Taoist immortal; phase II (after 1669) claims that he founded the "internal" school of boxing; and phase III (post 1900) claims that Taiji Quan originated with Chang.

In the sixth century Ta Mo (an Indian monk) came to the Shao Lin Monastery and seeing that the monks there were in poor physical condition from too much meditation and not enough movement, created his Eighteen Form Lohan Exercise. Over time these grew to be the precursors of the Wei Chia (outer-extrinsic) school of exercise, by which is meant all the schools of kung-fu and other martial art forms which take an 'external' approach.

Linking some of these older forms; with an internal approach, with yin-yang from Taoism, and stressing the 'internal' aspects of his exercises, Chang San Feng is credited with creating the fundamental 'Thirteen Postures' of Tai Chi. The eight 'postures' are:

1. ward-off
2. rollback
3. press
4. push
5. pull
6. split
7. elbow strike; and
8. shoulder strike

The five 'attitudes' are:

1. advance
2. retreat
3. look left
4. gaze right; and
5. central equilibrium.

In a real sense one can consider Taiji Quan to be a physical expression and manifestation of the principles and philosophy of Taoism. From the very origins of Taoism in the sixth century BC, sages like Lao Tzu wrote in the Tao Te Ching:

Yield and Overcome; Bend and be straight.

And

He who stands of tiptoe is not steady.
He who strides cannot maintain the pace.

Chang San Feng exercises stressed suppleness and elasticity and were opposed to hardness and force. They incorporated philosophy, physiology, psychology, geometry and the laws of dynamics. Wang Chung-Yueh and his student Chiang Fa elaborated his theories, writings and practices sometime later. Wang apparently took the thirteen postures of Chang San-Feng and linked them together into continuous sequences, thus creating something that resembles the contemporary Taiji Quan form.

There are many Taiji Quan styles that vary in principle, form and function. We will describe the main styles that are popular today, but you should note that many other styles and practitioners have not been documented.

1. One of his students, Chen You-Neng, continued what is called the New Frame Style of Chen Tai Chi.
2. Chen Chang-hsing (1771-1853) studied under Chiang-Fa and combined the Cannon Pounding (Pao Chui) form of the Chen Family with the Tai Chi taught by Chiang-Fa. Chen Chang-hsing, in turn, was the teacher of Yang Lu-chan, the originator of the Yang Style of Tai Chi.
3. Another Chen family member and student of Chen Chang-hsing was Chen Gen-yun whose descendants continued the Old Frame Style of Chen Tai Chi.
4. Wu Quan-yu, a Manchu guard in the Imperial Palace at Beijing, was a student of both Yang Lu-chan and his son Yang Pan-hou. Wu taught it to (amongst others) his son Wu Chien-chuan (Also written as Wu Jian-quan). From this stream emerged the Wu Style of Tai Chi.

5. Another Chen family member was Chen Yau-pun who veered away from Chiang Fa's tradition to create the 'new' school of Tai Chi. Apparently his student Chen Quin-ping was an originator of the Zhao Bao Style of Tai Chi.

6. One of Chen Quin-ping's students was Li Jing-Ting who, in turn was the founder of the Hu Lei Style of Tai Chi.
7. A student of both Yang Lu-chan and Chen Qing-ping was Wu Yu- xiang. He taught his nephew Lee I-yu who in turn taught Hao Wei-chen. This gave rise to the Wu Shi Style (or Hao Style) of Tai Chi Chuan.
8. One of Hao Wei-chen's students was Sun Lu-tang who also studied Hsing-I Quan under Kuo Yun-shen and Pa Kua Chang under Cheng T'ing-hua (himself a student of Dong Hai-chuan, the founder of Pa Kua Chang). He combined these forms in the new Sun Style of Tai Chi Chuan.