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Hey people..
Just want to clarify something on the origins of Taijiquan (or tai chi).
It did not originate from some ancient old taoist named Zhang San Feng. If you do a research on Hong Kong film and television history, you'll learn that Zhang San Feng was actually just a character from popular Hong Kong scripts. He was the leader of the Wudang sect. In the historical records of China, there was a Zhang San Feng, but he was simply a taoist practitioner, with no relation whatsoever to Taiji.
Taijiquan came about from the Chen family. The family was like a nomadic family, constantly moving around, settling on many locations. They originated from Shangdong (1374), and moved to Henan. The family itself was already well-versed in martial arts, and frequently had to fend for themselves against bandits and robbers (which was VERY common in the hills and forests of China). In the historical records, not only the men, but the women, older folks and teens had to fight together to ward off any attackers.
Not sure what they were trained in, but it was mentioned that the popular styles in Shandong during that period was Chang Quan （長拳）, and Zhong Yi Quan （忠義拳）. It was most likely what they studied because Taijiquan contains traces of both martial arts.
However, Taijiquan only came about during the later (9th) generation of the Chen family. The creator was Chen Wangting. Chen Wangting was a skilled martial artist, and besides being hired on many occasions as a bodyguard, he was appointed as a general to lead armies to fight off bandits and rebels. He was well-versed in Taoist philosophies and from the Huang Ting Jing (黃庭經），he derived breathing techniques and incorporated them into 32 forms of techniques that he extracted from 16 different schools of martial arts. Chang Quan (長拳）was incorporated as well. And from there, he created the original Taijiquan.
From the Chen style Taijiquan, spawned about different variants of Taiji. Initially, they all had hard elements in them. It was only due to commercialization that the hard elements were taken out so that the elder folks could experience the health benefits from the softer aspects.
Just want to clarify something on the origins of Taijiquan (or tai chi).
It did not originate from some ancient old taoist named Zhang San Feng. If you do a research on Hong Kong film and television history, you'll learn that Zhang San Feng was actually just a character from popular Hong Kong scripts. He was the leader of the Wudang sect. In the historical records of China, there was a Zhang San Feng, but he was simply a taoist practitioner, with no relation whatsoever to Taiji.
Taijiquan came about from the Chen family. The family was like a nomadic family, constantly moving around, settling on many locations. They originated from Shangdong (1374), and moved to Henan. The family itself was already well-versed in martial arts, and frequently had to fend for themselves against bandits and robbers (which was VERY common in the hills and forests of China). In the historical records, not only the men, but the women, older folks and teens had to fight together to ward off any attackers.
Not sure what they were trained in, but it was mentioned that the popular styles in Shandong during that period was Chang Quan （長拳）, and Zhong Yi Quan （忠義拳）. It was most likely what they studied because Taijiquan contains traces of both martial arts.
However, Taijiquan only came about during the later (9th) generation of the Chen family. The creator was Chen Wangting. Chen Wangting was a skilled martial artist, and besides being hired on many occasions as a bodyguard, he was appointed as a general to lead armies to fight off bandits and rebels. He was well-versed in Taoist philosophies and from the Huang Ting Jing (黃庭經），he derived breathing techniques and incorporated them into 32 forms of techniques that he extracted from 16 different schools of martial arts. Chang Quan (長拳）was incorporated as well. And from there, he created the original Taijiquan.
From the Chen style Taijiquan, spawned about different variants of Taiji. Initially, they all had hard elements in them. It was only due to commercialization that the hard elements were taken out so that the elder folks could experience the health benefits from the softer aspects.
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