• More traditional practitioners hold that the two aspects of health and martial arts make up the art’s yin and yang.

• The ability to use tai chi as a form of combat is the test of a student’s understanding of the art.

• Tai chi is often characterized by slow movements in Taolu practice, and one of the reasons is to develop body awareness.

• Sundial shadow length changes represent traditional Chinese Medicine with four elements theory instead of Confucian politician-based five elements theory.

• This was an attempt to standardize t’ai-chi ch’üan for wushu tournaments as they wanted to create a routine that would be much less difficult to learn than the classical 88
  to 108 posture solo hand forms.

• Modern forms[edit] The Cheng Man-ch’ing (Zheng Manqing) and Chinese Sports Commission short forms are derived from Yang family forms, but neither is recognized as Yang family
  tai chi by standard-bearing Yang family teachers.

• Seated tai chi[edit] Seated tai chi demonstration Traditional tai chi was developed for self-defense, but it has evolved to include a graceful form of seated exercise now
  used for stress reduction and other health conditions.

• While many scholars and practitioners consider tai chi to be a type of qigong,[30][31] the two are commonly seen as separate but closely related practices.

• Wu-style master Eddie Wu demonstrating the form “Grasp the bird’s tail” at a tournament in Toronto, Ontario, Canada Most existing styles came from Chen style, which had been
  passed down as a family secret for generations.

• [citation needed] The designation internal or neijia martial arts is also used to broadly distinguish what are known as external or waijia styles based on Shaolinquan styles,
  although that distinction may be disputed by modern schools.

• Breathing exercises; neigong (internal skill) or, more commonly, qigong (life energy cultivation) are practiced to develop qi (life energy) in coordination with physical movement
  and zhan zhuang (standing like a post) or combinations of the two.

• [28] Health[edit] Outdoor practice in Beijing’s Temple of Heaven See also: World Tai Chi and Qigong Day Tai chi’s health training concentrates on relieving stress on the body
  and mind.

• It is based primarily on the Yang short form, and has been adopted by the general public, medical practitioners, tai chi instructors, and the elderly.

• [13] The sensitivity needed to capture the center is acquired over thousands of hours of first yin (slow, repetitive, meditative, low-impact) and then later adding yang (realistic,
  active, fast, high-impact) martial training through taolu (forms), tuishou (pushing hands), and sanshou (sparring).

• While tai chi is typified by its slow movements, many styles (including the three most popular: Yang, Wu, and Chen) have secondary, faster-paced forms.

• Forms taught for wushu are designed to earn points in competition and are mostly unconcerned with either health or self-defense.

• Taijiquan is a complete martial art system with a full range of bare-hand movement set and weapon forms as in the Taiji sword and Taiji spear based on the dynamic relationship
  between Yin and Yang.

• [9] However, modern research doubts those claims, pointing out that a 17th-century piece called Epitaph for Wang Zhengnan (1669), composed by Huang Zongxi (1610–1695), is
  the earliest reference indicating a connection between Zhang Sanfeng and martial arts.

• Tai chi’s low-stress training method for seniors has become better known.

• [19] Standardization[edit] Taoist practitioners practising In 1956 the Chinese government sponsored the Chinese Sports Committee (CSC), which brought together four wushu teachers
  to truncate the Yang family hand form to 24 postures.

• [16] Yang Luchan trained with the Chen family for 18 years before he started to teach in Beijing, which strongly suggests that his work was heavily influenced by the Chen
  family art.

• Zheng felt Yang’s traditional 108-movement form was unnecessarily long and repetitive, which makes it difficult to learn.

• In this broad sense, all styles of t’ai chi, as well as related arts such as Baguazhang and Xingyiquan, are, therefore, considered to be “soft” or “internal” martial arts.

• Traditionally, Taijiquan also has Dan Shi (Single Form Practice) which practice a specific movement from Taolu.

• • Also known as: Tàijí; T’ai chi; Focus: Chinese Taoism; Hardness: Forms competition, Light contact (pushing hands, no strikes), Full contact (strikes, kicks, throws, takedowns
  etc.

• Most development aspects are meant to be covered within the partnered practice of tuishou, and so, sanshou (sparring) is not commonly used as a method of training, although
  more advanced students sometimes practice by sanshou.

• Attire and ranking[edit] Master Yang Jun in demonstration attire that has come to be identified with tai chi In practice traditionally no specific uniform is part of tai chi.

• In 1976, they developed a slightly longer demonstration form that would not require the traditional forms’ memory, balance, and coordination.

• These forms were named after their style: the “Chen-style national competition form” is the “56 Forms”.

• His success in fighting earned him the nickname Yang Wudi, which means “Abnormally Large”, and his fame and efforts in teaching greatly contributed to the subsequent spreading
  of tai chi knowledge.

• Some traditional schools teach partner exercises known as tuishou (“pushing hands”), and martial applications of the postures of different forms (taolu).

• Practitioners mostly interested in tai chi’s health benefits diverged from those who emphasize self-defense, and also those who attracted by its aesthetic appeal (wushu).

• Partnered (tuishou and sanshou)[edit] Two students receive instruction in tuishou (“pushing hands”), one of the core training exercises of t’ai-chi ch’üan.

• Unlike the older generation of practitioners, Zheng was cultured and educated in American ways,[clarification needed] and thus was able to transcribe Yang’s dictation into
  a written manuscript that became the de facto manual for Yang style.

• Practice • Meditation: The focus and calm cultivated by the meditative aspect of tai chi is seen as necessary for maintaining health (in the sense of relieving stress and
  maintaining homeostasis) and in the application of the form as a soft style martial art.

• This became the “Combined 48 Forms” that were created by three wushu coaches, headed by Men Hui Feng.

• [8] Although the term Wudang suggests these arts originated in the Wudang Mountains, it is used only to distinguish the skills, theories and applications of neijia (internal
  arts) from those of the Shaolin grouping, or waijia (hard or external) styles.

• These five sets of forms were created by different teams, and later approved by a committee of wushu coaches in China.

• [29] Sport/self-defense[edit] As a martial art, tai chi emphasizes defense over attack and replies to hard with soft.

• Traditional schools also emphasize that one is expected to show wude (“martial virtue/heroism”), to protect the defenseless, and show mercy to one’s opponents.

• Early practitioners such as Yang Chengfu and Sun Lutang promoted the art for its health benefits beginning in the early 20th century.

• Solo forms (empty-hand and weapon) are catalogues of movements that are practised individually in pushing hands and martial application scenarios to prepare students for self-defense
  training.

• In the late 1980s, CSC standardized more competition forms for the four major styles as well as combined forms.

• • Although many styles were passed down to respective descendants of the same family, the lineage focused on is that of the martial art and its main styles, not necessarily
  that of the families.

• In the last 60 years they have become better known to the general public.

• Yang Luchan became the first person outside the family to learn tai chi.

• Tai chi (Chinese pinyin: Tàijí), short for Tai chi ch’üan (Tàijíquán), sometimes called “shadowboxing”,[1][2][3] is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training,
  health benefits and meditation.

• The combined forms simplified and combined classical forms from the original Chen, Yang, Wu, and Sun styles.

• The study concluded that low-quality evidence suggests that tai chi may have some beneficial health effects when compared to control in a limited number of populations for
  a limited number of outcomes.

• In most traditional schools, variations of the solo forms can be practised: fast / slow, small-circle / large-circle, square / round (different expressions of leverage through
  the joints), low-sitting/high-sitting (the degree to which weight-bearing knees stay bent throughout the form).

• [9] These schools believe that tai chi theory and practice were formulated by Taoist monk Zhang Sanfeng in the 12th century, at about the same time that the principles of
  the Neo-Confucian school were rising.

• • Movement: Tai chi is the practice of appropriate change in response to outside forces, of yielding to and redirecting an attack rather than meeting it with opposing force.

• [4] Forms Training involves two primary features: taolu (solo “forms”), a sequence of movements that emphasize a straight spine, abdominal breathing and a natural range of
  motion; and tuishou (“pushing hands”) for training with a partner and in a more practical manner.

• Accurate, repeated practice of the solo routine is said to retrain posture, encourage circulation throughout students’ bodies, maintain flexibility, and familiarize students
  with the martial sequences implied by the forms.

• [citation needed] He thus created a shortened 37-movement version that he taught in his schools.

• Many tai chi movements are part of qigong practice.

• Most modern styles trace their development to the five traditional schools: Chen, Yang, Wu (Hao), Wu, and Sun.

 

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