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Chang
Style Tai Chi Chuan
by Shifu Hwang
The Yang
family of Yong Lien contributed a great deal in making Tai Chi Chuan become
a prevailing exercise during the Chin Dynasty.
As the emperors
themselves were in charge of the morning court, it was customary for all
ministers to wait in front of court before emperors arrived there. The
time spent waiting for the emperors was boring and considered a waste.
Therefore, some of the ministers started to practice Tai Chi, while some
started to practice Kung Fu. Since their aims were to help the body achieve
good circulation without sweating too much, Tai Chi seemed to be the better
choice of the two. Tai Chi was thus accepted in Chin Dnyasty upper society.
Old Yang
style Tai Chi form has 108 postures and needs 12 to 15 minutes to complete.
However, there were many people who were too busy in this society, and
did not have much time to do whole the form. So, about 30 years ago, the
Beijing Government started the work of Tai Chi Chuan abridged which contained
only 24 of the original postures. The abridged for is also called the
Tai Chi short form, and takes about 3 or 5 minutes to complete. The short
form still provides great benefit to the same people who wish to exercise
but lack the time.
When most
people talk about Tai Chi, they are usually referring to Yang style Tai
Chi. About 95% of Tai Chi practicioners do Yang style. Although most of
these students practice the Yang style for a long period of time, their
focus is on only seeking the health benefits. As a result, the fighting
techniques in Tai Chi eventually became lost to the world.
Grand Master
Chang Tung-seng travelled whole world in his life time. Yet, he said that
he had never seen people using Tai Chi for fighting. One day, when Grand
Master Chang was in Nanking, he heard there was a Tai Chi master there.
So Grand Master Chang went to his school and tested him. However, this
master fought back in Shaolin Kung Fu. Chang asked him, "why didn't
you use your Tai Chi techniques." The master replied, "when
I fight, I use Shaolin".
It is very
difficult to use Tai Chi for self-defense. Even when Chen style Tai Chi
practicioners fight they use Cannon Fist instead of their Chen family
Tai Chi.
So Grand
Master Chang used the Yang style form for basis of his style. He changed
Yang Tai Chi's footstep angles, and the hands coordination. As a result,
the Chang style Tai Chi form can serve as a both a health medium and self-defense
training tool if enough time is devoted to learn it.
Click here
to view the postures of the Chang
Style Tai Chi Chuan Short Form.
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