132 Sage Cove
Bastrop, Texas 78602
Phone: 512.321.3548
E-mail:taichiherb@aol.com
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Once
upon a time, there was a country village. A beautiful place located
at the hill of Huang Mountain. There were four boys and one girl
who had been friends since childhood. They grew up and saw each
other every day in the same village.
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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. |
Chang
Style Tai Chi Chuan