Chinese kung fu fans

Yield and overcome;
Bend and be straight.
Returning is the motion of the Tao.
Yielding is the way of the Tao.
What is firmly established cannot be uprooted.
What is firmly grasped cannot slip away.

– Tao Te Ching

T’ai Chi Ch’uan & Chinese Martial Arts

T’ai Chi Ch’uan is a Taoist internal martial art. One account of the history of T’ai Chi Ch’uan credits its development to the Taoist immortal Chang San-feng, who is said to have drawn the inspiration for the art by watching a fight between an snake and an aggressive eagle. Chang San-feng was reportedly a master of Shaolin Kung Fu who reached an extraordinary level of cultivation through Taoist internal practices. Another account of the history of T’ai Chi Ch’uan is that many different Kung Fu masters developed it over a long period of time; as a synthesis of internal meditation and martial technique. Either way, the written history of T’ai Chi Ch’uan goes back about 300 years and it was not until the turn of the 20th century that it was introduced to the general public.

T’ai Chi Ch’uan is a very unique and powerful art, for both internal power and longevity. T’ai Chi Ch’uan is a martial art which embodies Taoist philosophy. When T’ai Chi Ch’uan was developed, the martial arts were very aggressive. One’s proficiency was measured by the strength and aggression of attack, in terms of the Taoist principle of yin and yang this was a purely “yang” conception of martial arts. What was revolutionary about T’ai Chi Ch’uan was the incorporation of the yin element to fighting. In T’ai Chi Ch’uan one uses a balance of yin techniques with yang techniques, a balance between yielding and attacking. It is for this reason that T’ai Chi Ch’uan is described as “a needle hidden in cotton” or “hardness concealed in softness”.

Presently T’ai Chi Ch’uan is rapidly growing in popularity for the tremendous health benefits which come through practice. Clinical studies have shown that T’ai Chi practice can lower blood pressure, reduce nervous tension, and benefit the immune, digestive, cardiovascular and respiratory systems. At this time, over one hundred million people practice T’ai Chi Ch’uan on a regular basis.