Tai Chi Ch’uan
Tai Chi Ch'uan is an ancient Chinese martial art which has its roots in Taoism. Initially practiced in secret by the Shaolin monks of the Wu-tang Mountain region of southern China, it was taught more openly in the early 1800’s as a pathway to living a healthier life.
Today there are five major types of tai chi:
Chen style, which was developed and taught in the Chen Village in the Henan Province, is the oldest and parent form of the five main styles. It is characterized by its lower stances and bursts of power. From this style Yang Chen-fu developed Yang style, one of the most popular and most often seen forms of tai chi today. Yang modified the Chen forms to make them softer and easier to learn. His two sons Hao and Wu, using the forms of their father, developed two new styles which were characterized by higher stances. Later in his life, Hao became very ill and was nursed back to health by Sun Lu-tang. In return for his care Hao taught his style to Sun who modified it in the early 1900’s, incorporating his knowledge of qigong into the form.
Tai Chi provides a gentle stretching and strengthening of the joints muscles, and tendons of the body. When done properly, and with the correct instruction, tai chi can provide protection to the joints, improve mobility, relieve pain and stiffness, and improve the practitioner’s cardiovascular fitness which will in turn enhance health.
Our tai chi classes are built around the Sun forms of Tai Chi for Health as developed and taught by Dr. Paul Lam in his Tai Chi for Health programs, but also include elements of qigong and of the traditional 64 Yang forms of Chen Man-ching.
Today there are five major types of tai chi:
Chen style, which was developed and taught in the Chen Village in the Henan Province, is the oldest and parent form of the five main styles. It is characterized by its lower stances and bursts of power. From this style Yang Chen-fu developed Yang style, one of the most popular and most often seen forms of tai chi today. Yang modified the Chen forms to make them softer and easier to learn. His two sons Hao and Wu, using the forms of their father, developed two new styles which were characterized by higher stances. Later in his life, Hao became very ill and was nursed back to health by Sun Lu-tang. In return for his care Hao taught his style to Sun who modified it in the early 1900’s, incorporating his knowledge of qigong into the form.
Tai Chi provides a gentle stretching and strengthening of the joints muscles, and tendons of the body. When done properly, and with the correct instruction, tai chi can provide protection to the joints, improve mobility, relieve pain and stiffness, and improve the practitioner’s cardiovascular fitness which will in turn enhance health.
Our tai chi classes are built around the Sun forms of Tai Chi for Health as developed and taught by Dr. Paul Lam in his Tai Chi for Health programs, but also include elements of qigong and of the traditional 64 Yang forms of Chen Man-ching.
Workshops and regular classes offered by Bian Tai Chi include:
To find a description of the classes we teach click on one of the links below:
- Tai Chi for Arthritis
- Tai Chi for Diabetes
- Tai Chi for Osteoporosis
- Tai Chi for Fall Prevention
- Sun 73
- Tai Chi for Energy