"Tai Ji Quan" (Supreme Ultimate Fist) is probably the most popular Chinese martial arts style and is practiced all over the world. Taiji is a wushu style, just like nanquan, only that Taiji is a soft, internal style while nanquan is an external, hard style. Taiji is so popular because it also attracts people who are not even interested in martial arts. A sport for young and old. It's proven that Taiji is healthy for body and mind (strengthens joints and muscles, stretching, meditation, etc.). There are many different Taiji styles: Chen (which was the first one), Wu, Yang, etc. More info below.
History: Taiji History
Chen Style: Chen Wang Ting (1600–1680) was the inventor of the Chen-style. That was the official first style of Taiji. But there was a development before this. The earliest Taiji-related name is "Zhang San Feng," who lived in the 12th century. The name "Taijiquan" was first used by Wang Zhong Yue around 1400.
About 150 years later, Chen Chang Xing taught his style to Yang Lu Quan. This was the beginning of the Yang style.
Around 1850, Wu Yu Xiang was influenced by both styles and invented the Wu-Hao style together with Hao Wei Chen.
A few years later, the Wu style was invented by another Chinese with the first name "Wu." The Wu style comes from the Yang style.
Sun-style Taiji comes from Wu-Hao style Taiji. It was invented by Sun Lu Tang around 1900.
Until now, many new styles have been founded, but only the first five styles are recognized by the international community:
Chen style – most popular, most traditional
Yang style – 2nd most popular
Wu-Hao style – 3rd most popular
Wu style – 4th most popular
Sun style – 5th most popular
However, due to the number of competitive wushu athletes in China, modern Taiji might be the most popular.
The Chinese sports commission decided to create new forms for competition use in 1956.
In 1990, the 42-form was created—a combination of Chen, Yang, Wu, and Sun style techniques.
Now competitions are held in 42-form and freestyle forms. Freestyle Taiji includes difficult stretches and acrobatics.
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