| |
A
HISTORY of the DEVELOPMENT of TAI CHI
The development of the Tai Chi we practice today is a unique history of
the combination of Traditional Chinese Medical theories; Taoist studies
known as Qi gong; and the Martial Arts used by ancient monks to defend
themselves against bandits and warlords. An unusual blend of healing art
and martial art developed, which has been described as the Internal
Martial Art of Tai Chi Ch’uan.
When researching the history of Tai Chi, the theories are as varied as the
different forms grouped under the general banner of Tai Chi. However, most
historians agree on some basic points.
The Qi gong aspect of the art, under various names, has the longest
history, with written records dating back 3,300 years.
In 2,575 BC Huang Di (known as the Yellow Emperor) produced China’s
earliest medical classic. He observed that the stagnant waters left behind
by floods caused much disease in both humans and animals. He reasoned that
if stagnant water caused so much sickness, then the river of blood within
us would also be adversely affected by stagnation. He designed a system of
breathing and gentle callisthenics, reckoning that proper movement and
exercise to keep the flow of the life force circulating within would
counter these negative effects. The Emperor introduced these exercises to
his people in what was possibly the first National Health Scheme. This
exercise system is the basis for the A.A.T.C Tao Yin set, still practised
today.
In 220-265 AD, a physician named Hua-tu’o relied not only on Traditional
Chinese Medicine, but also believed that the body needed to be regularly
exercised to help with digestion and circulation. Only by doing so could a
long and healthy life be achieved. He taught “the movements of five
creatures” (the tiger, dear, bear, ape and birds), a system of imitating
the movements of these animals to help exercise every joint in the body.
The A.A.T.C. 5 Animal Frolics also uses movements for these five animals.
Although the martial arts date from the beginning of recorded history, the
individual techniques were closely guarded family secrets and the styles
did not become formalised until the 6th century. In the 6th
century AD Bodihdharma, a Buddhist monk from India,
came
to the famous Shaolin Monastery. Seeing the poor physical condition of the
monks he introduced his Eighteen Form Lohan Exercise to strengthen and
tone their bodies. Over time these exercises grew to be the precursor of
the external school of exercise we know as Shaolin King-Fu, or Wushu. This
then developed throughout the east as the martial arts we are familiar
with today; such as Karate; Ju-Jitsu and Tae Kwon Do, etc.
During the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), legend has it that Chang San-Feng, a
Taoist Alchemist, fell into a deep sleep one day after drinking a strange
concoction. He dreamt of fighting manoeuvres centred around yielding to
overcome an attack - the story of the Crane fighting a Snake that we hear
about. Chang San-Feng is attributed with linking some of the older styles
of exercise with the idea of Yin-Yang from Taoism; soft versus hard; and
stressing the ‘internal’ aspects of his exercise. He is credited with
creating the fundamental “Thirteen Postures” of Tai Chi, stressing
suppleness and elasticity, and opposed to hardness and force. Later, one
of Chang San-Feng’s students, Wang Chun-Yueh, apparently took the thirteen
postures and linked them together into continuous sequences, thus creating
something which resembles the contemporary Tai Chi Ch’uan form.
Wang had two students; Chen Chou-t’ung and Chiang Fa. Chen Chou-t’ung
established a southern school of Tai Chi, which subsequently disappeared.
Chiang Fa taught Tai Chi to the villagers of a town in Hunan, almost all
of whom were called Chen. Thus began the first family school of Tai Chi
Ch’uan.
The Chen family kept the secret of the form for over 400 years, until a
servant, Yang Lu-Chan, watched and the learnt the style in secret, until
he was finally accepted as a student. Yang later went to Peking and taught
the Emperor’s guard his “internal boxing”. As a result the Yang Tai Chi
form was developed. Yang style is the most common traditional style
practiced today, and is the basis of Grandmaster Khor’s Moving Meditation.
In the modern era, during the
“Cultural Revolution”, the communist government of China banned gatherings
of people to stop any rebellions from starting. This stopped people from
gathering for their morning Tai Chi exercise. After some years it was
noticed that the health of the population was failing and the cost of
providing health services was rising. The government called together Tai
Chi Masters to develop a new set of exercises that were easy to remember
to be taught to the people to improve their health and to provide a
standardised set to be used in competitions. This led to the development
of the Beijing 24 and the longer Beijing 48 styles. In the early 1980’s, a
Chinese medical practitioner wishing to give his patients some exercises
that were repetitive and still followed the principles of Tai Chi and
Qigong initiated the 18 breathing techniques we know as Shibashi.
The thoughts expressed in this article have been developed
through the author’s research of various books and Internet Web sites. The
article expresses the author’s understanding developed through this
research and is not proposed to be the official view of the Australian
Acadeny of Tai Chi. People seeking further information are encouraged to
carry out their own research of the great amount of information available.
Alex
AATC Instructor
|
|
