Tàijíquán 太極拳

Table of Contents

Note: this page is still under construction. If you find something wrong (for example in my chinese characters, but also for any other reason!) please leave a comment (see the bottom of the page).

Foreword #

There are many ways to write what most people in western cultures call Tai Chi. There are two set of “Chinese characters” or ideograms: traditional (太極) and simplified (太极), and there are many romanisations systems. The official one, made by Chinese people, is the Hanyu Pinyin (Tàijí), but for a long time the most commonly used was the Wade-Giles system (T’ai chi). There are others, like the Yale system for example, and many older systems from Chinese scholars. In the west the tonal marks are often dropped, becoming the Tai Chi (Wade-Giles) that most people know or Taiji (pinyin).

So if the pinyin version is Tàijí, why do I use Tàijíquán? Because I want to talk about the traditional discipline of Tàijí, including the ‘quán’ part which is the martial component (litteraly it means ‘box’). And, while I try to use the pinyin romanisation (out of respect for the Chinese people), I will often include the Wade-Giles romanisation as well, simply because it’s easier for a westerner like me to grasp the pronunciation from that system (as it was made by westerners).

Tàijíquán can be many different things today, but at its roots it is a martial art. People are often confused by the fact that old people practice it in parks. The truth is that there are different kinds of Tàijí.

The way most martial arts are practiced today has changed from their origin. In my experience, in North America at least, people are generally more familiar with Japenese martial arts, like Akido, Judo, Karate, etc. For Chinese martial arts, people can often only think of Kung Fu, which is not a martial art in reality, but an umbrella term for all martial arts (or really any activity that requires energy, practice and discipline). What most people don’t realize is that the names of these martial arts has changed to reflect the new way of practicing them. Akijustsu, Jujustsu for example, are the original names of these martial arts. The ‘jutsu’ part, which means ‘martial’ has been replaced with ‘do’ to form Akido and Judo. ‘Do’ literally means “the way” and it replaced ‘jutsu’ because these modern practice are meant to nurture you into The Way, a path to growth, to better yourself, etc.

The same thing happened with Tàijí, it was originally Tàijíquán, ‘quán’ meaning ‘box’, but today the martial part has been dropped by most schools and they simply drop that part of the name.

So when I use Tàijíquán, it includes the ‘quán’ part, not because I mean to focus on the martial aspect, but simply because I do want to include it, as I think it is a fundamental part of the discipline.

History #

The following is my attempt at making sense of the history of the Tàijíquán. The first line is in Pinyin while the second line is in the Wade-Giles transliteration which is easier for French speaking people like me to get the pronunciation right.

There are contradicting accounts, especially the early history, in addition to legends and most probably some embellishments by one lineage or another. For example Wang Zongyue is sometimes said to have studied under Zhang Sanfeng while some say that Cheng Wangting studied under Zhang Sanfeng, and these people lived centuries apart.

In any case, this explains the relationship between important people in the Tàijíquán history, and it shows the lineage of the various styles.

%%{init: {"flowchart": {"htmlLabels": false}} }%% flowchart TD changsanfeng["`Zhang Sanfeng 張三丰 (Chang San Feng) _12th century_ _Creator of Tàijíquán according to legends_`"] wangtsungyueh["`Wang Zongyue 王宗岳 (Wang Tsung Yüeh) _15th century_ _Legendary Master_ ①`"] chenwangting["`Chen Wangting 陳王庭 (Ch'en Wang T'ing) _1580-1660_ _Creator of Tàijíquán according to some_`"] chenchanghsing["`Chen Changxing 陈长兴 (Ch'en Ch'ang Hsing) 1771-1853 _Traditional Chen style_ Lao Chia (old frame)`"] yangluchan["`Yang Luchan 杨露禅 (Yang Lu Ch'an) 1799-1872 _Yang style founder_ Ta Chia (large frame) `"] cheyupen["`Chen Youben 陳有本 (Chen Yu Pen) 1780-1858 _Simplified Chen Style_ `"] chienchingping["`Chen Qingping 陳清平 (Ch'en Ch'ing P'ing) 1795-1868 _New Chen style_`"] yangpanhou["`Yang Banhou 楊班侯 (Yang Pan Hou) 1837-1890 `"] yangchienhou["`Yang Jianhou 杨健侯 (Yang Chien Hou) 1839-1917 `"] yangshaohou["`Yang Shaohou 楊少侯 (Yang Shao Hou) 1862-1930`"] yangchengfu["`Yang Chengfu 杨澄甫 (Yang Ch'eng Fu) 1883-1936 _Great 20th century teacher_`"] chenweiming["`Chen Weiming 陈微明 (Ch'en Wei Ming) 1881-1958 _Author of popular books on Tàijíquán_`"] wuyuhsiang["`Wu Yuxiang 武禹襄 (Wu Yü Hsiang) 1812-1880 _Wu style founder_ ② Hsiao Chia (small frame)`"] wuchuanyu["`Wu Quanyou 吴全佑 (Wu Ch'üan Yu) 1834-1902`"] wuchienchuan["`Wu Jianquan 吴鉴泉 (Wu Chien Ch'üan) 1870-1942 _Wu style founder_ Chung Chia (medium frame)`"] hoaweichen["`Hao Weizhen 郝為真 (Hao Wei Chen) 1842-1920 `"] liiyu["`Li Yiyu 李亦畬 (Li I Yü) 1832-1892 `"] sunlutang["`Sun Lutang 孫祿堂 (Sun Lu T'ang) 1860-1933 _Sun style founder_ Huo Pu Chia (fleet feet frame) `"] changsanfeng --> wangtsungyueh changsanfeng --> chenwangting wangtsungyueh -->|According to some, \nChen was a disciple of Wang| chenwangting chenwangting --> chenchanghsing chenchanghsing --> id1{{Traditional Chen style}} id1 -->|First outside the family\n to learn the Chen style| yangluchan id1 --> cheyupen cheyupen --> chienchingping chienchingping --> id2{{New Chen style}} yangluchan --> id3{{Yang Style}} id3 -->|Senior Son| yangpanhou id3 -->|Son| yangchienhou yangpanhou -->|Disciple| wuchuanyu wuchuanyu -->|son| wuchienchuan wuchienchuan --> id4{{Wu 吴 Style}} yangluchan -->|Learned from| wuyuhsiang chienchingping -->|Learned from| wuyuhsiang wuyuhsiang --> id5{{Wu 武 Style}} wuyuhsiang -->|Nephew| liiyu liiyu -->|Disciple| hoaweichen hoaweichen -->| Disciple| sunlutang sunlutang --> id6{{ Sun Style }} yangchienhou -->|Son| yangshaohou yangchienhou -->|Son| yangchengfu yangchengfu -->|Disciple| chenweiming

①: Wang Zongyue is reputed to have authored “The Tai Chi Treatise” which contains many Tàijíquán proverbs like “four ounces deflect one thousand pounds”.
②: Wu Yuxiang is probably the author of one of the most famous of the Tàijíquán Classics: “Tàijíquán Thirteen Postures”.

Styles of Tàijíquán #

There are six main styles of Tàijíquán:

Old Chen Style (old frame).
New Chen Style, a simplified version of the traditional Chen style made to be easier to teach.
Yang Style, by far the most widely spread of the styles. Characterized by wide movements (wide frame). The techniques are slow and smooth but the martial applications are fast and powerful.
Wu (武) Style: characterized by tight movements (small frame).
Wu (吴) Style: not to be confused with the previous Wu Style. Characterized by forward leaning stances and medium movements (medium frame).
Sun Style: short stances and quick movements (fleet feet frame) characterize this style. Sun Lutang was also a master of two other internal styles of martial arts: Bagua Zhang and Xingyi Quan.