I have been practising Tai Chi for half a year now. I love it, but I realise I am very stiff. From beginning and saw that I was very much thinking and moving as a karateka from Shotokan: the last part of the movement was the goal for every move – but in Tai Chi there is no such moment. The movements are cirkular and there is no stop in the moves.
When I started practise Tai Chi I had a lot of pains in my knee and my joints. I blogged about that here. Slowly most of the pain disappeared.
There are five major styles of tai chi chuan, each named after the Chinese family from which it originated:
* Chen style (??) of Chen Wangting (1580–1660)
* Yang style (??) of Yang Lu-ch’an (1799-1872)
* Wu or Wu/Hao style (??) of Wu Yu-hsiang (1812-1880)
* Wu style (??) of Wu Ch’uan-yu (1834–1902) and his son Wu Chien-ch’uan (1870-1942)
* Sun style (??) of Sun Lu-t’ang (1861–1932)
Facts about Tai Chi from Wikipedia:
Tai chi chuan (simplified Chinese: ???; traditional Chinese: ???; pinyin: tàijíquán; Wade-Giles: t’ai4 chi2 ch’üan2) (literal translation “Supreme Ultimate Fist”) is an internal Chinese martial art often practiced for health reasons. It is also typically practiced for a variety of other personal reasons: its hard and soft martial art technique, demonstration competitions, and longevity. Consequently, a multitude of training forms exist, both traditional and modern, which correspond to those aims. Some of tai chi chuan’s training forms are well known to Westerners as the slow motion routines that groups of people practice together every morning in parks around the world, particularly in China.
Today, tai chi has spread worldwide. Most modern styles of tai chi trace their development to at least one of the five traditional schools: Chen, Yang, Wu/Hao, Wu and Sun.
Mostly people practise either the form of 48 moves or the shorter form with 24 moves.
Here is a picture with the 24-form.
Click on the thumbnail image and a larger image opens.
Here:
Tai Chi – Yang Simplified 24 Gracefully Performed
Here some films with 48-form:
Combined Taijiquan 48 Forms
Tai Chi 48 (Back)
