Tai Chi has been practiced in China for hundreds of years. It’s also gaining popularity worldwide. However, it is often mis-represented in the west as a ‘gentle exercise for the elderly’. This is an understatement, to say the least.
Tai Chi is a complete system of self-nurturing, self-healing, self-cultivation, meditation, energy work and self-defence. It is also a philosophy, a way of life and a culture.

The invention of Tai Chi is generally attributed to Zhang Sanfeng, a Taoist monk who practiced self-cultivation in Wu Dang Mountain in south-east China during the Song Dynasty. But according to Wu Tu Nan, a Tai Chi historian as well as a renowned Tai Chi grandmaster, Tai Chi as a form of martial art can be traced back to as early as Southern and Northern Dynasty (A.D. 420-589).

Also called ‘the Eight Gates and Five Steps’八门五步, these refer to the 8 basic types of  Jin (trained Tai Chi force)  together with 5 basic stances. The 8 kinds of Jin are: Peng - Ward, Lu 捋- roll back, Ji挤 - press, An 按- push down, Cai采- pluck, Lie 挒- split, Zhou 肘- elbow and Kao靠 - shoulder lean. The Five Steps are:
Jin进 - advance, Tui 退- retreat, Gu 顾- glance, Pan盼 - watch, Ding定 - central stand.
All the other postures performed in a set Tai Chi form are seen as variation of these 13 basic postures. The importance of the 13 postures are best illustrated in ‘Song of the Thirteen Postures’十三式歌by unknown author, which has been handed down through generations of Tai Chi masters.
Visit www.scheele.org/lee/classics.html for an English version of the Song and many other Tai Chi classics.

See also the following topics:
Tai Chi and Taoism
Tai Chi and TCM
Tai Chi and Meditation
Tai Chi as a martial art
The Tai Chi training system