Ultimate Fist

Ultimate Fist

Home Blog Tai Chi, “Supreme Ultimate Fist”
Fill in the form below to receive 30 DAYS FREE TRAINING Plus over $495 in Free Gifts

Recent Posts

Parents, Please Teach Your Kids This One Lesson!

Off The Mat

Read This Before You Spar

Fear, Anxiety and Sparring

How to Start Sparring in Boxing

The literal translation, Supreme Ultimate Fist, Tai Chi has long been one of the most popular forms of exercise in China and in recent times this popularity has spread to the United States. What is it about this Chinese martial art that is reputed to have been started by a Chinese monk by the name of Chang San Fen that has drawn so many people to it? What can one martial art offer that will draw together hundreds of people together in parks all over China and now the world to practice the forms together?
One might think that with a name like Supreme Ultimate Fist, Tai Chi would be nothing more than just another aggressive form of martial. While it is true that Tai Chi is a form of fighting, it is not one of aggression so much as it is one of using defensive moves and then the use of carefully orchestrated attacks using hands or weapons to defeat one’s opponent. At the same time you should not get the idea that this is all there is to Tai Chi Chuan.
Also known as “Boundless Fist” Tai Chi is also seen by many as the ultimate form of both physical and mental exercise. Depending on the particular style you are taught, you may be required to learn up to 108 different postures or movements. In order to successfully master these forms, students are taught very specific breathing methods and when combined with the movements or forms, they are often referred to as a moving meditation.
There are three basic elements of the Tai Chi “fist”, one of which is the actual martial art itself that is intended to be used as a form of self-defense in combat. Unlike many other martial arts where force is met with force, in Tai Chi Chuan you learn to meet force by yielding to the force behind it and then “sticking” to it and overcoming your opponent. If you wish to learn this style of fighting, you will need to dedicate many years to your studies.
The physical health aspect of Tai Chi is generally the most common reason that people attend classes and learn the many forms. Between learning to meditate and calm your mind and then relax your body, this creates a complete sense of relaxation. Because this lowers your stress levels, your blood pressure and your heart rate, the overall effects on your physical and mental health can be substantial.
Along with this the meditative effects of practicing the “ultimate fist” of Tai Chi also have a direct effect on your sense of well being and overall mood. There are documented cases where practicing this particular martial art has helped to alleviate depression and numerous other mental health issues rather than using traditional medications. Whether you are looking for what many consider to be the “ultimate” martial art or are simply looking for a low impact workout to improve your health, you will find that Tai Chi Chuan offers exactly what you are looking for.

Posted August 3, 2015 by Jeff Patterson
Sign up for your free lessons & instant acces to the online training videos
Copyright © 1999|2022 Northwest Fighting Arts | 1200 SE Morrison St. Portland , OR 97214 , 503-235-3435 | Privacy Policy | Site Map

Menu
Home
Chinese Martial Arts Background
Taijiquan Origin
► Taijiquan Theories

Taijiquan Training Requirements
Dantian Rotation (丹田)
Microcosmic Orbit (小周天)
Breathing (呼吸) in Taijiquan
13 Postures (十三式)

► Taijiquan Practices

Chen Style Laojia Yi-Lu (陈氏太极拳老架一路)

Home / Tai Ji Quan – Grand Ultimate Fist
© Copyright 2002 - 2022 | Shaolin Lomita | All Rights Reserved
It was created from founder Chan San Feng who was a Taoist Monk. He watched the crane and snake fight each other to get the idea of the hard and soft principles to combine this and make Taiji Quan or Tai Chi Chuan. Taiji Quan is famous for it’s graceful movements and its stress relieving effects on the mind and body. This Chinese Martial Art combines relaxation and exercise in a series of continuous, flowing body movements. The slow motions of this form help to cultivate effortless movement, and create a feeling of calmness. Practitioners begin with the Yang Family style routine to acquire fundamentals, and then gradually to more advanced movements. This will help practitioners develop a solid foundation and understanding of Taiji Quan. The styles taught are Yang, Chen, Xiaoyao, Wu and Wang families in our school. Taiji practice is not only a martial art training for self-defense but also serve as a balance training that helps you in your older age. The principle of searching balance and elegance the way of living benefit you in a very big range. Taiji starts as a guide, and then the art finally leads you into the world of harmony, which is “Tao”. The circular, spiral type of movements prevents joint impact. The joints moving in circular patterns help to prevent arthritis and numerous ailments in the body. Taiji starts in searching body re-patterning through slow motion. Then with push hand practice one experience how to cooperate and coordinate with others as well as himself. When one can sync himself with the opponent, the power of both become one. There will be no opponent, neither one’s own Taiji training is begin and ended with faith. Everyone appreciate the cooperation from others as well as from themselves in this day and time. It is not to beat someone up. Or fear to be beaten by someone. It is a matter of purifying ourselves, with better skill, with much sensibility to the surrounding as well as within. Taiji contains the Chan Si (silk reeling), it is one continuous line drawn with the body, like a silk worm that uses one single thread of silk to create an entire cocoon. Taiji is thus the use of intention to circulate the original Hun Yuan Qi, as to strengthen it, the body and create the Chan Si force with it. Taiji contains Hsing Yi (consciousness intentions) as a guiding principle, the intention moves the Qi (energy), and the Qi moves the body. It also contains Hun Yuan, which is the original energy stored in Dan Tian. While practicing Tai ji the practitioner uses intention to move the original Qi from Dan Tian to circulate throughout the body, and than to return to Dan Tian. Practice Tai ji must begin with Wu Ji, and earnestly seek Yin and Yang, opening and closing. Wu Ji is a state of emptiness, before a formation of any movement, as soon as the slightest movement occurs it is already Taiji and it contains Yin and Yang, opening and closing. Spring, summer, fall and winter, in Chinese medicine is a cycle of birth (sheng), growth (zhang), decline (shou) and storage (cang) respectively. In an auspicious year the weather is harmonious with this cycle, and illnesses among the people are few. Thus while practicing Qigong Yin and Yang, opening and closing should take and even part. To summarize all that, while practicing Taiji the intention moves the Qi, the Qi moves the body. Beyond that the essence transforms into Qi, the Qi transforms into the spirit, and the spirit returns to emptiness, a search into that will bear a big progress. This is the beginning and end result for life and the Tao for our beings.
Taiji Quan is an ancient healing and martial art developed in China. The purpose of Taiji Quan is to develop a more specific personal relationship between the practitioner’s body, mind and spirit. Effective Taiji Quan practice can reduce the likelihood of sickness and stress and aid in the prevention of disease. Effective practice means a strong understanding of basic hand and foot movements coupled with an understanding of internal principles. These internal principles are defined as: Stillness, Patience, Diligence, Continuous and Exactness. Taiji Quan is a safe, effective, natural way to improve one’s life.
Taiji Quan is an elaborate method of Qigong and what makes it more useful is that it can be applied as a method of self defense. Instruction combines not only learning a series of forms, but the principles of internal energy development as well as the weapons and push hand exercises associated with those styles, providing the opportunity to engage in basic as well as in-depth learning.
More than 300 different known martial arts styles are practiced in China. There are two Chinese Martial Art systems, the internal and the external systems. The internal system includes Tai Chi, Hsing-Yi and Ba-Gua styles. The emphasize stability and have limited jumps and kicks. The external system includes Shao Lin, Long Fist, Southern Fist, and other styles. They emphasize linear movements, breathing combined with sound, strength, speed and hard power impact contact, jumps, and kicks.
There are many different styles or families of Tai Chi Chuan. The six which are practiced most commonly today are the Chen, Yang, Wu, Wu Hao, Sun, Wang and Xiaoyao styles. All Tai Chi styles, however, are derived from the original Chen family style. The newer ones are Xiaoyao, Consolidated and Hunyuan.
Some people believe that Tai Chi was developed by a Taoist Priest from a temple in China’s Wu Dong Mountains. It is said that he once observed a white crane preying on a snake, and mimicked their movements to create the unique Tai Chi martial art style.
Initially, Tai Chi was practiced as a fighting form, emphasizing strength, balance, flexibility, and speed. Through time it has evolved into a soft, slow, and gentle form of exercise which can be practiced by people of all ages.
The Chen family assimilated all the arts they practiced and created their own version of the predominant art which they practiced, Cannon Pounding (Pao Chui), derived from the original Shaolin Cannon Pounding art. Sung Tai Zhu Chang Chuan formed a major part of this new art and there were elements from Shaolin Red Fist in it.
What resulted is five routines of Chen family Pao Chui and one routine of `Short Hitting’ (duan da) and the song formula stated a total of a 108 postures consisting the art. There is much confusion over this particular song formula but on closer examination the correct name should be ‘Boxing Canon Complete Formula’ and is only found in the later Liang Yi Tang Ben manual. By the time the Wen Xiu Tang Ben Chen family martial arts manual was written it was noted that the `second and third routines are lost’. The Wen Xiu Tang Ben makes no reference to an art called Taijiquan or ’13 postures’ or 13 anything for that matter. So it is an early reference to the state of the Chen family arts before the advent of the Taijiquan of the Chen family that we know today.
The Chen family was famous for the Cannon Pounding art for several generations and gained the beautiful name of `Cannon Pounding Chen Family’ (Pao Chui Chen Jia) in the region around the Chen village.
Somewhere along the line the Chen Pao Chui art was simplified to just two routines. We have no evidence to indicated who was the one responsible for this simplification. The furthest that we can trace it back is to Chen Chang Xin, Yang Lu Chan’s teacher. But even the Chen family genealogy book does not indicate that he was responsible for this momentous change, only indicating that he was a boxing teacher with a nickname `Ancestral Tablet’.
We know for certain that two of the routines were already lost by that time and so only the 3 remaining could account for the final two routines. Whether there was an integration or that another routine was lost through time resulting in the final two is not certain at all.
When did the Chen arts become a form of internal boxing as opposed to to their parental arts which were external boxing?
Most of the Taijiquan lineages regard Jiang Fa as the one providing the input that transformed the art from the external Cannon Pounding to the softer internal art. Some have also credited his input as the reason why the transformed art was called Taijiquan, a name reflecting a Taoist origin and also the classification of the art as an internal one. The name, however, was not widely used for the art until Yang Lu Chan popularized it in the capital city of Beijing. From the early writings, we know that the form was originally called the ’13 postures’ and by that time the name Taijiquan was already in use as evidenced by the Taijiquan Classic of Wang Tsung Yueh and the Ten Important Discourses Of Chen Chang Xin.
The classification of martial arts into external and internal came about because of the new method of combat devised by Chang San Feng, a Taoist which resided in the Wu Dang Mountains. It stressed overcoming external techniques using calmness and appropriate action and from external form this martial art often looked weak in comparison with external styles but could defeat them easily.
Internal Boxing was passed down through the generations with noted practitioners like Chang Sung Chi, Huang Zhen Nan, Huang Pai Jia, Gan Feng Chi and Wang Tsung. Wu Dang Internal Boxing still exists at the place of its birth though it has been diversified into many different styles in the course of the centuries. But still present in its syllabus is a form called Wu Dang Taijiquan. This bears only a little resemblance to the popular Taijiquan of today but has common theories.
We know that the Chen family was famous for generations for their Pao Chui art which was a Shaolin form. It was only after Chen Chang Xin that the art was considered an internal one and specifically from the lineages stemming from Yang Lu Chan the founder of the Yang style of Taijiquan.
According to Chen Xin, Chen Chang Xin learned part of his art from Jiang Fa. Chen Chang Xin had been practicing his boxing when Jiang Fa who was passing by saw him practicing and burst out laughing. Realizing that he was observed Jiang Fa hurried away but Chen Chang Xin caught up with him and angrily challenged him as Jiang had slighted his Chen family art. Chen grabbed Jiang’s shoulder from behind, Jiang simply turned around and Chen was thrown out and lay on the floor. Realizing the superiority of Jiang’s art Chen asked Jiang to be his master. Jiang who ran a Tofu shop in Xian was passing through village after visiting his mother in Henan. Jiang said that he would return after three years to teach Chen and he indeed returned at the appointed time after which Chen Chang Xin brought him home and learnt Taiji Quan from him.
Chen Xin also said that because Chen Chang Xin had studied with Jiang Fa, the Chen family did not permit him to teach the family art of Pao Chui. This could very well explain why Chen Chang Xin held his classes in secret in the dead of night in the back courtyard of his home where Yang Lu Chan spied upon him.
Chen Xin also introduced to Wu Tu Nan another Taiji master from the Chen village called Du Yu Wan (the source for a song formula attributed to Jiang Fa’s teacher from Shanxi which is probably Wang Tsung Yueh. This is found at the back of Chen Xin’s book). According to Du, his art came down from Jiang Fa who was from Kaifeng in Henan and that his form and Yang Lu Chan’s form was the same, even bearing the same postural names like `Grasp Sparrow’s Tail’ and the same sequence. Du told him that his Taiji Quan was not a family transmitted art but a teacher transmitted art. The previous generations of the art, that is the founder of his lineage, were present when Jiang Fa was teaching Chen Chang Xin and had also learnt the art from Jiang Fa. He then demonstrated his form to Wu Tu Nan and the form was the same as the Yang style of Taiji Quan.
According to Chen Xin, Chen Chang Xin was very stiff in the upper body and was therefore nick named `Mr Ancestral Tablet’. When he was learning under Jiang Fa, Jiang made Chen practice some loosening exercises to rid him of his stiffness before teaching him Taiji Quan. The rest of the Chen family continued in their practice of Pao Chui for which they were famous for.
The input from Jiang Fa, who traced his lineage back to Chang San Feng, which indicates that his art was Wu Dang Internal Boxing or at the very least derived from it, would mark the change of Chen family art from an external one to an internal one.
The earliest available literature on Taiji Quan indicates that the art consisted of only 13 postures, the 8 Gates and Five Steps. We know that the 8 gates were 8 postures which represented 8 different types of Jing (refined strength). The Five Steps were the five different directions of their application. These were probably incorporated into the existing Pao Chui postures and the slow, relaxed, continuous and smooth manner of performing the form, the very element which made Internal Boxing look weak, was also incorporated. The result was a long form which had all the elements of Internal Boxing, a modified Pao Chui form which was a vehicle for Internal Boxing’s theories and practices. This would have been the art that was transmitted by Chen Chang Xin.
The form was also known as the 13 postures since all the techniques within derived from the basic 13. This has always been standard in the Taiji Quan Classics that have come down from the Wu Yu Xiang and Yang Lu Chan.
The Wen Xiu Tang Ben does not state the existence of the new form. The Liang Yi Tang Ben, a later manual does record it but calls it the 13 sections instead. Chen Xin’s book recorded the Xin Jia of the Chen Style of Taiji Quan. The material he records is quite different from that which was gleaned from him from Wu Tu Nan.
We need to first recognize that Chen Xin’s book was published posthumously. He had 3 other collaborators who published the book after his death. How much of the book is attributable to him is a matter of uncertainty. The fact that the book was only published four years after his death would indicate that considerable editing could have taken place by his 3 collaborators.
The Yang related styles of Taiji Quan all agree on the classification of the basis of the art which is the 13 postures. The postures of Peng, Lu, Ji, An, Tsai, Lieh, Chou, Kao, Gu, Pan, Jin, Tui and Ding. These are the postures detailed and referred to in the accepted Classic writings. In Liang Yi Tang Ben, the form is called not only the 13 postures but also 13 sections, a rather different classification which is carried on into Chen Xin’s book where the entire form is taught as consisting of 13 sections, each section having sub-postures. This other classification is ignored by Tang Hao and Gu Liu Xin in their writings.
The 13 postures actually consists of 8 basic postures and 5 movements. The 8 basic postures differ slightly in the early Chen style publications. The Liang Yi Tang Ben records the first four as Peng, Ji, Lou, Na and Chen Xin’s book records them as Peng, Lu, Ji, Na. Chen Tze Ming’s book has the same song formula as in Chen Xin’s book but here the first four are recorded as Peng, Shu, Ji, Na. The full 8 postures are named in Chen Tze Ming’s book as Peng, Shu, Ji, Na, Tsai, Lieh, Chou, Kao. It must be noted that the earlier manual, the Wen Xiu Tang Ben did not contain any boxing theory. It was only in the later Liang Yi Tang Ben that Taiji Quan was first mentioned in the Chen family documents and that boxing theory was recorded.
The Lao Jia or Old Frame of Chen style Taiji Quan was first promot
Top Notch Anal
Pussy Joi Pov
Gallerynova Little Girl Private

Ultimate Fist

Report Page