Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

Group practice of taijiquan in Beijing, China, 1980. (Galen Rowell/Corbis)
Tang Hao (1897–1959), after research in the 1930s, determined that Chen
Wangting of Chen Village created much of what we know now as taijiquan.
A garrison commander in the 1640s, who successfully led his local
troops into battle “beating back bandits” (Zhaohua Publishing 1984, 3),
he was a famous and successful martial artist in his day.
After the downfall of the Ming dynasty, Chen Wangting retired from
warrior life and withdrew from society. According to a poem he wrote before
he died, he did “field work when the season came, created boxing forms
when depressed, and in leisure time taught disciples and children to be worthy
members of society.” He also mentions the book Huang Ting, a Daoist
text on breathing, mind, and movement (Zhaohua Publishing 1984, 3).
In addition, a book by General Qi Jiguang, The Canons of Boxing,
constituted a significant influence. The general lived a half century before
Chen Wangting, and compiled a book from sixteen popular fighting styles.
Twenty-nine of the thirty-two movements from the book are found in the
various Chen Family routines, and the first two movements are the first
movements of the Chen bare-handed forms.
Chen Wangting’s contributions, which distinguish Chen Family boxing
from external styles, include the yi lu (the long sequence that is the basis
for traditional Yang, Wu, Hao, and Sun style sequences) and tui shou
Taijiquan (Tai Chi Ch’uan) 619