Lao Qi Gong - Tai Ji Quan
 
Tai Ji Quan was created by Zhang San Fang during the Ming Dynasty, at the mountain of Wu Tang. Zhang San Fang is considered by Chinese history as the Great Master of philosophy, Qi Gong, and Martial Art. He is also a very important figure in the history of Taoism. He wrote a book called “Da Tao Lun”. Zhan San Fang mastered perfectly the ways of the fist and of the sword (Qi Gong is the essence of those two types of Gong Fu). His sword was so flexible that it was possible to bend it until its two ends could touch each other; however, when he projected his strength into the sword, he was capable of piercing, cutting, and defend himself with it as if it was rigid, and, at the same time, a slashing whip. The Zhang San Fang’s style of Tai Ji Quan also has this characteristic. The outer appearance is soft, but internally it possesses a great strength. At first contact, the strength is projected and the opponent is thrown far away.
Cai Wen Yu training Tai Ji Zhuang
 
Its theory and practice are based on “stillness” and “movement”, and each one contains the other. There’s movement in stillness, and there’s stillness in movement. After Zhang San Fang, Tai Ji Quan was also called “Lao Sao Dao” (three old hawks). The modern equivalent would be to say that every attack was like a torpedo or dinamite, for it could kill as a weapon (unlike the three movements that mimic the sabre’s cut).
Later, the Great Master Wang Zong Yue introduced thirteen forms. In the following generations the styles of Tai Ji Quan arose. They were called Yang, Cheng, Wu etc, and in them the form multiplied, departing more and more from the original style. Today, Tai Ji Quan is no longer a martial art. It is only a kind of exercise in which people train with music or commands given by the instructors. In this kind of training, one cannot keep one’s concentration. The training ceases from being a meditation and becomes the mere repetition of movements.
Tai Ji Quan is a internal Gong Fu’s style; it is a wonderful way for fighting, for health, and for the development of intelligence. It is a way to balance body, mind, and spirit.
Training Tai Ji Quan’s Tiger  form