General Introduction
History
Benefits

General Introduction
In Chinese tradition there are thousands of practices for self healing generally called Qigong. Taiji is one catagory of Qigong forms. Taiji consists generally of 108 separate movements that are connected together into a specific order. There are several kinds ofTaiji including: Yang Style, Chen Style, Wu Style and others. Most of these forms of Taiji have created a short form, between 20 and 40 movements, that allows for beginners to learn more quickly, elders to have an abbreviated practice and patients who are ill to practice without too much to learn.

History
Chen Wangting (1600-1680), a warrior, a scholar, and a ninth generation ancestor of the Chen family, invented Taijiquan after a lifetime of researching, developing, and experiencing martial arts. A born warrior and a master of martial arts, Chen Wangting served the Ming Dynasty in its war against the succeeding Qing Dynasty. Because of the political turbulence, natural disasters, and human calamities during his time, Chen Wangting's ambition was not fulfilled. In his old age, Chen Wangting retired from public life and created a martial arts system based on his family martial arts inheritance, his own war experiences, and his knowledge of various contemporary martial arts styles. In his creation of Taijiquan, Chen Wangting combined the study of Yi Jing, (i.e., "Scriptures of Changes"), Chinese medicine, theories of yin yang (i.e., the two opposing yet reciprocal energies generated from Taiji, expressed in taijiquan as the hardness vs. the softness, the substantial vs. the insubstantial, etc.), the five elements (i.e., metal, wood, water, fire, earth), the study and theory of Jingluo (i.e., meridian circulation channels along which the acupressure points are located), and methods of Daoyin (i.e., channeling and leading internal energy) and Tuna (i.e., deep breathing exercises).

Benefits
Tai Ji has only been studied scientifically in recent years, but its benefits have been reported since ancient times. The scientifically proven and traditionally reported benefits to your mind and body are numerous.

• Improve your posture, balance and flexibility.
• Relieve chronic pain
• Reduce anxiety and depression
• Increase energy and stamina
• Improve your muscles mass and tone
• Prevent falls and fractures among the elderly
• Improved mental well-being
• Support your heart health and circulation
• Reduce high blood pressure
• Slow bone loss in post-menopausal women
• Improve sleep quality
• Reduce the symptoms of chronic diseases including arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,osteoporosis & Parkinson's disease