Taiji Quan (Tai Chi Chuan) is the most widely practiced martial art in the world. Its slow, gentle movements have made it particularly popular among older practitioners and today it is famous for its ability to enhance health and relaxation. However, at its heart Taiji Quan is highly sophisticated internal fighting skill and in the last 200 years its top practitioners were known as some of the best fighters in China. Weapons are also used in Taiji practise, the most popular being the straight sword, fan and halberd.
It is generally believed that Taiji Quan developed on Wudang Mountain where Taoist philosophers noticed that in nature, softness often overcomes hardness. Accordingly, they invented an art based on yielding to and neutralizing an opponent's force. The slow, circular movements of Taiji strengthen all parts of the body and improve flexibility, coordination and balance
Mater Liu Deming
Styles
There are many styles of Taiji Quan, the most popular being the Yang, Chen, Wu, Sun and Zhaobao styles.
The styles that Hans Menck practises are Chen style, Beijing style and to a lesser extent, Yang style.
Chen Style Taiji Quan Most styles of Taiji Quan today can be traced back to Chen Wang Ting, a general during the Ming Dynasty. After the fall of the Ming and the establishment of the Ching Dynasty, Chen returned to the Chen village and created his own style of boxing, which was then continiously practiced and developed by his family until it became Chen Style Taiji Quan as it is known today. This style of Taiji Quan has a stronger martial appearance than most other styles of Taiji, combining slow, flowing and strong, explosive movements (Fa Jin).
Yin Yang Fish, the Taiji symbol
Beijing Taiji Quan In order to be able to easily access the performance Taiji Quan practioners in competition, the Chinese Sports Committee brought together a number of experts in each style of Taji in order to a create a central standardised style. The result were a number of forms that contained the essence of each major style of Taiji, such as the 24 Movement Form, a shortened Yang style form, and the 42 Movement Form, which contains elements of Chen, Yang, Wu, and Sun styles. As these forms were designed specifically with accessibility in mind they are much shorter and easier to remember than the much longer traditional forms. As such, forms from the Beijing standardised set are often the most popular ones to learn for beginners.
Elements of Taiji and Yoga demonstrated by Hans Menck in Hong Kong:
Tai Chi Push Hands
Push hands practice is an exercise that occupies the space between solo forms and free sparring. It is a two man exercise which allows practitioners to test and develop their skills in sensitivity to opponent's energy, structural alignment and yielding. The practise of pushing hands is a vital step in understanding how to use the fighting applications in the forms.
Taiji Fighting Applications
Today Taiji Quan is practised mainly for health and relaxation and only a small percentage of practitioners practise pushing hands, and even fewer practise fighting applications. This is a pity, because the true beauty of the Taiji forms only comes out if a practitioner knows the meaning of the movements. The subtle energetic (chi) flow and the posture are also greatly improved by a martial awareness. The body mechanics of Taiji Quan are very rich in martial applications and it is normal for each movement to have multiple applications.
Wuji creates Taiji creates Yin/Yang
The Metaphysics of Taiji (Tai Chi)
The physical exercises of Taiji Quan (Tai Chi Chuan) and the symbolic language of the Yijing (I-Ching), the Taoist Book of Changes, are both underpinned by the theory of Taiji and Wuji. The Wuji is the emptiness, the void, the Tao, from which all of manifested existence springs forth. Out of the Wuji (symbolised by an empty circle) springs forth the Taiji, the polarity of opposites united in one circle. The circular Taiji symbol indicates that Yin (negative) and Yang (positive) are always bound together, the one cannot exist without the other. Yin contains a trace of Yang, and vice versa. The two spin around and in the manifest world things can be recognised to be either Yin or Yang. Yang is symbolised by a straight line and Yin by a broken line. Taiji Quan practise begins and ends in Wuji stance – empty stance. The Wuji stance is simply standing – balanced, even, upright and neutral. Out of the Wuji stance spring forth all the forms and techniques, the complex interactions of Yin and Yang, and at the end of practise all returns to Wuji. This practise is used in all the internal Taoist martial arts (Neijia).
Taiji training with Master Zhang in Beijing:
Zhang Gwang Ping performs Chen style Tai Chi Chuan:
Taiji Quan (Tai Chi) 
Taiji Quan (Tai Chi Chuan) is the most widely practiced martial art in the world. Its slow, gentle movements have made it particularly popular among older practitioners and today it is famous for its ability to enhance health and relaxation. However, at its heart Taiji Quan is highly sophisticated internal fighting skill and in the last 200 years its top practitioners were known as some of the best fighters in China. Weapons are also used in Taiji practise, the most popular being the straight sword, fan and halberd. 
