There are many stories about the origins of Tai Chi. The most common is that a 13th Century Taoist hermit, Chang San Feng, who lived on Wu Tang mountain, devised it after observing a fight between a snake and a crane.

The soft, yielding (Yin) movements of the snake overcame the strength and direct force of the crane's attack with its beak and wings (Yang).

By remaining relaxed while the crane struggled, the snake could read the movements of the bird, and move naturally to avoid the attack.

In terms of meditation, this means exploring what makes us separate from other beings; what takes us away from harmony and tempts us to use force to overcome obstacles.

Chang San Fen was inspired to devise a set of movements which synthesised the efficiency of the martial arts with meditation, movements and relaxation for mind, body and spirit.

The physical benefits can be of particular use to those who wish to improve their performance in all kinds of Sports.  Body-Mind work is being used increasingly as an aid to maximising co-ordination and efficient movement in Sports. Tai Chi is essentially slow and meditative but there is evidence that dropping the 'Thinking Mind' helps athletes to improve performance.

Amongst the health benefits of Tai Chi, the soft turning and bending of the body gives the internal organs a gentle massage, encouraging them to function efficiently.

Tai Chi helps increase strength and stamina and gives a good whole-body work-out.

Practised regularly, Tai Chi helps focus the mind, calm the emotions and relax the body

“Practicing qigong is so simple and so powerful. You cannot do it wrong. You can only do it good, better, or best.”
– Chunyi Lin