Tai Chi Chuan

Tai Chi Chuan (Tai Ji Quan), with its soft and relaxed movements, combined with continuous control of breathing and balance, is said to have significant therapeutic effects on practitioners through work with vital energy, known as Chi (Qi). Because of these characteristics, Tai Chi Chuan is the most widely practiced style of Kung Fu in the world.

The legendary founder of the style, Chan San Feng, was a Taoist monk who lived during the Song Dynasty, around the year 1200. According to the tradition, he translated the dynamic changes of nature, governed by the principles of the Tao, into sequences of movements harmonized with the alternation of fullness and emptiness, Yin and Yang, and therefore with the laws of the universe.

The school’s courses begin with the study of:

• Yang style: slow, light, and gentle movements; empty-hand and weapons forms; and martial applications
• Internal practices: traditional postural and breathing exercises
• Chi Kung (Qigong)

The program then continues with:

• Chen style: the original form of Tai Chi Chuan, which is faster, more explosive, and more martial
• Massage and self-massage
• Meditation