Tai Chi Chuan

Tai Chi Chuan, T'ai Chi Ch'üan or Taijiquan; (literally "supreme ultimate fist"), commonly known as Tai Chi, T'ai Chi, or Taiji, is an internal Chinese martial art. There are different styles of T'ai Chi Ch'uan, although most modern schools can trace their development to the system originally taught by the Chen family to the Yang family starting in 1820. It is often promoted and practiced as a martial arts therapy for the purposes of health and longevity, (some recent medical studies support its effectiveness). T'ai Chi Ch'uan is considered a soft style martial art, an art applied with as much deep relaxation or "softness" in the musculature as possible, to distinguish its theory and application from that of the hard martial art styles which use a degree of tension in the muscles.