11/16/2015

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TaiChiStylesforBeginners:AnOverview

TaiChiStylesforBeginners:
DifferencesandHistory
LikesomeprestigiousuniversitiesintheU.S.(thinkYale,Harvard,and
Stanford),fourmajorschoolsortaichistyleshavebeennamedafter
theirfounders.Eachschoolorlineagehasitsdistinctivestyleortaichi
techniques.
FourmajortaichifamilystylesaretheChen,Yang,Wu,andHaostyles.
Thefifthmajortaichistyleisactuallyagroupofstylesknownas
Combinationstyles.Thesecombineelementsfromdifferenttaichistyles
andmayincludemovementsfromothermartialartsforms.
Eachofthetaichistylesexecutesmovementsslightlydifferentlythanthe
others.Youcanseethisinthediagrambelow,wherethesame
movementisshownfromtheChen,Yang,andWutaichistyles.
In

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thissection,youllfindinformationonthe5majortaichistyles:
1.TheChenstyleischaracterizedbyalternatingslowandexplosive
movements.Itcanbedifficultforbeginnersbecauseofthecomplex
movementsandphysicalcoordinationrequired.Readmoreaboutthefirst
knowntaichistyle,theChen.
2.TheYangstylewasderivedfromtheChentaichistyle.Althoughnot
theoldest,itisthemostpopularandwidelypracticedstyletoday.Find
outmoreaboutthepopularYangstyle.
3.TheWutaichistyleisathirdgenerationstyle,derivedfromtheYang.
ReadabouttheWutaichistylehere.
4.TheHaostyle.Becausethisstyledoesnothavemanypractitioners,
eveninChina,itwillnotbediscussedfurtherhere.
5.CombinationStylesareactuallymadeupofanumberofschools.Each
bringsitsownuniquemixoftaichimovementswithmovesfromother
martialarts.
Inaddition,readabout:
Criteriatoanalyzetaichistyledifferences:tempoandframesize
Historyandevolutionofthedifferenttaichistyles

TaiChiStyleDifferences.Twosimplecriteriafordescribingstylesare:
tempoorspeed,andhowexpansivethemovementsare,orframesize.
ClickhereforadirectcomparisonoftheChen,Yang,andWustylesin
termsoftempoandframesize.
Other,lesseasilyobservedcriteriainclude:whetherthefeetareparallel,
weightdistributioninstances,andhowtheelbowsareused.
DifferentStyles,DifferentFlavors.Thehealthbenefitsandmartialarts
techniquesarebundledintotheChen,Yang,andWutaichistyles.From
thatstandpoint,itdoesntmatterwhichstyleyoupractice.Theyrejust
differentflavorsofthisveryrich,multifacetedart.
CombinationStyles.Combinationstylesmixandmatchmovements
fromtheChen,Yang,andWutaichistylesalongwiththosefromother
internalmartialarts.Somecombinationstyleshaveevenusedelements
fromkungfuandwrestling.CombinationstylesknownintheWestinclude
theSunstyleandFustyle.WesternStyles.AnumberofWesternor
nontraditionalstylesoftaichihavealsobeendeveloped,butthey
simplifytheprinciplesofbodyalignmentsandenergymechanicsand

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TaiChiStylesforBeginners:AnOverview
yieldfewerorlessprofoundbenefitstopractitioners.
EvolutionoftheTaiChiStyles.Differencesbetweenthevarioustaichi
stylescanbelargelyexplainedintermsofthestylehistoryandorigin.
TheChenisthefirstknowntaichistyle.TheYangisasecondgeneration
style,derivedfromtheChen.TheWuisathirdgenerationstyle,derived
fromtheYangstyle.Westernstylesarethemostrecenttaichistyles.
Readmoredetailsaboutthehistoryandevolutionofthedifferenttaichi
styleshere.

Next:Readabouttaichistyletrademarksanddifferences.

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