Tàijíquán (Great Ultimate Fist)
Shifu Joseph Crandall, Shifu Mike Sigman and
Shifu Jerry Alan Johnson (Pacific Grove, California)
Tàijíquán (太極拳); literally “Great Ultimate Fist,” is one of the three main internal Chinese Martial Arts systems of the Daoist Wudang School (other two systems being Baguazhang and Xingyiquan”). In the beginning training, it is slow-moving, graceful, and beautiful to watch. The creation of Taijiquan as a formalized martial art, is attributed to Chen Wangting (陈王庭), who is credited for inventing the earliest form of Taijiquan. Traditional folklore and many lineages name the semi-mythical figure of Zhang Sanfeng, a Daoist monk, as the progenitor of this popular art. There are five major styles of Taijiquan, each named after the Chinese family from which it originated. At the Tian Yun Gong, the Abbots currently teach two systems of Taijiquan to the public: Chen Family Taijiquan, and Yang Family Taijiquan.
