Tai Chi at the Imperial Court
Years before the official 'opening' of the Chen style, a single Chen descendent had broken with tradition and taught an outsider Tai Chi. Impressed with his natural abilities and dedication, Chen Chanxing a 14th generation Tai Chi master, taught his art to a young man called Yang Lu Chan. Yang Lu Chan then went on to found his own style and a dynasty to carry it on. His Yang style Tai Chi Chuan was favourably received at the Chinese Imperial Court, where he was contracted to teach the Imperial Guardsmen. The Yang style removed many of the more difficult leaps and explosive movements from Chen style Tai Chi and thus gave the art wider appeal. His flowing, gentler style is the most popular form of Tai Chi in the world today and that with which most people associate the art. Much of the Yang style's success can be attributed to its enduring popularity at court, while the Chen style remained closed to outsiders. Several modern forms of Tai Chi have since derived from the Yang style.
The persecution of Tai Chi
Tai Chi was a casualty of the cultural revolution. Tai Chi masters, along with other traditional social icons were targeted and brutalised by the Red Guard, as China's artists suffered badly in the social upheavals. Chen village, the birthplace of the oldest style of Tai Chi, was ravaged by the misguided youth army. The village temple was torn down in the Marxist fervour and the venerated Chen Tai Chi teacher, Master Zhao Pi, was paraded in public, wearing a dunce cap. Those who could, escaped to teach Tai Chi elsewhere, in Hong Kong, Europe or the United States. Expat Tai Chi masters continued their family dynasties far from their native homelands, bringing Tai Chi Chuan worldwide popularity but depriving China of its national treasures.
In 1956, once the original fervour had subsided, the government's sporting organ, The Chinese Sports Committee gathered four Tai Chi masters to shorten the traditional Yang style to a more sportive version. The shortened, 24 posture form was designed to be suitable for competitions, easier to learn as it required less training and memory, and easier to teach. Perhaps somewhat ironically, in the light of Tai Chi initial desecration, this 24 posture form was taught to internees in Communist 're-education' camps. Later, the form was extended slightly and modified to include elements of all the main styles - Yang, Wu, Chen, Fu and Sun. This 42 form is also known simply as the competition form and was included in the 1990 Asian games for the first time.
Tai Chi received another boost when Bruce Lee shot to international stardom in the 70s, bringing worldwide attention to the Chinese martial arts in general. China was quick to pick up on this new, accelerated level of popularity and national pride. In 1972, the once desecrated Master, Chen Zhao Pi, was reinstated to his original glory as a nationally recognised Tai Chi master and awarded an order of merit for his team's performance at the Henan Tai Chi meeting (in the province of the Shaolin Temple).
Tai Chi Today
Today Tai Chi is taught all over the world as a martial art for self defence, for competition, for health, or in many cases for everything combined. There are worldwide organisations catering for various Tai Chi styles and masters of international renown scattered across the globe. Whatever a person's age, sex or physical condition, they will be able to benefit from the teachings of Tai Chi Chuan. Tai Chi has found its place on the silver screen too, with martial arts stars like Jet Li and Bolo Yeung using Tai Chi choreography in blockbusters from Enter the Dragon (1973) to Tai Chi Master (1993).