The internal Chinese martial arts are steeped in mystery. The most widely practiced of these styles is Tai Chi (also known as Taiji or Tai Chi Chuan). Stories of the men who developed their family styles of Tai Chi have become legend. Here are some of them.
Zhang Sanfeng
Zhang Sanfeng (also known as Chang San Feng) is the legendary founder of Tai Chi. He was said to have been born on Dragon-Tiger Mountain in Southeast China around 1250 CE. Stories say he was 7 feet tall and had the bones of a crane. He studied Shaolin Kung Fu, then lived for years as a priest in Wudang Taoist temples, dying after 200 years (or still lives to this day, according to some).
The most famous story about Zhang Sanfeng is that he developed his style of martial arts after watching a bird attacking a snake on Wudang Mountain. He saw the snake sit still and calm, watching the bird as it aggressively stabbed at the air with its beak. Then, when the moment was right, the snake lunged and killed the bird with one strike. From this experience he created Tai Chi.
Chen Wangting
One story says that a disciple of Zhang Sanfeng named Wang Zongyue taught the Chen family Tai Chi. Other stories say that Chen Wangting, born in 1580, invented Tai Chi. He took his family’s martial arts style and combined it with Taoist philosophy, Chinese medicine and methods of energy manipulation. This became the first “internal martial art”. Chen Tai Chi was taught only within the Chen family in Chen Village until Yang Lu Chan showed up.
Yang Lu Chan
A young man of the Yang family was working as a servant for the Chen family. He spied on the family’s practice until he was found out. When brought before the eldest Chen, the punishment of death was considered. Yet when the patriarch saw Yang Lu Chan’s spirit, his desire to learn and perfect the art, he instead decided to continue teaching him. Yang became one of the most well-known and feared martial artists of his time.
In one story, Yang was walking home late at night through the streets of Beijing. When he turned a corner, he found himself face to face with a gang of 30 men who quickly surrounded him. Rather than resist, he let them rob him. As they moved in to beat Yang, he lay down and covered himself with his coat. They kicked, punched and pummeled him with clubs, then left him for dead.
The next day, Yang Lu Chan was seen strolling through the street with no visible injuries. The men who beat him, however, were bed-ridden. Their limbs were numb and useless for days after coming into contact with Yang’s “magic coat” imbued with his chi (or maybe from the effort of beating him). It was said that since Yang was such a deadly fighter, he allowed the gang to beat him instead of killing them.
In the history of Martial Arts, it is nearly impossible to separate fact from legend. Certainly, there is a little of both in what I have written here.
