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Chen Si Tan's Taiji Quan from China topmost Wushu Super Star

The origins of Taijiquan are often attributed to one Zhang Sanfeng (a Taoist of either the 12th or 15th century depending on the source) who created the art after witnessing a fight between a snake and a crane. These stories were popularized in the early part of this century and were the result of misinformation and the desire to connect the art with a more famous and ancient personage. All of the various styles of Taijiquan which are in existence today can be traced back to a single man, Chen Wangding, a general of the latter years of the Ming Dynasty. After the fall of the Ming and the establishment of the Qing Dynasty (1644), Chen Wangding returned to the Chen village and created his forms of boxing. Originally containing up to seven forms, only two forms of Chen Style Taijiquan have survived into the present.

The Art was only taught to members of the Chen clan until a promising young outsider named Yang Luzhan was accepted as a student in the early part of the 19th century. Yang Luzhan (nicknamed "Yang without enemy" as he was reportedly a peerless fighter) modified the original Chen style and created the Yang style of Taijiquan, the most popular form practiced in the world today. Wu Yuxiang learned the Art from Yang Luzhan and a variation of the original Chen form from Chen Jingbing (who taught the "small frame" version of Chen Taijiquan) and created the Wu style. A man named Hao Weizhen learned the Wu style from Wu Yuxiang's nephew and taught the style to Sun Ludang, who in turn created the Sun style (Sun was already an established master of Xingyiquan and Baguazhang when he learned Taijiquan. He combined his knowledge of the other arts when creating his style). Yang Luzhan had another student, a Manchu named Chuan You (or Quan You), who in turned taught the Art to his son, Wu Jianchuan (or Jianquan). Wu Jianchuan popularized his variation of the Yang style, which is commonly refered to as the Wu Jianchuan (or Jianquan) style. In recent times (this century) there have been many other variations and modificationsof the Art, but all may be traced back through the above masters to the original Chen family form.