Tai Chi Origin
The history of Tai Chi is foggy at best, since it is often difficult to sort out fact from legend. There are many conflicting stories from the past, and the confusion continues right up to the present. Many schools believe the founder was the Taoist monk Chan San Feng, who lived in the 
mountains during theYuan Dynasty (1279-1368). but no one knows if he actually existed. Some experts claim him as just being a myth, while others argue he did exist and there are monuments to him in China.
The legend states that Chan San Feng watched a battle between a snake and a crane (although some say it was a magpie, an eagle or a hawk). As the crane lunged at its prey, the wily reptile dodged and weaved, lashing back at 
its tormentor with relaxed lightning speed. Eventually the exhausted bird flew off for easier prey. In that instant the art of tai chi was said to have been born. And he assembled a martial art that used softness and internal power to overcome brute force. This marked the beginning of Tai Chi Chuan. Later, he formulated the 13 postures of Tai Chi. While no one knows what his act looked like, it is thought that the movements were practiced as individual techniques or concepts.
The next major historical figure was Wang Chung-yueh (Wang Zongyue), his most famous contribution to Tai Chi Chuan was authoring The Tai Chi Treatise. This treatise was the origin of many Tai Chi proverbs; among them being "Four ounces deflect one thousand pounds," and "A feather cannot be added; nor can a fly alight." The Tai Chi Treatise is among a body of literature collectively referred to as the Tai Chi Ch´uan Classics. Some historians believe Wang actually founded the art, while others dispute his existence as well.
From Wang, his student Chiang Fa taught Tai Chi to the villagers of a town on Honan (almost all of whom were called Chen) and thus began the first family school of Tai Chi Chuan. Another of Wang´s students was Chen Chou-tung who quarreled with Chiang Fa. The former then established the so-called Southern School of Tai Chi, an interesting and colourful branch of Tai Chi which subsequently disappeared. Chiang Fa continued with the mainstream "Northern" style of Tai Chi which was handed down to the Chen family village (Chenjiagou) during the Qing Dynasty.
