Taiji is a Chinese philosophy which has at its center the harmonization of the opposing forces of Yin and Yang.  It was first described in the I Ching, or Book of Changes in 4500 B.C.  This Yin/Yang philosophy permeated all of Chinese culture, arts, medicine and science for thousands of years. 

In 1100 A.D. a Taoist monk by the name of Zheng, San Feng, is credited with creating a martial art based on these principles.  He called it Taiji-quan, or "fist of the mind", which has now become one of the most popular internal martial arts. The basic difference from external martial arts is that it emphasizes the principle of the soft overcoming the hard.  It takes much longer to learn because it relies on relaxation, speed and internal focus, rather than on physical strength.  Tai Chi can be performed with or without martial intent.

The Taijiquan form is actually a series of martial techniques.  It takes about one year to learn the entire sequence, and many more years to learn the applications. At Y.M.A.A. Taijiquan of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, we practice the full length Classical Yang style of Taijiquan, descended from the Yang, Ban Huo lineage.