Tai chi, short for T’ai chi ch’üan or Tàijí quán, is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for both its defense training, its health benefits and meditation. The term taiji is a Chinese cosmological concept for the flux of yin and yang, and ‘quan’ means fist.
Tai Chi for Health Institute
The Tai Chi for Health Institute (TCHI) was founded in 2010 by Dr Paul Lam and many of his colleagues with the purpose of empowering people to improve their health and wellness through Tai Chi for Health programs. TCHI ensures the quality of training and codes of ethics, it also provides support for instructors and participants.
Yang Family Tai Chi
Yang Family Tai Chi is an association of centers, schools, instructors, and members who practice the art of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan. It offers one of the most complete training systems in Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan and is organized to include a teacher academy, instructor registry, judge registry, and ranking system. This allows members to progress from beginner level to advanced level or to become a highly qualified instructor of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan, depending on their goals.
Yang Family Tai Chi is a brand of the International Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan Association. The association was created in October 1998 by Grandmasters Yang Zhenduo and Yang Jun with the mission of bringing Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan practitioners together and promoting a system to share the family’s standard of practice of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan worldwide to help humankind. The association is incorporated as a non-profit entity in Washington State with its headquarters located at the Seattle/Redmond Yang Family Tai Chi Center in Redmond, WA, USA.
The first Yang Family Tai Chi Centers were created in the U.S. in 1995 by Grandmasters Yang Zhenduo and Yang Jun and their top students. Today, Yang Family Tai Chi includes over 46 Yang Family Tai Chi Centers and over 37 Yang Family Tai Chi Schools on five continents with teachers in 24 countries. It serves members living in over 45 countries, making it the largest organized group of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan practitioners outside of China.
YMAA
Yang’s Martial Arts Association was established in Boston, MA in 1982. With the intent of preserving traditional Chinese Kung Fu and Qigong , Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming began training students in the rigors of Shaolin Long Fist and White Crane Gongfu as well as Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan. Dr. Yang also undertook his life-long dream of teaching and researching the Chinese arts and introducing them to the West through many books, videos and DVDs.
YMAA Publication Center was founded on January 1, 1984 with the goal of producing superior books and instructional videotapes on Qigong and Chinese martial arts. YMAA was also an early pioneer in the DVD industry, producing in-depth, extended-play DVDs with hours of instructional content.
YMAA School is an international organization specializing in Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Qigong, and Chin Na. This site is the official YMAA directory, repository, and library for students and practitioners worldwide
The YMAA Retreat Center is a non-profit organization established in 2005 by the founder of YMAA (Yang’s Martial Arts Association), world renowned author and teacher, Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming, Ph.D. The purpose of this organization is to restore and preserve traditional Chinese martial arts and culture to their original level of high quality and standards.