The Story of The Stork and the Snake

You'll notice on the front left of the club t-shirt an image depicting the yin/yang symbol with a stork and a snake in each half. This illustrates the origin which is arguably said to come from Chang San Feng:

Chang San Feng is romantically favoured as the originator of Tai Chi. Chang San Feng developed the idea of yielding and following by watching antics of stork and snake in conflict.- Masterworks Tai Chi Chuan, 2004.

The movements performed in Yang style Tai Chi Chuan imitate the swaying, fluid movements of the snake and the stretching, stable movements of the stork. These movements give rise to the naming of some of the movements in the Yang form, such as 'stork cools wings'; 'snake moves through grass'.

There are some websites which recall this story in various ways. Check some out for yourself!
Masterworks Tai Chi Chuan
Chinese Cultural Centre, Albuquerque, USA
Tai Chi Do (a way of Tai Chi)

Sifu John has been kind enough to provide some informative videos on the art and practice of Tai Chi Chuan. We hope to screen these at our Club BBQ Dinner coming soon.

See you all at training!