Chen Wangting

Chen Wangting (1580–1660), courtesy name Chen Zouting, was a Ming dynasty military officer who may have founded Chen-style tai chi, one of the five major styles of the popular Chinese martial art. He reputedly devised his style of tai chi after his retirement following the fall of the Ming dynasty.

Military career During the Ming dynasty, Chen served as Commander of the Wen County garrison, and was distinguished for his protection of merchant caravans in Henan and Shandong. After the Ming dynasty ended and the reign of the Qing dynasty began, Chen's military career was effectively over, and he retired to the family settlement.

Influence on tai chi

Two widely documented theories of Chen's martial arts work exist: the first is that he learnt his arts from Wang Zongyue, Jiang Fa, and the Wudang tradition developed by Zhang Sanfeng. — is that he combined his previous military experience and the theories of meridians and Daoyin with the popular teachings of Qi Jiguang. His complete work contained five smaller sets of forms, a 108-move Long Fist routine, and a Cannon Fist routine. Chen is also credited with the invention of the first push hands exercises.

Chen Wangting's next well-known successors were the 14th generation Chen Youben, who taught Chen Qingping who passed down Zhaobao Tai Chi, and Chen Changxing (1771–1853), who passed down Chen style large frame and was the direct teacher of the founder of Yang-style tai chi: Yang Luchan.

Tai chi lineage tree with Chen-style focus