Taijiquan was invented as a martial art, but it is both a good martial art and a good exercise for health, with the latter becoming even better known and perhaps even more important during the last 50 years, especially for senior citizens and for people in the West. Taijiquan is also a performing art, known for its soft, slow, meditative, and fluid movements.
Because of the different focuses and because of its several hundred years of history with millions of practitioners all over the world, there are variations in how the various Taijiquan forms are practiced. This is not even taking into account that there are at least five major Taijiquan styles: Chen, Yang, Wu, Sun, and Wu (a different Chinese word from the first Wu). So even if we restrict our discussion to one particular style for a form set that has been standardized, such as the Simplified Yang Style 24 Forms, there are still variations in how this form set is practiced or taught.
Heroic and Critical Battles in Yunnan During WWII
(How Chinese, Americans, and Overseas Chinese Joined Forces to Regain Control of the Critical Supply Route to China)
For more than two and a half years during WWII, fierce, deadly, and heroic battles took place in the western Yunnan Province (in the region called Dianxi, 滇西) in China. Besides helping to turn the tide against the Japanese Imperial Army in the Asian warfront, the events that occurred during this period are of great historical significance for two reasons. One is that by studying what happened in Dianxi, one can learn about all four major types of atrocities committed by the Japanese in Asia during WWII: (1) Massacre, (2) sex slaves, (3) germ warfare, and (4) slave labor. The other is how the Chinese, Americans, and Overseas Chinese joined forces to fight successfully to drive out the invading Japanese army.
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