There are five major families of Tai Chi, and though they are all interconnected and share many similarities, they are also quite different from one another. They are the Chen Style, Yang Style, Wu Style, Hao Style, and Sun Style. There are also many other minor styles of Tai Chi which typically have come about by mixing one of the major styles with another martial art to create a hybrid style.

     The earliest records of Tai Chi date back to the 1600s in Chen Village in Henan Province, China. For generations this art remained hidden in Chen Village, taught only to sons and their wives - daughters of the family were not taught, so that when they married and left the village, they could not take the secret of Chen Tai Chi Chuan with them outside the clan. Exactly from where and when the style was developed is unclear, and many theories have been put forward.

     What is clear, is that in the early 1820s, Chen Chang-Xing, a 14th Generation member of the family and 6th Generation Master of Chen Tai Chi Chuan, taught the first outsider, Yang Lu-Chuan. Yang Lu-Chuan is famous for founding the Yang Style of Tai Chi, and is referred to in legend as "Yang the Invincible" and is credited with never losing a challenge. Yang Lu-Chuan was hired by the Imperial Family to teach them and also several units of the Elite Imperial Guard Brigade Tai Chi, and it is through Yang that Tai Chi started to became known to the world outside Chen Village.

     One of Yang Lu-Chuan's senior students was Wu Yu-hsiang, who went on to develop and spread the Hao Style of Tai Chi which emphasizes small, circluar movements as opposed the the larger circular movements of other styles of Tai Chi.

     Wu Chuan-yu, a second generation student of Yang Lu-Chuan, developed Wu Style Tai Chi from Yang Style. Both Wu Chuan-yu and his father, from whom he learned Yang style Tai Chi, were members of the Manchu Cavalry Officers. As the Chinese Republic was established in the 1910s, Wu Chuan-Yu sought to share Tai Chi with the general populace, and further smoothing the movements and removing jumps and abrubt turns to make it easier to learn, hence Wu Style was born.

     Sun style was created by Su Lu-tang, a third generation student of Hao Style Tai Chi. Sun Lu-tang was also an expert in Hsing-I and Bagua, two other internal martial arts.

     Today, Tai Chi is widespread and gaining immense popularity as a means of healthy exercise. The most popular style in the world today is Yang Style, followed by Wu Style, Chen, Sun, and finally Hao.