T’ai Chi Ch’uan (or Taijiquan, 太极拳) is a several centuries old Chinese martial art. Originated as an art that incorporated physical self-defense, general health-improvements and mental well-being it nowadays emphasizes less on the martial aspect, but more on the health, meditation and relaxation aspects.
 
Although exact origins and timing are being disputed it’s invention is attributed to Chang San-feng, a Taoist monk, who lived in the 14th century. The main styles of T’ai Chi are Chen, Yang, Wu, Sun and Wu, all of which can be divided an almost unlimited number of sub styles. The Yang style, the most popular style inside and outside China, characterises itself by fluid, harmonious movements.
 
One of the most important masters of the Yang style was Yang Cheng-Fu (杨澄甫, 1883 – 1936). Yang Cheng-Fu reached a very high level and was famous for his martial abilities. Furthermore, he was responsible for the last major revision of the Yang Style.

Professor Cheng Man Ching (郑曼青, 1901 – 1975), a student of Yang Cheng-Fu and possibly the ghost writer of Yang Cheng Fu’s book ‘Unified form and function of T’ai-chi Ch’uan’ (1934), further simplified and condensed the 108 movements of Yang Cheng Fu into a short  form (7 – 8 minutes) consisting of 37 movements.
After leaving mainland China, Professor Cheng Man Ching moved to Taiwan. He was often referred to as Master of Five Excellences, because of his exceptional skills in Calligraphy, Poetry, Painting, Medicine and T’ai Chi Ch’uan. When interest in Chinese martial arts began to develop during the sixties, several considered the Professor to be its most skilled exponent in both self-defence and health. Professor Cheng Man Ching was one of the first to bring T’ai Chi to the Western world. His style enjoys a significant following in Asia, the US and Europe.

One of the most senior students of Cheng Man Ching is Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo (罗邦桢), who studied under Professor Cheng from 1949 untill 1975. Benjamin Lo, currently lives in San Francisco. He has reached a very high level himself and still gives workshops in Europe and the US. He is co-translator of several major T’ai Chi books, including the ‘founding’ texts of T’ai Chi : “The Essence of T’ai Chi Ch’uan”
 
Benjamin Lo’s oldest student in Europe was Nellie Klabbers. Nellie studied with Benjamin Lo from 1981 until 2006. She started with T’ai Chi in 1975, and she taught T’ai Chi from 1982. She was one of the co-founders of the Dutch T’ai Chi Ch’uan association.

Lucas van der Aart, the teacher of the course, is a student of Nellie Klabbers since 1987. He has followed workshops with several senior students of Cheng Man Ching and other leading teachers in the Cheng Man Ching tradition. Amongst others, he has had workshops from Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Yuan Wei-ming (阮伟明); he has also followed classes with Mr. Liu Xiheng (刘锡亨) in Taiwan. Furthermore, he has lived for a few years in Shanghai where he was taught Chen style by Yang Guoliang (杨国良). Lucas is a board member of the Umbrella Foundation for Taijiquan in the Netherlands (Stichting Taijiquan Nederland: www.taijiquan.nl).

Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo ​with Lucas van der Aart (L) and Nellie Klabbers (R)