24-Form Simplified Tai Chi
二十四式简化太极拳
The most widely practised martial arts form in the world. It was created in 1956 for the Chinese Sports Committee as a short entry into Yang-style tai chi.
Quick Facts
💡 Key Tip
Do not rise and sink between movements — the head should travel on one level through the whole form.
About this Form
The form was compiled in Beijing in 1956 by five masters appointed by the Chinese Sports Committee; it was led by Li Tianji, coach of the national wushu team, and among the collaborators were Fu Zhongwen, Cai Longyun and Chu Guiting. The brief was plain: turn tai chi into an exercise learnable in months rather than years. The basis is the Yang style, from which the form takes the wide arcs and the continuous shifting of weight, but it strips out the repetitions — in the traditional long form several passages are practised three or four times, here once. What remains is 24 movements with the classical names such as Parting the Wild Horse's Mane, White Crane Spreads Its Wings, Single Whip and Cloud Hands. The whole set takes about six minutes and fits into a space smaller than a room. That is precisely why it spread further than anything else: it is practised in Chinese parks, European gyms and senior programmes, and it is the commonest first contact with tai chi anywhere. The combat content remains inscribed in the movements, but the form was intended from the start for health and accessibility, not for fighting.