
The internal martial arts of China are shrouded in mystery. The most widely practiced of these styles is Tai Chi. Stories of men developing family styles of Tai Chi have spread as legends and have survived to this day.
Here are some of them.
Zhang Sanfeng

Zhang Sanfeng (also known as Chang San Feng) is the legendary founder of Tai Chi. He was said to have been born on Dragon-Tiger Mountain in Southeastern China around 1250. Stories say he was 7 feet tall and had the bone of a crane. He studied Shaolin Kung Fu, then lived as a priest in the Wudang Taoist temples for many years, dying 200 years later (or, according to some, still living to this day).
The most famous story about Zhang Sanfeng is that he developed his martial arts style after watching a bird attack a snake on Wudang Mountain.

The bird (Crane Bird) soared in the sky, then carefully examined a snake coiled on the ground like an eagle. The bird's shrill cries pierced the peace of the angry, hot summer day: And suddenly it attacked the snake with its beak. But the snake was alert. It escaped being pecked with an easy, spiral movement. While the bird was looking for an attacking position by fighting with its wings, the snake still waited, coiled. The snake shook its head here and there as if frustrated, trying to escape the wings of the bird spinning at high altitude. The bird insistently dived again and again and tried to peck the snake. However, the snake avoided all moves with its skill and warded off the danger with a movement in a spiral position. The snake invited the bird to approach by feigning tiredness. The bird fell into this trap and the snake sunk its teeth into its victim.
Zhang Sanfeng watches this struggle for survival carefully. The philosopher, amazed by the snake’s ability to carefully evade the sharp sword blows of his opponent, studies its movements in detail and memorizes them. While the bird moves jerkily and scattered, the snake moves flexibly in circles.
This fight struck a lightning bolt in Zhang Sanfeng's mind. Defeating the hard with flexibility! Based on Tai Chi's "Great Ultimate" transformations, Zhang Sanfeng began working on a self-defense system based on the movements of the snake and the principles of Yin-Yang . His efforts marked the first appearance of Tai Chi chuan in China. He practiced for hours every day before teaching his new form of defense to a select few students. It was only in the 20th century that his secret art became public.
Chen Wang Ting

One story says that a disciple of Zhang Sanfeng named Wang Zongyue taught Tai Chi to the Chen family. Other stories say that Chen Wangting, born in 1580, invented Tai Chi.
He took his family's martial arts style and combined it with Taoist philosophy, Chinese medicine, and energy manipulation methods, creating the first "internal martial art", Chen Tai.
This art was taught only within the Chen family in Chen village until Yang Lu Chan came along.
Yang Lu Chan

A young man from the Yang family worked as a servant for the Chen family. He oversaw the family's practice until he was found out. When he was brought before the eldest Chen, the death penalty was considered. However, when the patriarch saw Yang Lu Chan's spirit and desire to learn and perfect the art, he decided to continue teaching him. Yang became one of the most renowned and feared martial artists of his time.
In one story, Yang was walking home through the streets of Beijing late at night. When he turned a corner, he found himself face to face with a gang of 30 men who quickly surrounded him. Instead of resisting, he allowed them to rob him. As they moved in to beat him, Yang lay down and put on his coat. They kicked, punched and beat him with sticks, then left him for dead.
The next day, Yang Lu Chan was seen walking down the street with no visible injuries. However, the men who beat him were bedridden. After coming into contact with Yang's "magic jacket" infused with his chi (or perhaps in an attempt to defeat him), his limbs were numb and useless for days. It was said that since Yang was such a deadly fighter, he let the gang beat him instead of killing him.
In Martial Arts history, it is nearly impossible to separate fact from legend, and of course what I have written here is a little bit of both.
The sage Chang San-Feng was a native of I-Chou in Liaotung Province. He was very tall, had an old face, gentle eyebrows and generous eyes. His moustache was trimmed like a spear, and he wore a broad bamboo hat in both summer and winter. Wearing a horsehair dust mask, he could travel a thousand miles in a day. At the beginning of Hung-wu's reign, he went up to the T'ai-ho Mountains in Szechuan County to practice Taoist arts and settled in the Empty Jade Temple. He could recite the classics by heart after a single reading. In the twenty-seventh year of Hung-wu's reign, he went to the Wudang Mountains in Hubei, where he loved to discuss the classics and philosophy with the local people.
One day, he was inside reading the classics when a fun-loving bird settled in the palace. Its song was like the notes of the qanun. The wise man looked at the bird in his window...