Tai chi thrives with a French twist

In 2007, Large and his fellows established an association, aiming to promote Chinese culture in France through teaching tai chi, the Chinese language and other aspects of the country's culture.

In 2013, he started to learn tai chi from Chen Ziqiang, the head coach of Chenjiagou Tai Chi School in Wenxian county, Central China's Henan province. Since then, he has led French students to come to study in Chenjiagou village almost every year.

"Now French people are becoming increasingly fond of Chinese culture, and I hope our relationship could get better and better," Large said.

Based on Tao Te Ching, the classic Chinese text written by Lao Tze in the late 4th century BC, the essence of tai chi lies in the conditioning of spiritual and mental aspects. The book also says that tai chi is best illustrated by the symbolic Taoist pattern: a half-black-half-white circle that represents yin and yang respectively. The message within this symbol is that what seems opposite may be interchangeable, that good may become bad, and that the powerful may lose to the weak.