Wu-style T'ai Chi Ch'uan
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Wu-style tai chi ( zh, c=吳氏太极拳, p=Wúshì tàijíquán) is one of the five main styles of
tai chi is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...
. It is second in popularity after Yang-style, and the fourth-oldest of the five major tai chi styles. It was developed by Wu Quanyou and
Wu Jianquan Wu Jianquan ( zh, c=吴鉴泉, w=Wu Chien-ch‘üan, p=Wú Jiànquán; 1870–1942) was a famous teacher and founder of the ''neijia'' martial art of Wu-style tai chi in late Imperial and early Republican China. Biography Wu Jianquan was ta ...
.


History

Wu Quanyou was a military officer cadet of
Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...
ancestry in the Yellow Banner camp (see Qing Dynasty Military) in the
Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...
,
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and also a hereditary officer of the Imperial Guards Brigade. At that time,
Yang Luchan Yang Luchan ( zh, c=杨露禅, w=Yang Lu-ch'an, p=Yáng Lùchán), also known as Yang Fukui (1799–1872), was an influential Chinese practitioner and teacher of the internal style tai chi martial art. He is known as the founder of Yang-styl ...
was the martial arts instructor in the Imperial Guards, teaching tai chi, and in 1850 Wu Quanyou became one of his students. In 1870,
Wu Jianquan Wu Jianquan ( zh, c=吴鉴泉, w=Wu Chien-ch‘üan, p=Wú Jiànquán; 1870–1942) was a famous teacher and founder of the ''neijia'' martial art of Wu-style tai chi in late Imperial and early Republican China. Biography Wu Jianquan was ta ...
was asked to become the senior disciple of Yang Banhou, Yang Luchan's oldest adult son, and an instructor as well to the Manchu military. Wu Quanyou had three primary disciples: his son Wu Jianquan, Wang Maozhai and Guo Fen. Wu Quanyou's son, Wu Jianquan, grandsons Wu Gongyi and Wu Kung-tsao, and granddaughter Wu Yinghua were well-known teachers. Wu Jianquan became the most widely known teacher in his family, and is therefore considered the co-founder of the Wu style by his family and their students. He taught large numbers of people and his refinements to the art more clearly distinguish Wu style from Yang style training. Wu Jianquan moved his family south from
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
(where an important school founded by other students of his father is headquartered, popularly known as the ''Northern Wu style'') to
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
in 1928, where he founded the '' Jianquan Taijiquan Association'' () in 1935. Wu Gongyi then moved the family headquarters to
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
in 1948, while His younger sister Wu Yinghua and her husband Ma Yueliang stayed behind to manage the original Shanghai school. Between 1983 and her death in 1996 Wu Yinghua was the highest-ranked instructor in the Wu family system. Her descendants continue teaching and today manage the Shanghai school as well as schools in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
: * Ma Hai Long is the current head of the Shanghai Jianquan Taijiquan Association. * Ma Jiangbao (1941-2016) lived in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
and taught traditional tai chi throughout
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. * Her granddaughter Dr. Jin Ye lives and teaches in England. * Her adopted daughter Shi Meilin now lives and teaches Wu-style tai chi in
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, with students also in France and The United States. Wu Gongyi's children were also full-time martial art teachers: * His son Wu Ta-k'uei was active in the resistance to the Japanese invasion of China, yet he later taught tai chi in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
after the war. * His younger brother, Wu Daqi, supervised the family's Hong Kong and southeast Asian schools for many years and opened the family's first
western hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...
school in
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,
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in 1974. * His daughter, Wu Yanxia, was known as an expert with the tai chi ''
jian The ''jian'' (Mandarin Chinese: , , English approximation: , Cantonese: ) is a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China. The first Chinese sources that mention the ''jian'' date to the 7th century BCE, during the S ...
'' (
sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...
). * His cousin, Wu Daxin, was also known as a weapons specialist, particularly with the tai chi '' Dao''.


Tai chi lineage tree with Wu-style focus


Training

The Wu style's distinctive hand form,
pushing hands Pushing hands, Push hands or tuishou (alternately spelled ''tuei shou'' or ''tuei sho'') is a two-person training routine practiced in internal Chinese martial arts such as ''baguazhang'', ''xingyiquan'', tai chi, and '' yiquan''. It is also ...
and
weapon A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...
s trainings emphasize parallel footwork and horse stance training with the feet relatively closer together than the modern Yang or Chen styles, small circle hand techniques (although large circle techniques are trained as well) and differs from the other tai chi family styles martially with Wu style's initial focus on
grappling Grappling is a fighting technique based on throws, trips, sweeps, clinch fighting, ground fighting and submission holds. Grappling contests often involve takedowns and ground control, and may end when a contestant concedes defeat. Shou ...
, throws (''
Shuai jiao ''Shuai jiao'' () is the term pertaining to the ancient jacket wrestling Wushu (sport), wushu style of Beijing, Tianjin and Baoding of Hebei Province in the North China Plain which was codified by Shan Pu Ying (善撲营 The Battalion of Excel ...
''), tumbling, jumping, footsweeps, pressure point leverage and joint locks and breaks, which are trained in addition to more conventional tai chi
sparring Sparring is a form of training common to many combat sports. It can encompass a range of activities and techniques such as punching, kicking, grappling, throwing, wrestling or submission work dependent on style. Although the precise form varies, ...
and
fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...
at advanced levels.


Generational senior instructors of the Wu family tai chi schools

''1st Generation'' *Wu Quanyou (, 1834-1902), who learned from Yang Luchan and Yang Banhou, was senior instructor of the family from 1870–1902. ''2nd generation'' *His oldest son,
Wu Jianquan Wu Jianquan ( zh, c=吴鉴泉, w=Wu Chien-ch‘üan, p=Wú Jiànquán; 1870–1942) was a famous teacher and founder of the ''neijia'' martial art of Wu-style tai chi in late Imperial and early Republican China. Biography Wu Jianquan was ta ...
(1870-1942), was senior from 1902–1942. ''3rd Generation'' *His oldest son, Wu Gongyi (1900-1970), was senior from 1942–1970. *Wu Gongyi's younger brother, Wu Gongzao (1903-1983), was senior from 1970–1983. *Wu Gongyi's younger sister, Wu Yinghua ({1907-1997), was senior from 1983–1997. ''4th Generation'' *Wu Gongyi's daughter, Wu Yanxia (1930-2001) was senior from 1997–2001. *Wu Gongzao's son, Wu Daxin (1933-2005), was senior from 2001–2005. ''5th Generation'' *The current senior instructor of the Wu family is Wu Ta-k'uei's son Wu Kuang-yu (born 1946).


See also

* 108-form Wu family tai chi * Wu-style tai chi fast form * List of tai chi forms * Silk reeling * Wudang tai chi


References

* Tina Chunna Zhang, Frank Allen (2006). ''Classical Northern Wu Style Tai Ji Quan''. Blue Snake Books.


External links

* http://www.wustyle.com/ International Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan Federation website
''Taijiquan and the search for the little old Chinese man''
2003 by Adam Dean Frank, Dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas Digital Repository{{dead link, date=April 2020 Tai chi styles Neijia