Wu-style tai chi ( zh, c=吳氏太极拳, p=Wúshì tàijíquán) is one of the five main styles of

tai chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. ...

. 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.

History

Wu Quanyou was a military officer cadet of

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and Q ...

ancestry in the Yellow Banner camp (see Qing Dynasty Military) in the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the Zhongshan Park, the sacrific ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and also a hereditary officer of the Imperial Guards Brigade. At that time,

Yang Luchan Yang Lu-ch'an or Yang Luchan, also known as Yang Fu-k'ui or Yang Fukui (1799–1872), was an influential Chinese practitioner and teacher of the internal style t'ai chi ch'uan (taijiquan). He is known as the founder of Yang-style t'ai chi ch'ua ...

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 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 Wu Kung-i or Wu Gongyi (1898–1970) was a well-known teacher of the soft style martial art t'ai chi ch'uan (taijiquan) in China, and, after 1949, in the British colony of Hong Kong. He was also the "gate-keeper" of the Wu family from 1942 unti ...

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

(where an important school founded by other students of his father is headquartered, popularly known as the ''Northern Wu style'') to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

in 1928, where he founded the '' Jianquan Taijiquan Association'' () in 1935. Wu Gongyi then moved the family headquarters to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

in 1948, while His younger sister Wu Yinghua and her husband

Ma Yueliang Ma Yueliang or Ma Yueh-liang (1 August 1901 – 13 March 1998) was a famous Manchu teacher of taijiquan. He was the senior disciple of Wu Chien-ch'uan, the founder of Wu-style taijiquan, and married Wu's daughter Wu Ying-hua in 1930. Bio ...

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 large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

: * Ma Hai Long is the current head of the Shanghai Jianquan Taijiquan Association. *

Ma Jiangbao Ma Jiangbao (31 October 1941 – 12 October 2016) was a well known teacher of Wu-style tai chi. He was the third son of Wu Yinghua and Ma Yueliang. Biography In 1986 he came with his father Ma Yueliang to Europe to teach Wu-style. Ma Yueliang ...

(1941-2016) lived in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and taught traditional tai chi throughout

. * Her granddaughter Dr. Jin Ye lives and teaches in England. * Her adopted daughter

Shi Meilin Shi Mei Lin is a teacher of Wu-style t'ai chi ch'uan. She is the adopted daughter of Wu Yinghua and Ma Yueliang A Wushu and Tai Chi champion in the 1970s and 1980s, she toured with Chinese Wushu teams internationally, including the United State ...

now lives and teaches Wu-style tai chi in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

, 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 The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific The ...

, yet he later taught tai chi in Japan after the war. * His younger brother,

Wu Daqi Wu Daqi or Wu Ta-ch'i (1926–1993) was the descendant of the famous Wu-style tai chi founders Wu Quanyou (1834–1902) and Wu Jianquan (1870–1942). He directed Wu-style tai chi instruction outside of Mainland China after the death of his fa ...

, 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 antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, th ...

school in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

in 1974. * His daughter, Wu Yanxia, was known as an expert with the tai chi ''

jian The ''jian'' (pronunciation （劍）, English approximation: ) 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 Spring and ...

'' (

sword A sword is an 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 blade with a pointed t ...

). * 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, Taijiquan (tài jí quán), and Yiquan. It is ...

and

weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be 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, law enforcement, ...

s trainings emphasize parallel footwork and

horse stance The horse stance (sometimes called horse riding stance) is a common posture in Asian martial arts and takes its name from the position assumed when riding a horse. It is called ''mǎbù'' (馬步) in Chinese, in Japanese, and ''juchum seogi ...

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, in hand-to-hand combat, describes sports that consist of gripping or seizing the opponent. Grappling is used at close range to gain a physical advantage over an opponent, either by imposing a position or causing injury. Grappling is ...

, throws (''

Shuai jiao Shuai Jiao () is the term pertaining to the ancient jacket wrestling 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 Excellency in Catching) ...

''), tumbling, jumping, footsweeps,

pressure point derive from the supposed meridian points in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Indian Ayurveda and Siddha medicine, and martial arts. They refer to areas on the human body that may produce significant pain or other effects when manipulated in a specif ...

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. Although the precise form varies, it is essentially relatively ' free-form' fighting, with enough rules, customs, or agreements to minimize injuries. By extension, argumentative deba ...

and

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

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 (1870-1942), was senior from 1902–1942. ''3rd Generation'' *His oldest son,

(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 Eddie Wu Kuang-yu or Wu Guangyu (born 1946) is a Chinese-Canadian t'ai chi ch'uan (taijiquan) teacher. He is the eldest son of the late Wu Ta-k'uei and senior instructor of the Wu family and "Gatekeeper" of the Wu-style as taught in the Wu's ...

(born 1946).

References

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

External links