History of Wu Style Tai Chi

The history of Wu style Tai Chi is very rich as sons, daughters, wives and cousins all contributed to the development of the art form. Family members continue to teach today. Another unique feature of Wu is that women were also taught and allowed to teach. This influenced the balance, grace and evolution of the fighting techniques.

Around 1850, Wu Quanyou was a military cadet officer at the Yellow Flag Camp in the Forbidden City. He was noted as the most talented student of Yang Luchan, the founder of Yang Tai Chi. Quan You's son, Wu Chien Chuan (1870-1942), studied under his father's tutelage from a young age. He rapidly developed and deepened his Tai Chi skills. After 1912, he continuously developed the Wu-style teaching at the Beijing Sports Research Association and gradually refined his father's style. His two sons, Wu Gongyi and Wu Gongzao , were his first students. Together with his other students, they quickly reached a high level of skill. In 1928, Wu Chien Chuan was invited to Shanghai to teach Tai Chi. He traveled to Hong Kong and Canton, as well as many other southern Chinese cities, to spread the Wu style. After Wu Chien Chuan's death in 1942, his sons and daughter , Wu Yinghua, continued to teach Tai Chi. With the participation of his grandchildren, Wu style Tai Chi spread to Europe and Canada.

Tai Chi Wu Style Movements

The movements and postures of Wu style Tai Chi are very distinctive. The stylistic differences are intended to distinguish it from its predecessor, Yang Tai Chi. It has been said that out of respect and reverence for the Yang lineage and the masters who trained the early members of the Wu Family, Wu Chien Chuan modified the original 108 movement form to be characteristically different from the Yang 108 form. Wu reduced the size of the circles formed by the arms and body, leading to the idea that Wu had a "small" form or medium frame. The circles are smaller, sometimes resulting in circles of just the hands. The steps are also shorter, and the feet normally point in the same direction.

Small circles of the hands translate directly into wrist and hand grip techniques. The same goes for stances. Stances and steps lend themselves well to throws.

Wu style Tai Chi movements retain most of the names of the Yang form, like the other families. Likewise, basic Tai Chi principles such as staying soft, relaxing, and pulling the shoulders and elbows down are common to Wu practitioners.