Wu style Tai Chi is descended from Yang style Tai Chi. Wu style is an upgraded form of Yang style.
One hundred and fifty years ago Yang Chan taught both his son and Wu Quanyou. A generation on, the apprentice of Wu and Yang’s son formed their own separate sects and came to disagree about the authenticity of the other’s teaching. Wu formed his own sect, distinct from Yang’s son and the original Yang style Tai Chi. This distinct style was named after him: Wu Tai Chi
The advantages of Wu style Tai Chi come to the fore in combat and especially close combat. Most of the practitioner’s strength is utilised close to the body. Damage is inflicted mainly on the opponent’s internal organs and can be likened to the reberverative force of a drum. For example hitting the chest in the right way can inflict damage on the opponent’s back and spine. The correct strike to the left shoulder targets the right side of the neck, if the practitioner learns to use the principle of force transmission. Qigong must also be practised regularly to retain physical strength during combat and recover quickly if injured or sick.
Wu Tai Chi promotes all-round fitness. After practise real energy will flow through the body, creating a feeling of safety and stamina. It promotes better sleep quality and, if practised regularly, helps gradually reduce pain and sickness to zero.
Once the form is learned it can also be practised in the opposite direction as well as backwards. This will change habitual thinking and open up new and expansive neural pathways. For example, Shifu Long could barely work out how to use a computer to print out a piece of paper. When he engaged in practising the form in the opposite direction and backwards his neural pathways opened so comprehensively that he became an advanced computer professional in a relatively short time.
Both Tai Chi forms are beneficial when practised in the low squat stance. When we reach our late twenties the bones stop growing and become hard and strong. However, flexibility becomes compromised, which creates less space for the body’s energy to circulate. This can create numbness and pain and can curtail the range of motion in the joints. The low squat practise of Tai Chi helps to keep the joints open and the energy to flow freely through the body. We age from the feet up so the practice of low squat Tai Chi promotes health and longevity from the source.
In traditional Chinese culture families would send children with physical defects to Taoist temples in the mountains. The masters taught them to squat and the practice of Tai Chi. Their birth flaws were often improved and corrected and when it was time for them to return home they were sufficiently improved to enable them to marry and have children. Often by the time they reached fifty their partner had died. Those with defects who had learned Tai Chi from the masters would return to the mountain temple to teach a new generation of children and continue the work of their inheritance.
In today’s society there is no need to learn in a remote Taoist temple. The practice of Tai Chi is available to all and everyone is welcome to join.
