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  • Wu Style tai chi Chuan

    I was going through some you tube videos on wu style tai chi chuan. I noticed that when doing the form they incline their body forward more than what we do it wahnam or in yang style taichi that I have seen. Is it to improve their response to an attack? Can anyone shed some light on this.

  • #2
    Hi Manu,

    Welcome to the forum.

    Can you please post some of youtube videos you refer to here? It would be nice to see them first.

    All the best,

    Kevin

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    • #3
      Hi Kevin,

      Thanks for your reply.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywF1UDOZoLU is one of the videos.
      Last edited by manu; 2 December 2014, 02:57 AM.

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      • #4
        Dear Manu,

        Short Answer:

        He doesn't know genuine Taijiquan.

        Long Answer:

        This is debased Taijiquan. What you've learnt from Sifu is Platinum Card Kungfu.

        If you watch the video, the practitioner doesn't employ any waist rotation and his chi isn't at the dan tian. It's floating high above at chest level.

        Kevin What do you think?

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        • #5
          Hi Manu,

          Chapter 17 of Sigung's "Complete Book of Tai Chi Chuan" shows diagrams depicting the patterns of Wu Taijiquan. Generally, Wu style has a higher posture with the body leaning forward and weight distributed between the feet.

          The back foot, instead of pointing at 45 degrees like in Yang style, points straight ahead like the front foot. I believe the idea is that the forward lean creates a faster, spiraling linear power. BK Frantzis is a well known Wu-style practitioner.

          Personally, I like this video from 1937 depicted by Chi Minyi demonstrating a faster form of Wu Taijiquan:



          Best regards,
          Stephen
          Last edited by DarkCosmoz; 2 December 2014, 03:34 AM.

          Comment


          • #6
            Check these two videos:





            They look different. Don't you think. And my guess is, it's not just because both Masters above are performing the set at a respectable age.

            I do not know much about Wu Style (there are two Wu styles btw). Waist rotation is an essential principle in Tai Chi Chuan. And thus I would expect it in Wu Style too. Leaning too far forward and loosing the center seems to me a big disadvantage. And there are few patterns where this might make sense. However if you check on Youtube, many Yang and Chen practitioners today omit waist rotation and instead shift the weight back and forth. This often results in leaning forward and loosing the center too. So I wonder if this is indeed part of the Wu style or a deviation, just like in Yang and Chen style.

            Best regards
            Andrea
            Last edited by Andrea; 2 December 2014, 11:12 PM.
            Enjoy some Wahnam Tai Chi Chuan & Qi Gong!

            Evening Classes in Zürich
            Weekend Classes in other Swiss locations


            Website: www.taichichuan-wahnam.ch
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            • #7
              Thank you for the videos Andrea.

              To add to your post, here are some pictures showing traditional Wu style:

              image.jpg

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              • #8
                Hi Andrea,

                I think the style is like that only where the practitioner leans forward. Those pics show the founder of Wu style tai chi chuan, Wu Jianquan doing tai chi. So we cannot doubt the authenticity of the form. I was thinking why did he change the form to this? If it was to create more spiraling leaning power, as Stephen says, is it superior in some way? Anyone having experience in Wu style tai chi chuan?

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                • #9
                  I have some experience in the Wu 吴 style. In fact, my Taiji sword set is based on that style.

                  I don't have time to write extensively about my experience at the moment, but personally, and as an instructor, I would not criticise or otherwise write or speak disparagingly of another practitioner simply from viewing a video. There is a reason why a practitioner performs his set in a certain way; whether we agree with the reason or not is a different matter altogether.

                  I will write more about my thoughts about why the form emphasises leaning forward. In the meantime, I encourage those curious to test it out.
                  百德以孝为先
                  Persevere in correct practice

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Some quick thoughts. Aside from the characteristic lean forward, the horse stance on which the Single Whip is performed would also seem "wrong" at first glance. The knees and feet open outwards at 45 degrees which would be anathema to those of us trained to keep our feet parallel.

                    This is an excellent opportunity for us to discern secrets from videos and photos of a set, especially one which appears to have different principles from what we are used to or at least the same principles manifested in a different form.
                    百德以孝为先
                    Persevere in correct practice

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Zhang Wuji View Post
                      I don't have time to write extensively about my experience at the moment, but personally, and as an instructor, I would not criticise or otherwise write or speak disparagingly of another practitioner simply from viewing a video.
                      I wholeheartedly agree. I thought I wrote this in my original post, but it appears I did not.

                      Originally posted by Zhang Wuji View Post
                      Aside from the characteristic lean forward, the horse stance on which the Single Whip is performed would also seem "wrong" at first glance. The knees and feet open outwards at 45 degrees which would be anathema to those of us trained to keep our feet parallel.
                      The horse stance does look different and interesting in Wu style. I believe this was briefly mentioned in another old thread about Single Whip, but Sigung had a picture of Cheng Tin Hung in a 1999 Q&A (http://www.shaolin.org/answers/ans99b/jul99-2.html):

                      hung02c.jpg

                      An old picture showing Sifu Chen Tin Hung demonstrating the combat application of the Taijiquan pattern called “Single Whip”. Notice that “Single Whip” is performed in the Horse- Riding Stance in Wu Style Taijiquan, but Sifu Chen modified the stance to Bow-Arrow Stance to suit this combat situation
                      Speaking of Cheng Tin Hung, below is a video of him performing Wu Taijiquan.



                      Below shows training of Tai Chi applications:




                      Best wishes,
                      Stephen
                      Last edited by DarkCosmoz; 3 December 2014, 02:16 PM.

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                      • #12
                        I am really enjoying this thread!

                        Our Wahnam Tai Chi Chuan is mainly inspired by Chen Style and Yang Style, so a lot of the principles we see in Wu Style are not something I am overly familiar with. So to answer Manu's original question, I am unsure as to why a Wu practitioner inclines their body forward somewhat in their stance.

                        The differences between the Wu sets already posted are very interesting to observe - As Sifu Wuji states:

                        This is an excellent opportunity for us to discern secrets from videos and photos of a set, especially one which appears to have different principles from what we are used to or at least the same principles manifested in a different form.
                        I am looking forward to learning more about this style!

                        All the best,

                        Kevin

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Dear Family,

                          After getting some good advice from my seniors, I can understand that my comments could be seen as insulting. That wasn't my intention, I apologise to Sifu Lin Jianquan for coming across like that.

                          I also want to explain why I wrote my comments that way: I'm just frustrated by Kungfu's reputation amongst practitioners of other arts. I really long for the restoration of Kungfu's former glory. I think its very healthy to speak one's mind, there is a lot of bullshit in the martial arts world and although not ideal you can learn a lot from a practitioners performance of a set recorded on video. You can perceive power in the movements, balance and agility. But I also realise Sifu Lin Jianquan may have recorded this for his students to learn the routine from, hence his very slow movement. Manu asked what we thought, on our schools forum and that's how I would have spoken to him face to face, I was just being honest.

                          Sham.
                          Last edited by Guest; 4 December 2014, 08:57 AM.

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                          • #14
                            Anyone interested in following up on this thread ?

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