A famous Wu Style master, Ma Yueh-Liang – (1901-1998) pushing hands with a younger opponent. I think he was in his eighties when this clip was filmed. Also check my previous post and you will see Ma Yueh Liang’s wife, Wu Yinghua demonstrating part of the Wu Style form.

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This is the Wu Style Tai Chi form I practice.

It’s the traditional long form as demonstrated by Wu Yinghua (1907-1997), daughter of Wu Chien Chuan.

She was probably in her late eighties when she demonstrated the form. The video clip is of poor quality but you can get a flavour of the Wu style form by watching it.

She demonstrated about a third of the long form, from the opening posture to Left and Right Parting Leg (just after the first cloud hands).

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A few years ago I was training with our instructor and a small group of students in a garage.

We were practising some techniques and my training partner mentioned an idea that I found unusual.

I didn’t give  it too much thought at the time but later on I started to use it in my training and found it to be very beneficial.

Although it may sound a bit weird, here is the technique.

1. Imagine there is a little man inside your tan tien.

2. Each time you practice a technique, imagine the little man doing exactly the same thing at the same time as you are, perfectly.

It’s a  simple concept and here are the reasons why it works for me.

1. It keeps my focus in the tan tien area – stops my mind from wandering.

2. My movements are more precise.

3. Improves my speed when practising a technique.

When I have reflected on this technique I’ve wondered if points 2 & 3 were part of my imagination or just a placebo effect. But it doesn’t really matter. If the only benefit I get from this concept is that it keeps me focused on my tan tien then it is worthwhile.

Before trying this technique make sure you have mastered the skill you are practising. If you don’t you could be fine tuning a bad habit.

If you decide to have a go, let me know if it works for you or not.

Footnote: re title – no, I was not influenced by Bob Dylan or The Byrds singing ‘Hey Mr Tambourine Man … Oh, hang on, maybe I was?

Interesting clip of Sifu Tony Chan pushing hands with his student.

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I was asked recently what is the ‘form’ in Tai Chi  so I thought now would be a good time to do a post on it.

The word ‘form’ in Tai Chi can have different meanings so let’s clarify that now.

There’s the Tai Chi form and there are weapons forms such as sabre form, sword form, spear form and staff form.

I’ll focus on the generally accepted view of the  ‘form’ as in the Tai Chi form.

The Tai Chi form is a series of mostly slow movements that are performed in sequence. See the clip below.

There are different syles or forms – the major ones are:

• Wu
• Yang
• Chen
• Sun
• Wu/Hao

There are two categories of forms:

1. The traditional form (long form)

• has 37 original postures ( e.g. Grasping the Bird’s Tail, Clouded Hands etc.)
• usually have 108 postures (movements) which include repeats of the 37 original postures
• about 15-20 minutes to perform, some are longer in duration
• 6-12 months to learn

2. Short Forms

• made up of postures from the traditional forms – could be any postures in any sequence
• 4  minutes or more in duration
• 6 or more weeks to learn

Other points to be aware of are:

• Each posture is a self defence movement (note – cannot be used as self defence unless modified – this is another post)
• Posture names may differ from style to style or even within a style
• Techniques of postures may differ from style to style
• Key principles of relaxation in Tai Chi are consistent across all Tai Chi forms
• There are fast forms

In this clip the late Master Ma YuaLiang performs a fast Wu form and at 2.20 Wu Ying Hwa Wu performs the slow Wu form. Both in their 90’s at the time and married to each other. Wu Ying Hwa Wu was the daughter of the founder of the Wu style, Master Wu Chuan Chien.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I often share the following story with various groups when Sue and I are running our workshops.

Twenty-two years ago a friend of mine, who was a Tai Chi teacher at the time, tried to convince me to do Tai Chi.

At the time I wasn’t interested because I thought Tai Chi was for elderly people and besides who wants to embarrass themselves by prancing around.

Well, he kept at me ‘try Tai Chi, try Tai Chi’, and after two years of being pestered by him I finally gave in and said, ‘look, if I try it will you stop annoying me?’

He said, ‘yes.’

So I went to my first Tai Chi lesson here in Blackburn, Melbourne, Australia.

It was a church hall and as I entered the hall I noticed 20 other nervous beginners milling about.

My instructor yelled, ‘Big ones at the back and small ones in the front.’

I thought, ‘you beauty, I’m tall. I can hide down the back.’

After that one hour lesson I was hooked for life.

It’s now my passion,  part of our business AQ/KQ and an excellent way of maintaining good health.

I often thought why did it take me so many years to try Tai Chi.

I think the answer lies in what a Tai Chi master once said, ‘you will come to Tai Chi when you are ready.’

A short clip on the late Grand Master Ma Yueh Liang, Wu style Tai Chi.

This was filmed when he was 91 years old.

He says, “It took me 10 years to discover my chi but 30 years to learn how to use it.”

Patience in Tai Chi is certainly a virtue.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Several years ago I attended a workshop run by  Grand Master Eddie Wu Kwong Yu in Sydney Australia. I flew up from Melbourne and over two afternoons during a weekend joined a small group to learn some basics in Wu Style Tai Chi. A style that I  practice.

As you will see in this clip, Eddie was friendly, direct and had a no nonsense approach to Tai Chi. Something I really appreciated at the time.

One of his demo’s was very powerful. He stood with his back against a wall, made a slight move and the wall vibrated.

In this presentation (held at Tai Chi Club in Los Angeles – 2006) I particularly like his explanation and demonstration of using single whip in a self defence way.

I hope you find this clip helpful.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Footnote
The Fifth Generation: Grand Master Eddie Wu Kwong Yu (1946- ). Eldest Son of Master Wu Tai Kwei, Head of the Wu Family and Gate Keeper of the Wu Style since May 2005.

A while ago I decided to learn this Wu style Tai Chi  short form from a book by Wang Peisheng and Zeng Weiqi.

The detailed instructions in the book made it easy to learn and I enjoyed practicising this form.

It closely resembled the Wu style form I practice (Master Wu Chian Chuan). After a while I found that both my style of Wu and Wang Peisheng’s form started to merge and I decided to stop practicing his form before I had a hybrid of both forms.

However, If you are looking for a short form to practice I thoroughly recommend his book ‘Wu Style Taijiquan’ published in 1988 by Hai Feng Publishing Co., and Xhaohua Publishing House.

Now I’m not getting a commission recommending this book but the depth of detail in his book which includes the short form (37 postures) applications, depth of feeling, push hands, and an article by Master Wu Tunan makes this book worthwhile having in your Tai Chi library.

Besides my own Wu Style short form book this is one of my favourite Tai Chi books which I have read many times to get a deeper understanding of Wu Style Tai Chi.

Why not have a go?

Part 1

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Part 2

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Footnote: Wang Peisheng (1919-2004)

Here’s my ‘two bobs worth’ (opinion) of the Tai Chi seven stars posture from a self defense viewpoint.

• seven stars refers to seven points of the body – head, shoulder, elbow, hand, hip, knee, foot – each can be used to deflect or strike

• the seven stars posture in the form is also used as an on guard position

For this post I’ll talk about the on guard position.

The seven stars on guard position is a good way of keeping an unarmed opponent, at arms length. This was one of the techniques I taught in my women’s self defence short courses. I modified the technique to be less aggressive looking.

I wouldn’t recommend the seven stars posture against an armed opponent, especially one with a knife.

In my earlier years of training in Tai Chi we experimented with defending against a knife attack. Obviously we didn’t use real knives for safety reasons but we did use rubber knives.

We had fun with it and ‘died a thousand deaths in the training hall’ but then we decided to try something different. We had the attacker use a black texta. The defender used the seven star position. The result? A lot of texta marks on our arms.

This had a strong impact and we quickly learned that sticking your arms out in front of you against an armed attacker was not the best option.

Personally I think the best self defense against a knife is to run. Run fast and long. In the opposite direction, preferably.

Anyway, for a more detailed explanation of seven stars check out Wang Peisheng’s talk below.

Click here to view the embedded video.