Zhaobao tai chi chuan

Zhaobao Taijiquan is a style of Taijiquan that is often considered to be a modern style, but actually has a strong documented lineage that confirms its authenticity as an ancient style of Taijiquan and as a true transmission from Jiang Fa.

Form and Characteristics

The main set of Zhaobao Taijiquan, or Zhaobao Jia, consists of 108 movements progressing in difficulty. Great emphasis is placed on Yi in Zhaobao training. Like many other styles, Zhaobao Jia can be practiced at three heights, each providing a different degree of complexity. Generally students begin with the Middle Frame , progress to the Low Frame and end with the High Frame .

Zhaobao Taijiquan's practical applications rely heavily on spiral uprooting techniques controlled through the use of Qinna, often followed with the use of sweeps or trips to bring the opponent to the ground. Flowing and coordinated the techniques conform successfully to the basic tenets of the Taiji Classics.

Zhaobao Taijiquan also has its own Neigong system based on traditional Daoist practice, that enables the practitioner to develop the required physical and mental skills needed for successful mastery of the art.

History and Lineage

The Zhaobao Taijiquan style shares a lot of similarities with Chen style Taijiquan, and this commonality is considered by the school to be the manifestation of influences introduced by a member of the famed Chen family- Chen Qingping. He created a style known as the "New Frame", which he taught to many disciples including He Zhaoyuan and . The result of this influence means that the Zhaobao Taijiquan style is often considered by observers to simply be a recent off-shoot of the Chen style. But actually the style has a much longer history and retains many unique qualities based on traditional Taijiquan theory and practice, clearly differentiating it as a complete and separate system of practice. See lineage diagram below.

The evolution of the Zhaobao Taijiquan style can be compared effectively to the evolution of Yang style Taijiquan. Yang Luchan the founder of the Yang style was a disciple of a Chen family teacher called Chen Changxing, and is said to have adapted the fundamentals of the martial arts he was taught to fit his own interpretation of Taijiquan practice and principles, and thus originated a similar looking, yet independent style of Taijiquan.

Zhaobao Taijiquan is not a family style and has traditionally been passed down from master to chosen disciple. The Zhaobao name is given to the style as a way of honouring Chen Qingping and the village where he lived; Zhaobao Village in Wenxian County, Henan Province, China.

According to the style's tradition Chen Qingping was the 7th generation master from the time that the grand master Jiang Fa brought the style taught to him by Wang Zongyue to the local area in Wenxian County.

Zhaobao Taijiquan's lineage down to Chen Qingping is as below:

Zhao Bao Tai Chi

Zhao Bao Tai Chi

The Zhao Bao style of Tai Chi originated from the town of Zhao Bao in the sixteenth century. Located fourteen kilometers east of the county of Wen in the central Chinese province of Henan , Zhao Bao is known for its idyllic atmosphere. The town looks south over the Yellow River’s northern banks, and gazes north into the Taihang foothills, turning east into the capital（京畿）, and extending west toward Luo Yi . Since antiquity, this propitious location has made Zhao Bao a center of travel and trade. According to legend, Zhao Bao was once the elaborate Jin Yin Zhong（金銀塚）burial grounds of the soldiers of Zhao Dynasty during the Warring States Period（戰國時期趙國）; thus earning the town the title of “Zhao Bao” or “Zhao’s stronghold,” a name which has continued into usage today.

In the closing years of the Ming（明） Dynasty , the town’s name became well-known in the world of martial arts when a Zhao Bao native named Jiang Fa studied Tai Chi under Shan Xi master Wang Zong Yue（王宗岳）. Jiang Fa later chose fellow townsmen Xing Xihuai as a worthy disciple to on pass his own skills to, and thus began an illustrious new tradition of martial arts in the town of Zhao Bao. During the Kanxi（康熙） Period , the later emperor Yong Zheng visited Zhao Bao and admired the Tai Chi grandmasters so much that he gifted a handwritten inscription to the local Temple of Guandi to commend the martial prowess of the Zhao Bao Tai Chi masters.

The tenets of Zhao Bao Tai Chi emphasize simplicity, stressing that one should be as “hard as iron, soft as cotton, slippery as a fish, and tenacious as glue.” Its philosophy is expressed in the composition of its stances, in movements that harmonize and flow with the anatomy of the human body. Its aesthetic draws inspiration from nature with the goal of achieving movement as light as a cloud and as fluid as water. The martial art derives the structure of its theory from canonical Chinese scriptures including, “I Ching”（易經） , “Zhongyong” , as well as Neo-Confucian thought , uniting “The Three Teachings” , under a new umbrella of thought. Its art of attack and defense emulates the inscrutable shifts of clouds as well as the deceptively smooth pull of powerful ocean waves, attacking at the most unexpected to leave an opponent senseless.

Zhao Ba Tai Chi is still evolving in the long river of history. For seven generations Zhao Bao’s conservative leaders kept the art exclusively within the clan, giving rise to the saying that, “Zhao Bao Tai Chi would never leave its village.” Towards the end of the nineteenth century, however, this direct line of descent was broken, and many new practitioners entered the school. Then, in the 1930s, tenth generation Zhao Bao Tai Chi Grandmasters Zheng Wuqing and Zheng Boying both left Zhao Bao, respectively, and brought a definitive end to the axiom that “Zhao Ba Tai Chi would never leave its village.” The two Grandmasters both settled in the nearby city of Xi’an and dedicated their lives to cultivating and promoting the art of Tai Chi to the greater public.

In the 1990s, Zhao Bao Tai Chi’s eleventh generation Grandmaster Song Yun-Hua （宋蘊華）and Master Wayne Peng, the twelfth generation master of Zhao Bao Tai Chi, took the reach of Zhao Bao Tai Chi even further to Hong Kong as well as overseas and their work has received worldwide acclaim.

Yang style tai chi chuan

Yang family style tai chi chuan in its many variations is the most popular and widely practised style in the world today and the second in terms of seniority among the primary five family styles of tai chi chuan.

History

The Yang family first became involved in the study of tai chi chüan in the early 1800s. The founder of the Yang style was Yang Lu-ch'an , aka Yang Fu-k'ui , who studied under Ch'en Chang-hsing starting in 1820. Yang's subsequent expression of tai chi chuan as a teacher in his own right became known as the Yang style, and directly led to the development of the other three major styles of tai chi chuan . Yang Lu-ch'an came to prominence as a result of his being hired by the to teach tai chi chuan to the elite Palace Battalion of the Imperial Guards in 1850, a position he held until his death.

Yang Lu-ch'an passed his art to:
*his second son but oldest son to live to maturity, Yang Pan-hou , who was also retained as a martial arts instructor by the Chinese Imperial family. Yang Pan-hou became the formal teacher of Wu Ch'uan-yü , a Manchu cavalry officer of the Palace Battalion, even though Yang Lu-ch'an was Wu Ch'uan-yü's first tai chi chuan teacher. Wu Ch'uan-yü became Yang Pan-hou's first disciple. Wu Ch'uan-yü's son, Wu Chien-ch'üan , also a Banner officer, became known as the co-founder of the .
*his third son Yang Chien-hou , who passed it to his sons, Yang Shao-hou and Yang Ch'eng-fu .
*Wu Yu-hsiang who also developed his own , which eventually, after three generations, led to the development of Sun style tai chi chuan.

Yang Ch'eng-fu removed the vigorous ''Fa-jing'' , energetic jumping, stamping, and other abrupt movements to emphasise ''Ta Chia'' . This style has slow, steady, expansive and soft movements suitable for general practitioners. Thus, Yang Ch'eng-fu is largely responsible for standardizing and popularizing the Yang style tai chi chüan widely practised today. Yang Ch'eng-fu moved to Shanghai in the 1920s, teaching there until the end of his life. His descendants are still teaching in schools associated with their family internationally.

Tung Ying-chieh , Ch'en Wei-ming , Fu Zhongwen , Li Yaxuan and Cheng Man-ch'ing were famous students of Yang Ch'eng-fu. Each of them taught extensively, founding groups teaching T'ai Chi to this day. Cheng Man-ch'ing, perhaps the most famous outside of China, significantly shortened and simplified the traditional forms Yang taught him.

Yang Family Tree

LEGENDARY FIGURES
|
Zhang Sanfeng*
circa 12th century

|
Wang Zongyue*
TAI CHI CHUAN
|
THE 5 MAJOR CLASSICAL FAMILY STYLES
|
Chen Wangting
1600-1680 9th generation Chen

|
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
Chen Changxing Chen Youben
1771-1853 14th generation Chen circa 1800s 14th generation Chen
Chen Old Frame Chen New Frame
| |
Yang Lu-ch'an Chen Qingping
1799-1872 1795-1868
Chen Small Frame, Zhao Bao Frame
| |
+---------------------------------+-----------------------------+ |
| | | |
Yang Pan-hou Yang Chien-hou Wu Yu-hsiang
1837-1892 1839-1917 1812-1880
Yang Small Frame |
| +-----------------+ |
| | | |
Wu Ch'uan-yü Yang Shao-hou Yang Ch'eng-fu Li I-yü
1834-1902 1862-1930 1883-1936 1832-1892
| Yang Small Frame |
Wu Chien-ch'üan | Hao Wei-chen
1870-1942 Yang Shou-chung 1849-1920
1910-1985 |
|
| Sun Lu-t'ang
Wu Kung-i 1861-1932
1900-1970
| |
Wu Ta-k'uei Sun Hsing-i
1923-1972 1891-1929

MODERN FORMS

from Yang Ch`eng-fu
|
|
|
+--------------+
| |
Cheng Man-ch'ing |
1901-1975 |
Short Form |
|
Chinese Sports Commission
1956
Beijing 24 Form
.
.
1989

Notes to Family tree table

Names denoted by an asterisk are legendary or semilegendary figures in the lineage, which means their involvement in the lineage, while accepted by most of the major schools, isn't independently verifiable from known historical records.

The Cheng Man-ch'ing and Chinese Sports Commission short forms are said to be derived from Yang family forms, but neither are recognized as Yang family tai chi chuan by current Yang family teachers. The Chen, Yang and Wu families are now promoting their own shortened demonstration forms for competitive purposes.

Yang Shou-chung

Yang Shou-chung was the oldest son of Yang Ch'eng-fu by his first marriage, and started learning his family style when he was 8 years old under the strict supervision of his father.

In 1949, he escaped from the Chinese communists to Hong Kong. There he taught many students privately at his home until his death in 1985.

He had three daughters, Tai Yee, Ma Lee and Yee Li, all continue teaching in Hong Kong. Over the years he had taught many people but he accepted only three people as his disciples. These Yang family tai chi chuan practitioners are
*Master Ip Tai Tak in Hong Kong, who unfortunately died during the spring 2004. Ip Tai Tak had 2 disciples, 1st - John Ding, 2nd Robert Boyd . Other students that continue teaching and practice in Hong Kong include:Hui Kuk Chan, Shui Hung Lam, and Kok Kuen Lau.
*Master Chu Gin Soon in Boston, USA. With the permission of his master he founded the Gin Soon Tai Chi Club in 1969 to propagate Yang-Style Tai Chi Chuan in North America.
*Master Chu King Hung in United Kingdom. Chu is head of the International Tai Chi Chuan Association which was founded by him and Yang Shou-chung in 1971 and at present has branches all over Europe. He already has accepted several disciples.

Yang Zhenduo

Master Yang Zhenduo is the 4th Generation of the Yang family. He was born in Beijing in 1926 and is the son of Yang Ch'eng-fu. He started studying with his father when very young and continued studying with his elder brother after his father died. In 1960 Yang Zhenduo moved to Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. Since then, Yang style tai chi chuan has gradually spread within Taiyuan and to other cities, provinces, and countries.

Since 1980 he has served as Vice-President of the Shanxi Wushu Association. In 1982 Yang Zhenduo founded the Shanxi Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Association, and has served as President since. The Association has now grown to over 30,000 members throughout the Province and is the largest martial arts organization of its kind in China. In October 1998 Yang Zhenduo founded the International Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Association, serving as Chairman of the Board. Under his leadership, in just one year the International Association has grown to 18 centers in 9 countries with over 350 members. The Chinese Wushu Academy recognized Master Yang Zhenduo in 1996 as one of the top 100 Wushu Masters in China. He has also been honored by proclamations from the Mayors of San Antonio, Texas and Troy, Michigan.

Wudang tai chi chuan

Wudang Tai Chi Chuan 武當太極拳 is the name of a system of Tai Chi Chuan that was developed by a Hong Kong 香港 based Tai Chi Chuan master known as Cheng Tinhung 鄭天熊. While Cheng Tinhung never claimed to be teaching any particular school of Tai Chi Chuan, his uncle was a disciple of the 吳 school of Tai Chi Chuan, which may or may not have had some influence on his own approach to the art.

The Wudang Tai Chi Chuan system is now being taught in Europe by two of Cheng Tinhung’s disciples, Dan Docherty and Ian Cameron, both based in the United Kingdom. The system also continues to be taught in Hong Kong, and the current head of that school is Cheng Tinhung’s son Cheng Kamyan 鄭鑒恩, whose school is called the ''Hong Kong Tai Chi Association'' 香港太極總會.

Zhang Sanfeng 張三豐, a highly mythologised figure said to be the founder of Tai Chi Chuan, lived in the Wudang Mountains 武當山 and the name "Wudang" used for this Tai Chi Chuan system was used in order to acknowledge Zhang Sanfeng's status as the founder of Tai Chi Chuan. There are other schools of Tai Chi Chuan that also use this name.

The Wudang Tai Chi Chuan system is also known as “Practical Tai Chi Chuan”. This name comes from that given to Cheng Tinhung's style by various Chinese martial arts journalists in Hong Kong during Cheng Tinhung’s heyday, and from the school's assertion that its tai chi is eminently useful as a form of self-defense.

The Wudang Tai Chi Chuan system teachers publish that they have links to famous Tai Chi Chuan masters , including 陽班侯 , 吳全佑, Wu Jianquan 吳鑒泉, Cheng Wingkwong 鄭榮光, Chen Gengyun 陳耕雲, and Wang Lanting 王蘭亭.

Qi Minxuan

It is thought that Qi Minxuan 齊敏軒 came from from Wen County, Hebei Dao in Henan Province. He was a teacher of Tai Chi Chuan and neigong. After losing his family during the Japanese Occupation and Second World War, Qi Minxuan became an itinerant martial arts instructor teaching Tai Chi Chuan to those that would give him board and lodgings. His father Qi Gechen 齊閣臣 was a disciple of the famed Tai Chi Chuan master Wu Quanyou. Qi Minxuan also learnt from a Buddhist monk known as Jing Yi 静一 , who learnt Tai Chi Chuan from Wang Lanting 王蘭亭. Qi Minxuan’s Buddhist name was Zhi Meng 智孟 and was an enthusiastic student of Chan Buddhism. The fate of Qi Minxuan is unknown.

Cheng Tinhung

Cheng Tinhung 鄭天熊 . As a young boy he studied Southern Boxing 南拳 from his father Cheng Minchueng 鄭綿彰, which was a family style, learnt from his father Cheng Lin 鄭麟 who was a professional martial artist. As Cheng Tinhung grew older his uncle Cheng Wingkwong 鄭榮光 took an interest in teaching him Wu style Tai Chi Chuan. Cheng Wingkwong was a formal disciple of Wu Jianquan, who eventually held the rank of Shifu 師父 in the Wu family's Hong Kong school. At that ranking he had their encouragement to take on disciples of his own and open his own school. Cheng Wingkwong knew of an itinerant martial artist known as Qi Minxuan whose father was a disciple of the founder of the Wu 吳 School, Wu Quanyou. Cheng Wingkwong arranged for his nephew to train with Master Qi from the summer of 1946 to the winter of 1948. Qi Minxuan advised his new disciple Cheng Tinhung, that in order to gain a good reputation as a master of Tai Chi Chuan he must be both sound in mind and body and also be able to defend himself, thus being able to represent the art in its true form. Cheng Tinhung later took the nickname of the "Tai Chi Bodyguard" for his enthusiastic defence of Tai Chi Chuan as a martial art. By all accounts, Cheng was a hellraiser--he liked to drink, eat, and fight as well as train and teach. His predilections may have contributed to the ill health that plagued him in his later years.

Dan Docherty

Dan Docherty was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1954. He graduated with an LLB in 1974 and soon after moved to Hong Kong where he served as an inspector in the Royal Hong Kong Police Force until 1984 .

Soon after he arrived in Hong Kong in 1975 he started training Tai Chi Chuan under Cheng Tinhung and within a few years was elected to represent Hong Kong in Full-contact Fighting competitions. In 1980 he won the Open Weight Division at the 5th South East Asian Chinese Pugilistic Championships in Malaysia .

In 1985 he was awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in Chinese from Ealing College, London.

He is now based in London and travels extensively teaching and writing about Tai Chi Chuan.

Ian Cameron

Ian Cameron was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1944.

He first came under the tutelage of Cheng Tinhung in 1971 whilst serving in the armed forces in Hong Kong. On his return to Edinburgh he set up his class which was to evolve into the Five Winds School Of Tai Chi Chuan.

Ian Cameron teaches in Edinburgh. He also supervises other classes in Scotland and England.

Wudang Tai Chi Chuan Lineage

Wu style tai chi chuan

The Wu family style t'ai chi ch'uan of Wu Ch'uan-yü and is the second most popular form of t'ai chi ch'uan in the world today, after the , and fourth in terms of family seniority. This style is different from the of t'ai chi ch'uan founded by Wu Yu-hsiang. While the names are distinct in pronunciation and the Chinese characters used to write them are different, they are often romanized the same way.

History

in 1850, Wu Ch'uan-yü was a military officer cadet of Manchu ancestry in the camp in the Forbidden City, Beijing and also a hereditary officer of the Imperial Guards Brigade. At that time, Yang Lu-ch'an was the martial arts instructor in the Imperial Guards, teaching t'ai chi ch'uan.

In 1870, Wu Ch'uan-yü was asked to become the senior disciple of Yang Pan-hou , Yang Lu-ch'an’s oldest adult son, and an instructor as well to the Manchu military.

Wu Ch'uan-yü's son, Wu Chien-ch'üan , and grandchildren: grandsons Wu Kung-i and Wu Kung-tsao as well as granddaughter Wu Ying-hua were well known teachers. Wu Chien-ch'üan 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 Chien-ch'üan moved his family south from Beijing to Shanghai in 1928, where he founded the ''Chien-ch'uan T'ai Chi Ch'uan Association'' in 1935.` Wu Kung-i then moved the family headquarters to Hong Kong in 1948, his younger sister Wu Ying-hua and her husband, Ma Yueh-liang , staying behind to manage the original Shanghai school. Between 1983 and her passing in 1996 Wu Ying-hua was the highest ranked instructor in the Wu family system. Her sons continue teaching and today manage the Shanghai school as well as schools in Europe.

Wu Kung-i's children were also full time martial art teachers: Wu Ta-k'uei was active in the resistance to the , yet he later taught t'ai chi ch'uan in Japan after the war. His younger brother, Wu Ta-ch'i , supervised the family's Hong Kong and southeast Asian schools for many years and opened the family's first western hemisphere school in Toronto, Canada in 1974. Wu Kung-i's daughter, Wu Yen-hsia , was known as an expert with the t'ai chi , while her cousin, Wu Ta-hsin , was also known as a weapons specialist, particularly with the t'ai chi .

Training

The Wu style's distinctive , pushing hands and weapons trainings emphasise parallel footwork and horse stance training with the feet relatively closer together than the modern Yang or , small circle hand techniques and differs from the other t'ai chi family styles martially with Wu style's initial focus on grappling, throws , tumbling, jumping, footsweeps, leverage and , which are trained in addition to more conventional t'ai chi sparring and fencing at advanced levels. Another significant feature of Wu style training is its routinely placing the body's weight 100% on one leg; "''yin'' and ''yang'' separation". The leg that supports 100% of the body weight is actually the ''yang'' leg, as this leg is "full". The ''yin'' leg is that which has no weight on it, it is "empty". It is also common in Wu style to maintain a straight line of the spine from the top of the head to the heel of the rear foot when it is at an angle to the ground; an inclined plane alignment intended to extend the practitioner's reach.

Generational senior instructors of the Wu family t'ai chi ch'uan schools

''1st Generation''

Wu Ch'uan-yü , who learned from Yang Lu-ch'an and Yang Pan-hou, was senior instructor of the family from 1870-1902.

''2nd generation''

His oldest son, Wu Chien-ch'üan , was senior from 1902-1942.

''3rd Generation''

His oldest son, Wu Kung-i was senior from 1942-1970.

''3rd Generation''

Wu Kung-i's younger brother, Wu Kung-tsao , was senior from 1970-1983.

''3rd Generation''

Wu Kung-i's younger sister, Wu Ying-hua , was senior from 1983-1997.

''4th Generation''

Wu Kung-i's daughter , Wu Yan-hsia was senior from 1997-2001.

''4th Generation''

Wu Kung-tsao's son, Wu Ta-hsin , was senior from 2001-2005.

''5th Generation''

The current senior instructor of the Wu family is Wu Ta-kuei's son Wu Kuang-yu .

Wu Style Tai Chi Fast Form

The different slow motion solo form training sequences of T'ai Chi Ch'uan are the best known manifestation of T'ai Chi for the general public. In , they are usually called the ''hand form'' or just the ''form''; in it is usually called ''ch'uan'': 拳 .

They are performed slowly by beginners and are said to promote concentration, condition the body and acquaint students with the inventory of motion techniques for more advanced styles of martial arts training. There are also solo weapons forms, as well as much shorter and repetitive sequences to train power generation leverages as a form of . The various forms of Wu style pushing hands have two person drill routines as well, which fulfill some of the same functions as the power generation drills.

In 1914 Xi Yui-seng established the Athletic Research Institute in Beijing and Invited Yang Shao-hou, Yang Ch'eng-fu and Wu Chien-ch'uan to teach. From then on T'ai Chi was taught to the public changing the ancient closed door policy where T'ai Chi was only taught privately to very close and well known people within a limited circle known as the tutor disciple relationship.

Grand Master Wu Chien-ch'uan revised and enriched the art of T'ai Chi Chuan handed down from his father Wu Ch'uan-yu. His development of the slow set led to the creation of the style of T'ai Chi today known as Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan..

He omitted some of the repetitions, Fa-jing, stamping and jumping movements to make the form smoother, more structured with continuous steady movements. This form promoted the health aspects of Tai Chi and was more suitable for general practitioners though it still contained all the martial applications and training.

Yang Ch'eng-fu of Yang style Tai Chi Chuan also modified his own in a similar way at the same time. His brother, Yang Shou-hao's form had a high frame with lively steps alternating between fast and slow movements with hard and crisp Fa-jing. Chen Pan-ling, who was a student of Yang Shao-hao and Wu Chien-chuan describes T'ai Chi form practice beginning with slow movement changing to fast and returning to slow movement. He also points out learning to excercise rapid movement in the form and training from soft to hard and hard to soft movements.

The Shanghai Wu Style Fast Form kept the original Fa-jing 發勁 , jumping, attacking and stamping movements to be studied by those eager to advance their T'ai Chi practice. This advanced form was not yet taught openly.

In December 1982 there was a martial arts meeting held in Beijing to foster the traditional martial arts of China. Wu Ying-hua and Ma Yueh-liang of The Shanghai Jianquan Taijiquan Association contributed to this effort by disclosing the original Wu Style Fast Set for the first time to the public. In 1983 their adopted daughter Shi Mei Lin demonstrated the Wu Style Tai Chi Fast Form at the All China Traditional Martial Arts competition in Nanchang where she received the Award of Excellence. .

Other Wu style fast forms

The Wu family's Hong Kong branch also teaches a somewhat different .

Shanghai Wu style fast form list

The following list is an English translation from Chinese of the empty hand or fist form list published in Ma Yueliang's, Wu Yinghua's and Shi Mei Lin's ''Wu Style T'ai Chi Fast Form'..

The 95 postures of the fast form style of T'ai Chi Ch'uan are listed below.

1. The Preparation

2. The Beginning Form

3. Grasp the birds tail

4. Single whip

5. Raise hand and step up

6. White crane flaps its wings

7. Brush knee, twist step

8. Brush knee, twist step

9. Brush knee, twist step

10. Brush knee, twist step

11. Hand strums the lute

12. Step up, diverting and blocking fist

13. As if closing up

14. Tiger and leopard spring to the mountain

15. The cross hands

16. Oblique brush knee, twist step

17. Turn body, oblique brush knee, twist step

18. Grasping the bird's tail

19. Oblique Single Whip

20. Fist under the elbow

21. Step back and repulse the monkey

22. Flying oblique

23. Raise hands and step up.

24. White crane flaps its wings

25. Brush knee and twist step

26. Needle at the sea bottom

27. Fan through the back

28. Turn body, parry and punch

29. Remove step diverting and blocking punch

30. Step up, grasping the bird's tail

31. Cloud hands

32. Cloud hands

33. High pat on horse

34. Open body and kick

35. Open body and kick

36. Turn body, pedaling foot

37. Step up, planting punch

38. Turn body, parry and punch

39. Turn body, double kicking

40. Retreat step, beat the tiger

41. Right parting leg

42. Strike the ears with both fists

43. Open body, kick

44. Turn body, pedaling foot

45. Step up, diverting and blocking fist

46. As if closing up

47. Tiger and leopard spring to the mountain

48. The cross hands

49. Oblique brush knee, twist step

50. Turn body, oblique brush knee, twist step

51. Grasping the birds tail

52. Oblique single whip

53. Parting wild horse's mane

54. Parting wild horse's mane

55. Parting wild horse's mane

56. Jade girl works the shuttles

57. Jade girl works the shuttles

58. Parting the wild horse's mane

59. Jade girl works the shuttles

60. Jade girl works the shuttles

61. Grasping the bird's tail

62. Cloud hands

63. Cloud hands

64. Downward posture

65. Golden cockerel stands on one leg

66. Golden cockerel stands on one leg

67. Step back, repulse the monkey

68. Flying oblique

69. Raise hand and step up

70. White crane flaps its wings

71. Brush knee and twist step

72. Needle at the bottom of the sea

73. Fan throug the back

74. Turn body, parry and punch

75. Step up, diverting and blocking punch

76. Grasping the birds tail

77. Cloud hands

78. High pat the horse

79. Palm goes to meet the face

80. Turn body, cross swing lotus

81. Brush knee, twist step

82. Planting punch to groin

83. Grasping the bird's tail

84. Downward posture

85. Step Up to form seven stars

86. Retreat step, ride the tiger

87. Turn body, palm meets face

88. Turn body, double lotus swing

89. Curve bow, shoot the tiger

90. Step up and pound down

91. Palm goes to meet the face

92. Turn body, parry and punch

93. Step up, grasping the bird's tail

94. Like single whip

95. Closing T'ai Chi

Wu (Hao) style tai chi chuan

The Wu or Wu style of t'ai chi ch'uan of Wu Yu-hsiang , is a separate family style from the more popular of . Wu Yu-hsiang's style was third among the five t'ai chi ch'uan families in seniority and is fifth in terms of popularity.

Wu Yu-hsiang was a scholar from a wealthy and influential family who became a senior student of Yang Lu-ch'an. There is a attributed to Wu Yu-hsiang on the subject of t'ai chi theory, writings that are considered influential by many other schools not directly associated with his style. Wu Yu-hsiang also studied for a brief time with a teacher from the , Chen Ch'ing-p'ing, to whom he was introduced by Yang. His most famous student was his nephew, Li I-yü , who also authored several important works on t'ai chi ch'uan. Li I-yü had a younger brother who was also credited as an author of at least one work on the subject of t'ai chi ch'uan, Li Ch'i-hsüan. Li I-yü taught Hao Wei-chen , who taught his son Hao Yüeh-ru who in turn taught ''his'' son Hao Shao-ju Wu Yu-hsiang's style of training, so that it is now sometimes known as Wu/Hao or just Hao style t'ai chi ch'uan. Hao Wei-chen also taught the famous Sun Lu-t'ang. Hao Yüeh-ru was teaching in the 1920s, a time when t'ai chi ch'uan was experiencing an initial degree of popularity, and he is known for having smoothed out and standardized the forms he learned from his father in order to more effectively teach large numbers of beginners. Other famous t'ai chi ch'uan teachers, notably Yang Ch'eng-fu, Wu Chien-ch'üan and Wu Kung-i, made similar modifications to their beginning level forms around the same time.

Wu Yu-hsiang's t'ai chi ch'uan is a distinctive style with small, subtle movements; highly focused on balance, sensitivity and internal development. It is a rare style today, especially compared with the other major styles. While there are direct descendants of Li I-yü and Li Ch'i-hsüan still teaching in China, there are no longer Hao family members teaching the style. The last inheritor to learn under Hao Shao-ju currently living is Liu Jishun, who has many students around the globe but only two disciples in the United Kingdom.