When moving, the practitioner alternates between leaning forward and tilting backwards with each step which is unlike the other tai chi styles where the body remains upright with each step. This gives the body both the slanted posture while forming a straight line along the back from the head to the rear heel. The body and rear leg form a straight line by having the rear leg extended with the body and head leaning to the front. Instead of standing upright, this style is practiced with the body leaning forward while the back is kept straight when advancing. The key characteristic of Wu style tai chi which everyone notices is the posture of the style. The Wu style tai chi posture is commonly described as “Slanted but Straight”. To compensate, the Wu style posture is the key to creating reach while grounding the stance. This is a shorter and taller stance which means the reach of the practitioner is reduced. This distance is measured by the heel of the front foot to the toe of the back foot and it needs to be equal to the width of the stance to create a square space under the body. It is a square stance because the width of the stance is equal to the distance between the front and back foot. Wu style requires a square stance with both feet pointing forward. Unique Characteristics of Wu Style Tai ChiĮven though the movements in Wu style share the same name and many sequences as Yang style tai chi, there are two very important and key differences: stance and posture. And, it is Wu Jianquan who is credited as the founder of Wu style tai chi. Wu Quanyou’s son Wu Jianquan (吴鉴泉1870–1942) made the majority of the modifications and refinements to the form and promoted this new form of tai chi as Wu style. When Wu Quanyou taught tai chi to the common people, he focused on the smaller movements with a few modifications which he had made along the way.

He mastered both larger and smaller movements of Yang style when he was a disciple of Yang Luchan’s oldest son, Yang Banhou (杨班侯 1837–1892). Wu Quanyou excelled at the small circular movements of Yang style. He was a student of Yang Luchan (杨露禅1799–1872), the founder of Yang Style Tai Chi. The Wu family tai chi lineage started with Wu Quanyou (吴全佑1834–1902). Origins of Wu Style Tai Chi Wu Jianquan – founder of Wu style tai chi While the motions may not be as extensive or deep, the physical health benefits and its effectiveness as a form of martial arts equals and may exceed some of the other styles of tai chi. This style of tai chi is well-suited for beginners and people with physical difficulties with low stances or physical disabilities which make it difficult to perform a wider range of motions. In Wu style, the stances are taller and the steps are shorter. The routines of Wu style share very similar sequences of moves and names to Yang style tai chi.

In fact, Wu style tai chi is derived directly from Yang style tai chi. The Wu family style (吳家 or 吳氏 pinyin: wújiā or wúshì) of tai chi is the second most popular tai chi style practiced worldwide after Yang style tai chi.

Wu tai chi style jing ling mah