Wu Style Tai Ji Quan History

武式太極拳歷史

                        作者 Pang Chao-Sun (龐嘉生)  林彥慧譯

 Wu Style Tai Ji was founded by Wu YuXiang (武禹襄). There is a short historical reference to Wu Style Tai Ji in a manuscript (老三本) written by Li YiYu (李亦畬):

It is not certain who originated Tai Ji Quan. Its subtleties and ingenuity had been described fully by Wang ZongYue’s treatise. Later it was passed on to Henan state, to the village of the Chen family. In every generation only a few people mastered the skill. In my county, living at the south city gate, Mr. Yang loved it and went to study. He was disciplined and focused on learning, and after more than ten years he became skillful. Upon his return, he demonstrated the skill to his acquaintances. My uncle (from my mother’s side), Wu YuXiang, saw and liked it and often compared skills with him. However, Mr. Yang did not want to teach it. Wu was only able to get generalities.

My uncle heard that in Yu state, HuaiQing county, ZhaoBao city, there was a person named Chen QingPing who had excellent skills. Sometime later my uncle had official business and needed to go to Yu state. On the way he visited Chen QingPing. After studying for over a month, my uncle was able to get the essence and then master the skills. In 1853, when I was in my twenties, I studied with my uncle, and he gave me instructions and his full attention. However, I was not clever and after more than twenty years, I was only able to touch the surface. My feeling is there are deeper understandings. To acknowledge and not to forget what I learned, I decided to write down what I have understood and call it the Five Characters Formula. 

Written in 1881, the 6^th day in middle autumn, YiYu. 

 

太極拳小序 李亦畬

太極拳不知始自何人，其精微巧妙，王宗岳論詳且盡矣。後傳至河南陳家溝陳姓。神而明者，代不數人。我郡南關楊君，受而往學焉。專心致志十有餘年，備極精巧。旋里後，市諸同好，母舅武禹襄見而好之，常與比較。彼不肯輕以授人，僅得其大概。 素聞豫省懷慶府趙堡鎮有陳姓名清萍者，精於是技。逾年，母舅因公赴豫省，過而訪焉。研究月餘，而精妙始得，神乎技矣。予自咸豐癸丑，時年二十餘，始從母舅學習此技。口授指示，不遺餘力。奈予質最魯，廿餘年來，僅得皮毛。竊意其中更有精巧，茲僅以所得筆之於後，名曰五字訣，以識不忘所學雲。

清光緒六年歲次庚辰小陽月識

The above is an abbreviated history. The details of the relationship of Wu and Yang are not described by Li YiYu. The oral story goes that Wu, who came from one of the prominent, wealthy families in town, supported Yang and his family financially during the years that Yang went to study. The ideas were Yang to exchange his knowledge upon returning home from learning. Yang had gone down to study in 3 separate trips over 18 years and he fulfilled his promise the first 2 time, however, when he came back the final time after completion of his study, he did not share the information. The common belief is that Yang’s teacher Chen ChangXing prohibited him from transmitting the inner secrets to outsiders.   Regardless, Wu and Yang is still in good standing and Yang even sent one of his sons, Yang BanHou (楊班侯), to Wu’s school to study Chinese literature. However, Yang BanHou did not have the temperament for literature, and therefore Wu taught his style of Tai Ji to him instead. Many deem the small frame Yang style was created as a result of Yang BanHou’s studies with Wu. 

It is also notable that originally the practice was called Main Quan, (綿拳) cotton-soft martial art in Hebei, YongNien county (河北,永年縣). The reason for this is that, unlike most martial arts, which use hard, fast movements, this practice is relaxed and can stick/adhere to the opponents.  As this practice spread, the name was changed to what we commonly know now as Tai Ji Quan (太極拳). Some attribute the name changes to Wang’s treatise using the Chinese cosmological terms Tai Ji and yin/yang to describe the practice. Another story is that a famous calligrapher, after observing the practice, wrote a couplet (對聯) that included the words Tai Ji in his praise. 

Wu Style Tai Ji Quan Founder Wu YuXiang (1812-1880) was a scholar of Xiucai (秀才) rank, who, by chance, discovered Wang ZongYue’s Tai Ji manuscripts. He practices together with his nephew Li YiYu (1832-1892) who was also a scholar of Juren (舉人) rank, together they research and refine this art to develop Wu (武) Style Tai Ji Quan. The uniqueness of this newly synthesized Tai Ji style came from using natural higher stance (小架) with minimum arm and leg movements than the traditional styles. Li recorded and made 3 hand copies (老三本) of Wang’s manuscripts together with Wu’s and his own theses form the essences of their Tai Ji Practice. Hao WeiZhen (郝為真, 1849-1920) was Li’s best student and Li give him one of the copies in 1881 as a successor. Subsequently Hao and Hao’s son Hao YueRu (郝月如, 1877-1835) and grandson Hao ShaoRu (郝少如, 1908-1983) for three generations continue to add additional insights to the original work. Hao ShaoRu published the Li’s manuscripts and Hao family’s practices in 1963 and an updated version published in 1994 after his death. To honor Hao family’s contributions, many people today name the practice as Wu Style Hao Family Tai Ji Quan (武式郝家太極拳). 

Both founders Wu and Li were literati’s and were able to express the theories in words that had become part of today Tai Ji’s lexicons and axioms, this combines with Wang’s Tai Ji Manuscripts form the theoretical foundations for the Tai Ji Practice. Well know theories from Li’s hand written manuscripts (老三本) includes: four ounces redirects thousand pounds (四兩撥千斤); Qi sinks to Dan Tian (氣沉丹田); letting go of oneself follow others (捨己從人); relax chest, open back,  rounding the buttock, protect stomach, head suspension, pelvis suspension, prepare to move, express Jin含胸， 拔背， 裹襠， 護肫， 提頂， 吊襠， 騰挪， 閃戰; rooted in the feet， express in the leg, directed at the waist, form at the fingers, 其根在脚，發于腿，主宰于腰，形于手指; five word formula: heart-calm, body-intuitive, Qi-converged, Jin-unified, Spirit-collected五字訣 - 心靜， 身靈， 氣斂， 勁整， 神聚; move Qi thorough the 9 holed pearl, 行氣如九曲珠etc. provided a wealth of tenets and principles that are known to all Tai Ji community. 

Hao WeiZhen was a neighbor of Li and was fond of martial arts. After Li’s passing away, Hao WeiZhen decided to go to Beijing to teach Wu Style Tai Ji. While traveling to Beijing, Hao WeiZhen ate bad food and was very ill. Sun LuTang (孫祿堂), who was a famous master of the internal arts of Xing Yi and Ba Gua took him in and cured him. In appreciation, Hao taught Wu Style Tai Ji to Sun. Later Sun started to teach his version of Wu style Tai Ji, which is now known as Sun Style Tai Ji. 

Hao WeiZhen had a son named Hao YueRu and a grandson named Hao ShaoRu. Both son and grandson became Tai Ji experts and went south to Shanghai and Nanjing to teach and promote Wu Style Tai Ji, while some of Hao WeiZhen’s students continued to teach it in the north. This is the reason one might hear that there are Northern and Southern versions of Wu Style Tai Ji. Over the years, YueRu and ShaoRu continued to expand the art and developed innovative ways of teaching such as the four distinct stages initiate,  engage, express, and converge (起承開合) in each of Tai Ji movements. 

Master Liu JiShun (劉積順) was one of the best students of Hao ShaRu in Shanghai. When Hao ShaoRu was older, he often designated Master Liu as his representative in public events. Master Liu had taught Tai Ji in China after his retirement and later traveled to the United States and taught Tai Ji publicly in the San Francisco area. He later retired to Southern California. Under Master Liu, Wu Style Tai Ji has continued to evolve. Some of his contributions are eight “Finding the Flow (無中生有)”Qi exercises and the Sword Form. He also revived the Fast Form (快拳) with assistance from Hao ShaoRu.  

This is the brief history of Wu Style Tai Ji, I plan in the next article to further explain the unique practice of this style and why it is often call Open/Converge (開合) Tai Ji. For additional information and contact please visit Santa Barbara Wu Hao Tai Ji association聖巴巴拉武式太極拳學會 website: www.sbwuhaotaiji.com

Short Biography:

Born in Taiwan, Pang Chao-Sun emigrated to the US with his parents when he was 13. He obtained a Master of Science in Physics and became a successful entrepreneur while continuing to engage with the Eastern traditions through the study of martial arts and Eastern philosophies, traveling widely and studying with different masters and decided on Wu Hao Tai Ji traditions due to its effectiveness on using Qi to develop internal strength for martial art and health. Since 2006 he has studied exclusively with Master Liu JiShun. Pang Chao-Sun lives and teaches in Santa Barbara, California.

以上是一段簡略的歷史。 武、楊二人的具體關係，李亦畬並沒有說明。 據傳，武氏出身於鎮上一個顯赫的富裕家庭，在楊氏去學習的那些年裡，他在經濟上資助楊氏和他的家人。 本意為在楊學成歸來後能交流所學。 18年來，楊某先後3次南下求學，前2次兌現了諾言，但最後一次學成歸來時，卻沒有分享所學。 人們普遍認為，楊的老師陳長興禁止他將心法秘訣洩露給外人。 儘管如此，武和楊的名聲還是不錯的，楊甚至還把兒子楊班侯送到了武氏的學校學習中國文學。 然而因楊班侯沒有文人氣質，武氏轉而傳授其太極拳。 很多人認為楊式小架是楊班侯師從武式學來的產物。

 

還值得注意的是，在河北永年縣，這種拳法最初被稱為「綿拳」，如棉絮般柔軟的武術。 其原因在於，與大多數使用剛硬、快速動作的武術不同，這種拳法是放鬆的，可以貼住/粘住對手。 隨著這種拳法被廣為流傳，其名稱被改為眾所周知的太極拳。 有些人將名稱的改變歸因於王宗岳的拳論，其使用了中國的宇宙論術語「太極」和「陰/陽」來描述這種功夫。 另一個故事是，一位著名的書法家在觀賞了這種拳法後，寫了一副含有「太極」二字的對聯來讚揚它。

 

武式太極拳創始人吳禹襄（1812-1880）科舉秀才，機緣巧合下發現了王宗岳的太極拳譜手稿。 他與他的侄子李亦畬（1832-1892）一起練習，李氏是科舉舉人，他們一起研究、精鍊這門藝術，發展了武式太極拳。 這種新合成的太極拳其獨特性源於使用自然高架（小架），相較於傳統拳法，盡量減少了手臂和腿部的動作。 李亦畬記錄並製作的（老三本）集結了王宗岳的手稿與武氏和他自己的論文，成為他們太極拳的精髓。 郝為真（1849-1920）是李氏最好的學生，1881 年李氏將其中一本贈予郝以其為傳人。 隨後，郝為真與其子郝月如（1877-1835）、其孫郝少如（1908-1983）三代人不斷對原作進行補充。 郝少如於1963年出版了李氏手稿和郝氏家族的作品，並於他去世後於1994年出版了更新版。 為了紀念郝氏家族的貢獻，今日許多人將其命名為武式郝家太極拳。

 

武、李兩位創始人都是文人，他們將理論文字化，已成為今日太極拳的詞典和原則的一部分，其與王宗岳的太極手稿結合，構成了太極拳的理論基礎。 李氏手稿（老三本）的理論包括眾所周知的：四兩撥千斤、氣沉丹田、捨己從人 、含胸、拔背、裹襠、護肫、提頂、吊襠、騰挪、閃戰； 其根在腳，發于腿，主宰於腰，形於手指； 五字訣-心靜、身靈、氣蘊、勁整、神聚； 行氣如九曲珠等等，所提供的原則和信條為太極拳界所周知的寶藏。

 

郝為真是李氏的鄰居，愛好武術。 李氏去世後，郝為真決定去北京傳授武式太極拳。 在北京旅遊時，郝為真吃錯了食物，病得很重。 形意八卦內功名家孫祿堂收留他並將其治癒。 為表感激，郝將武式太極拳傳授給孫氏。 後來孫開始教授孫氏版本的武式太極拳，即現在的孫式太極拳。

 

郝為真有一個兒子名郝月如，還有一個孫子名郝少如。 其兒和孫都成為太極拳專家，南下到上海和南京傳授和推廣武式太極拳，而郝為真的一些弟子則繼續在北方授拳。 這就是為什麼人們可能會聽到武式太極拳有南北版本的原因。 多年來，月如和少如不斷拓展拳藝並開發創新的教學方式，例如在每個太極動作中的四個不同階段-起、承、開、合。

 

劉積順大師是郝少如在上海最好的弟子之一。 郝少如年紀大了後，經常在公開場合指定劉大師為自己的代表。 劉大師退休後在中國傳授太極拳，後遊歷美國，在舊金山地區公開傳授太極拳。 他後來退休到南加州。 在劉大師的帶領下，武式太極拳不斷發展。 他的一些貢獻如：八個“無中生有”、氣功和劍法。 在郝少如的幫助下，他還恢復了”快拳”。

 

這就是武式太極的簡史，我計劃在下一篇文章中進一步解釋這種拳的獨特功法以及為什麼它通常被稱為開合太極。 如需更多信息和聯繫方式，請訪問聖巴巴拉武式太極拳學會網站：www.sbwuhaotaiji.com

作者·簡介：

龐嘉生出生於台灣，13歲隨父母移居美國，取得物理學碩士學位後成為成功的企業家，同時持續通過學習武術和東方哲學繼續接觸東方傳統 ，廣泛地旅行並與不同的大師學習，並決定使用武郝太極傳統，因為它可以有效地利用氣來發展武術和健康的內在力量。 自2006年起專師於劉繼順大師。 目前在加利福尼亞州聖巴巴拉市生活和任教。