Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

Yang Chengfu made the form smooth, large, and broad, popularizing
it for young and old. It is his style of performance that is most popular today
internationally. His style is most often referred to as Yang Style, although
there are still scattered pockets of people performing sequences that
are attributed to earlier members of the Yang family.
Back in Yongnian, Wu Yuxiang created what is now known as Wu (or
Hao) style from his studies with Yang, his training with Chen, and his study
of the classics. This style is compact, simple, small in frame, and quite upright.
Li Yiyu taught Hao Weizhen (1849–1920). In the capital, Wu
Quanyou, a Manchu by birth and a student of Yang Banhou, created an elegant,
medium-framed style referred to as Wu (different character and tone
from Wu/Hao). It was passed on through Wu Jianquan (1870–1942) and
is also quite popular.
Hao taught the famous Sun Lutang (1861–1932). Already a wellknown
martial artist at the turn of the century, the latter created a new
style of taijiquan, Sun, incorporating xingyiquan (hsing i ch’uan) and
baguazhang (pa kua ch’uan), which, like taijiquan, are considered internal
arts based on similar principles. The Sun is a very distinctive style, still being
taught by his daughter, Sun Jianyun, and gaining popularity.
In 1928, Yang Chengfu traveled to Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou,
Guangzhou, and Hankou and taught taiji. This trip, plus the many people
taught by the Yang Family in Beijing who migrated to other parts of the
country, helped to popularize taijiquan throughout China. It was also in
1928 that Chen stylist Chen Fake (1887–1957) moved to Beijing and began
teaching.
By far the five most popular styles of taijiquan are Yang, Wu, Wu/Hao,
Sun, and Chen. Other, less popular, styles include Five Star, Buddhist, and
Fu Style.
In the 1950s, the People’s Republic of China sponsored committees
that designed easier, shorter forms to bring taiji, and especially its health effects,
to the masses. The first of these forms is the Simplified Twenty-Four
Form, based on the Yang form. It eliminates repetitions of sequences and
cuts difficult movements. It takes only five minutes to perform, versus
twenty minutes for the traditional form. Later forms include the Eightyeight
Movement Form strictly based on the Yang form, the Sixty-Six and
Forty-Eight Movement Combined Forms with elements from the five popular
styles, and Thirty-two Sword. Also, because of government sponsorship,
taijiquan is an official division of sports wushu. Competition in
forms, like the International Forty-Two Empty-Hand and Sword Forms,
has become popular, and it appears probable that taiji will be a demonstration
sport in the Olympics of 2008.
As one effect of this government sponsorship, many traditional
Taijiquan (Tai Chi Ch’uan) 621