History & styles

Comparing t'ai chi styles: Chen, Yang, Wu and Sun

Ask which t'ai chi style is best and you will start an argument that has run for generations. The honest answer is that the family styles emphasise different things, that each contains great variety, and that taste plays a large part.

The family tree in outline

Most modern styles trace their roots to a handful of family schools. Chen style comes first; Yang style grew from a student of the Chen family; Wu and Wu (Hao) styles grew from students of the Yang family; Sun style grew in turn from Wu (Hao). A simple timeline shows the order.

Chen style

Wikipedia's article on Chen-style tai chi describes it as the oldest known style, characterised by silk reeling, alternating fast and slow motions and bursts of power known as fa jin. Its traditional curriculum includes a first form that is mostly slow and flowing and a second form, sometimes called Cannon Fist, performed faster and with more explosive power. Chen practice tends to feature spiralling, twisting movement through the whole body and low stances. Many people are surprised by how vigorous it can be.

Yang style

Wikipedia's article on Yang-style tai chi calls it the most popular and widely practised style, second in seniority after Chen. The best-known version is the large-frame form associated with Yang Chengfu: open, extended postures, an even pace and a calm, expansive feel. Other Yang branches, including the Kuang Ping line and the symmetrical Old Form, keep more compact frames or more visible martial content.

Wu style

Wikipedia's article on Wu-style tai chi describes a style developed by Wu Quanyou and Wu Jianquan, second in popularity after Yang. It highlights parallel footwork and horse-stance training with the feet closer together than in modern Yang or Chen, small-circle hand techniques, and a martial curriculum that, at advanced levels, includes grappling and throws. Wu-style practitioners are also known for a characteristic forward lean of the body in some postures, kept in a straight line from heel to head.

Sun style

Wikipedia's article on Sun-style tai chi describes smooth, flowing movements that omit the more vigorous crouching, leaping and fa jin of some other styles, with gentle postures and high stances. Its founder, Sun Lutang, was already expert in xingyiquan and baguazhang before studying tai chi, and the style blends all three. A distinctive feature is the footwork: when one foot advances or retreats, the other follows.

What to notice when you watch

If you have the chance to watch classes in more than one style, a few simple observations will tell you more than any written description. Watch the height of the stances and how far the knees bend. Watch whether the pace stays even or changes between slow and sudden. Notice how large the circles of the arms are, whether the body stays upright or leans, and how the feet step: does the back foot follow the front, or do the feet stay wide apart? Notice, too, what the students do besides the form. Some classes spend much of their time on partner work, others on standing exercises, others on the form alone. Those choices reveal a school's priorities more clearly than its name.

Why comparisons are difficult

• Every style is many styles. Each family has branches, and teachers within the same branch differ.
• Short forms are not the whole style. A simplified public form shows only one face of a system that may include long forms, partner work and weapons.
• Health and martial emphases vary. The same style can be taught mainly as exercise or mainly as a fighting art.
• Performances are not practice. Demonstration versions are often exaggerated for the audience.
• Loyalty colours judgement. Most people rate highest the style they learned first.

Choosing by teacher and fit

For a beginner, the name of the style matters much less than the quality of the teaching, the feel of the class and your own body. Someone with stiff knees may prefer higher stances; someone who wants a vigorous workout may enjoy Chen; someone who wants a calm, meditative practice may settle happily into a large-frame Yang class. There is an old saying that in matters of taste there can be no dispute, and it applies well here. Visit several classes, notice how you feel afterwards, and read choosing a teacher before committing.

For how these families grew out of one another, see the history of t'ai chi.