Wudang Kung Fu?

[The Xia]

What are some of the traditionally practiced styles at Wudang? I'm aware that there is contemporary Wushu there as well as Taiji. But I sometimes see vague references to a Wudang Chuan or sometimes Wudang Dragon, etc. Are any of these older styles or are they modern creations? I have not seen what they look like. I also heard the Zhang San Fang Taiji form is modern (although I can't say if it's true or false).

[doug maverick]

well i know they practice all three nei chia (xing yi, bagua, and tai chi) they practice something called dragon back tai chi. which to me sounds like a tai chi tong bei in theory but looks like taichi it just uses power from the back and waste. there a few other weird looking and esoteric kung fu. some of it looks very modern. you can find stuff on the web and on you tube. just search wudang kung fu.

[GeneChing]

I did a cover story - The Chief Priest of Wudang Mountain: The First English Interview with Taoist Grandmaster Zhong Yun Long (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=378) - in our 2003 September/October issue (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=377).

Prior to that, we did a focus on Wudang in our 2002 September/October issue (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=235).

What's more, I discussed my own trip to Wudang with Shaolin monk Shi Yanming and Wu-Tang Clan 'abbot' RZA in my seven part e-zine article, Wu-Tang Enters Wudang (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=5).

[B-Rad]

A lot of the stuff I've seen looks like modern creations, or performance "enhanced" traditional forms. I've seen lots of taiji, bagua, xingyi, hybrids. Where they take elements from popular neijia styles and slap a wudang label on it. They also did that with baji quan (looks like Huo style's da jia baji quan combined with modern chang quan and taiji-ified a bit). One traditional style practiced by some people there that I know of is Wudang Tayi Quan. My last teacher (An Tian Rong) has a little book published on some of it called "23 Wudang Wuxing Taiyi Quan". Just gives the basic myth behind it, a little more background info, some basic exercises and the form. Nothing really in depth, and some of the translation isn't the best (like saying "totating" instead of "rotating"... stuff like that, lol.

Plumpub has some vcds on a few of the wudang branches in the mainland. Some are definitely better than others.

[B-Rad]

Never learned it myself, or seen it practiced in person, so I don't know how accurate this guy is, but here's an example that I like:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=W6T4y0pfyZI

[tungmojingjung]

Wu Dang is or was designed much liken unto Shaolin, by that I mean the house title "Wu Dang" yet various factions, although for the most part Wu Dang technique was simply to preserve the body and its energies by moving softly and relaxed keeping free from tension, yet no lack in martial intent or technique. For example our discipline comes from the Brass Hall Wu Dang School, but there is Yin Yang Wu Dang as well as Hong Men Wu Dang. Not all of Wu Dang is Tai Chi in nature, there are some pretty fast, powerful and compelling skills unique to this school of Chinese martial arts. Nowadays though much presented is in the fashion of contemporary wushu I guess its the sign of times sort of speaking.

Troy Dunwood

[Cimaroon]

ive been toying with the idea of going to wudang to train. this link, damo-qigong.net. has great info and the training price is fairly reasonable.

[Unfettered Palm]

www.wudanggongfu.com

this is master Yuan Xiu Gang's site and school info. He was the chief instructor at the academy until he opened up his own school. He teaches traditional. not contemporary wushu. A lot of the schools around Wudang shan are contemporary, but his and the academy are traditional. You can watch a lot of his videos on youtube, or links through his site.

my website will be up soon. the pics are missing but the text is there.

www.usawudang.com

I will be doing some seminars in Florida (my home state) and some upcoming ones in N.Y. and possibly california and south carolina. details are being worked out.

cheers...

-Donnie

[Great Equalizer]

http://www.wudangdao.com/index.htm

This is my teacher Master Bing.

[pdf108]

hello, i will introduce a wudang kungfu website in wudang, he is my master chen shixing, his kungfu is very good, from his website you will know a lot of wudang kungfu!

http://www.daoistkungfu.com

[pdf108]

Wudang Gongfu, one important school of Chinese Martial Arts has a very long history. Wudang Gongfu, incorporating ways to stay healthy and prolong the lifespan as well as collecting the skills to fight, is not only a special school of Martial Arts, but also a whole system of Martial Arts theory.

Wudang Gongfu, as a culture, takes root in the fertile soil of thousand-year long Chinese civilization, containing profound Chinese philosophical theories, combined twith the raditional notions of Taiji, Yinyang, Five-element, Eight-diagram into boxing theories, boxing skills, exercise and attack policies, tantamount to studying the laws of life activities. So we can say that Wudang Gongfu is the crystallization of Wudang Taoism in the process of studying life.

It is said that Zhang-Sanfeng, the founder of Wudang Boxing, was self-cultivating in Wudang Mountains, when he witnessed a fight between a magpie and a snake. That the magpie was flying up and down to attack and the snake was shaking its body and raising its head to fight back gave him inspiration and understanding of the Taiji theory so that proceeded to create Wudang Internal Kungfu.

The original legend of Wudang Gongfu, and the pose of the snake in the fighting have visually demonstrated the gist of Wudang Gongfu: to overcome the strong in a gentle way and to win by striking only after the enemy had struck. To ascertain one's position and then defeat the enemy.

After many boxing masters enrichment and development, Wudang Gongfu has many derivatived schools and kinds, such as, Taiji boxing, Form-and-will boxing, and Eight-diagram Palm; and Taiji Sword; Lightening Gongfu, Hard Gongfu, feats and variations of Qigong. From then on, Wudang Gongfu has walked out of the deep mountains and become an important school of Chinese Martial Arts. There are many schools of Wudang Gongfu today, but the Sect of Zhang Sanfeng remains the one that has inherited Wudang Gongfu in the most complete way. Priest Zhong Yunlong is the 14th-generation master of the Sanfeng Sect and Priest Chen Shixing is one of his most outstanding formal disciples.

http://www.daoistkungfu.com