Tai Chi Glossary > Wu Style
Wu Style (吴式)
Definition: The Wu (吴式) style descending from Wu Quanyou (吴全佑): a compact frame with subtle body mechanics and a slightly forward-leaning posture. It is one of the five major Tai Chi styles, and it is not the same as Wu Yuxiang’s 武式 — see Wu Style (Wu Yuxiang).
Branches
The style has two main branches, and their movement counts are not variants of each other:
- Southern branch — Wu Jianquan (吴鉴泉), Shanghai and Hong Kong: the 108-movement slow frame.
- Northern branch — Wang Maozhai (王茂斋) → Yang Yuting (杨禹廷), Beijing and Laizhou: the 83-movement frame.
The frame and order are largely shared; what differs is how much of each repetition the line kept. Do not describe one count as a version of the other.
Characteristics
- Compact, economical movements — less expansive than Yang Style
- Slightly forward-leaning posture
- Strong emphasis on Central Equilibrium and internal cultivation
- Smaller frame demands precision over athleticism
Distinction from 武式
Both are romanized “Wu”, but they are different lineages with different mechanics. The 吴式 line runs Wu Quanyou → Wu Jianquan (south) and Wang Maozhai → Yang Yuting (north); the 武式 line runs Wu Yuxiang → Hao family. See Wu Style (Wu Yuxiang).
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