While you will find variations in tai chi chuan schools, wu tai chi is one of the five major tai chi schools. These schools are the Chen style, the Yang style, the Sun style, the Wu style and the Wu Yu-Xiang style. All of the styles can offer you health benefits, including lowering blood pressure, improving flexibility and balance and decreasing your stress levels. Today, wu tai chi is the third most popular tai chi chuan style practiced around the world.
To start, you should be face north with your knees bent slightly. Your hands should be relaxed and ready, but not limp. Your mouth should be closed with your tongue touching the roof of your mouth behind your front teeth. Your face should follow your hands as they move.
Unlike some of the other schools which divide your weight between your two legs, the wu tai chi school has those practicing this style putting their weight primarily on one leg. The leg that is bearing all of the weight is called the yang leg while the empty leg, without weight, is called the yin leg. Your feet will be placed parallel to each other or within a fist's length apart and closer together from the right to left than other tai chi school foot stances.
Your hands and how you hold them are always important when practicing tai chi. Regardless of what your hands are doing, your wrists should always be relaxed when practicing the Wu style. Your fingers will naturally stand up and have easy spaces between them if you are using your hands in movements. If your hands are fisted, the fists will be gentle, with your fingers touching your palm and your thumb gently covering your fingers. If your hands are forming hooks, your fingers will be relaxed, loose, pointing towards the ground and bent slightly from your wrists.
If you choose to try wu style tai chi chuan or, in fact, another tai chi school, keep in mind that it takes regular practicing to reap the benefits that tai chi might offer you. In the meantime, you can learn something new, make new friends and work towards a healthy future.
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