We learn and practice two traditional styles: the Traditional Yang Style of Cheng Man-ching and the Traditional Sun Style of Sun Lu-tang.
We see these as being as close to the original or classical styles of tai chi as they retain original features documented by the originators who were well educated. In the case of Cheng Man-ching, we have a legacy of first-generation students still living, original texts translated by those students, photos, and even video. In the case of Sun Lu-tang we have translations of his original texts and photos. And subsequent documentation, including video, from first generation family and students, and second-generation students still living.
Recent changes in tai chi styles have arisen as a result of:
- The development of competition routines which require more athletic forms to make judging easier, and time limits to meet organisational time constraints,
- A shift towards more athletic exercise movements including expansive “large frame” movements and deep stances to accommodate Western demand for accelerated aerobic benefits and muscle strengthening,
- Hybridisation of forms with “cross training” across styles and the development of mixed-style competition routines. Driven by an increased interest in all tai chi styles with greater accessibility to information previously guarded as family style secrets, but leading to less of a focus on a single style, and,
- Commercial considerations such as marketing shorter forms to fit modern lifestyles, i.e., shorter learning times and shorter practice times, branding to secure style ownership and the ensuing financial benefits from franchising, the promotion of competition success to attract new students, and sales of videos, merchandise, and simplified online courses.
A number of the movements practiced in both qigong and tai chi currently have been assessed by physiotherapy professionals as unsafe and others have required modification to make them safer, especially for seniors and less experienced students. Which is not the case for the “small frame” movements in the original traditional tai chi styles.
However, we have adopted shorter routines for both traditional styles to provide students a starting point to the learning of the longer routines.
The Traditional Yang Style of Cheng Man-ching
Cheng Man-ching (1901-1975) learnt and developed an earlier version of the Yang Style (known as “Yang Old Frame”) understood to have been taught to him privately by the Yang Family lineage holder Yang Cheng-fu, so we refer to it as the Traditional Yang Style. It proved extremely popular and spread initially to Taiwan and Malaysia.
He was one of the earliest taijiquan teachers to teach tai chi publicly in the United States where the style is widely practised. And his students have continued to spread his routine around the world.
Cheng Man-ching developed his 37 Forms routine by removing most of the repetitions of movements from the Yang Long 103 Forms routine, hence you will find it in a number of sources being referred to as the “Short Form”.
The Traditional Sun Style of Sun Lu-Tang
Sun Lu-tang (1860-1933) combined the three internal styles of Chinese martial arts to produce his Sun Style, the most modern of the 5 orthodox styles of tai chi. He developed the Sun 98 Forms practice routine.
It uses small postures and follow-steps. The movements are extremely lively and agile so it is also know as “nimble tai chi”. It offers many benefits without the risks of many modern styles. The follow-step movements not only quickly build whole-body power but are also much safer and less stressful on the joints of the hips and legs than the lower stances and extended steps found in modern styles.
Sun Jian-yun (1914-2003), Sun Lu-tang’s daughter, who also became one of China’s greatest martial artists, dedicated her life to continuing the legacy of the Sun style. She developed the Sun 42 Forms practice routine by eliminating many of the repetitions in the 98 Forms routine.