Introduction to Wudang Gongfu

Wudang Master Zhou Xuan Yun

The most famous of Kung Fu arts are those hailing from Shaolin. But in China, there is a saying:

"In the north, Shaolin is respected.

In the south, Wudang is revered."

Wudang is most famous for their Taijiquan, which sometimes overshadows the diversity of martial arts found in these secluded mountains. At Wudang, the students begin their training with their own styles of traditional wushu (kung fu). These build the necessary skills for children's innate Yang energy, and condition/discipline their hearts and bodies for the world outside the monastery. Realizing the longterm investment and commitment one must have in their Taijiquan practice, students are offered a more external martial art to begin, which slowly teaches the students how to convert this Li force into Qi. Here is the internalization process most martial arts begin to practice after high levels are reached in ranking systems.

Wudang Gongfu & Taijiquan Schedule

For the Cypress Grove Park classes, we are going to have a schedule adjustment. This change was brought on by the fact that some students have to travel far, others get out work late, and just in hopes of opening up training for more people interested in participating.

Wudang Gongfu & Taijiquan classes will be combined at Cypress Grove Park, time-wise. Students are welcome to begin their training at 5:30 (show up earlier for stretching), and class will go on until 7:30-7:45. If you can't make it to class by 5:30, you can stretch out and begin your training once settling, so there's no issue with arrival time.

Taijiquan students will still focus on their discipline; Gongfu students will still focus on their discipine. But this will help everyone come to class for at least an hour, no matter their schedule, and have more time with an instructor for questions and review.

Feel free to comment any thoughts on this, or any questions you may have with this change!
http://Calendar.SpringAndAutumn.com

Jibenquan Move List

Jibenquan (Basic Fist Form) is the primary starting form for Wudang Gongfu. This, plus stances, some drills, and the Wudang 36 Kicks form the primary starting curriculum for students' first six months to a year of training.

Wudang Kicking Methods

The following list are taken from the "36 Kicks of Wudang" set. These 21 kicks are the standard kicks, while the remaining 15 are example combinations. Since the kicks are named based on their translations from Chinese, many people have a hardtime with the names. I even learned them all visually without names, so I tend to use the standard American names from time-to-time. The list here offers the names we use in classes at Spring & Autumn Martial Arts, along with their general western name.