Tai Chi Wu Style: Advanced Techniques for Internalizing Chi Energy Book by Mantak Chia

A guide to the internal martial arts exercises of short-form Wu-Style Tai Chi

• Details the 8 core forms of Wu-Style Tai Chi with fully illustrated instructions

• Ideal for older practitioners as well as those with health disabilities due to the “small frame” primary stance, slower and smaller movements, and conservation of energy

• Explains how Wu Style provides a natural introduction to martial arts boxing

• Reveals how Wu Style eases stiffness, relieves back pain, and reduces abdominal fat

Following the flow of chi energy, rather than directing it as in traditional Tai Chi, Wu-Style Tai Chi focuses on internal development, seeking to conserve chi energy and gather jin power from the Earth through the tan tien. Centered on a “small frame” stance--that is, feet closer together and arms closer to the body--and a slower progression of movements in solo practice, Wu Style offers a gentle Tai Chi form for beginners and, when practiced with a partner, a grounding introduction to martial arts boxing and Fa Jin (the discharge of energy for self-defense). The more functional stance, smaller movements, and conservation of internal energy make Wu-Style Tai Chi ideal for older practitioners as well as those with health disabilities.

Condensing the 37 movements of Wu Style into 8 core forms, Master Mantak Chia and Andrew Jan illustrate how to build a personal short-form Wu-Style Tai Chi practice. They explain how Wu-Style Tai Chi removes energetic blockages and helps to elongate the tendons, reducing stiffness and allowing the limbs to return to their natural length and full range of motion. Regular practice of Wu Style relieves back pain as well as reducing abdominal fat, the biggest hindrance to longevity.

Exploring the martial arts applications of Wu Style, the authors trace its history beginning with founder Wu Chuan-Yu (1834-1902) as well as explain how to apply Wu Style to “Push Hands” (Tui Shou) and Fa Jin. Through mastering the short-form Wu Style detailed in this book, Tai Chi practitioners harness a broad range of health benefits as well as build a solid foundation for learning the complete long-form Wu Style.

About the Author:

Mantak Chia is also the author of Awaken Healing Energy through the Tao (co-author Michael Winn), Taoist Secrets of Love: Cultivating Male Sexual Energy, Taoist Ways to Transform Stress into Vitality, Chi Self-Massage, Iron Shirt Chi Kung I, Healing Love through the Tao: Cultivating Female Sexual Energy (co-author Maneewan Chia), and Bone Marrow Nei Kung (co-author Maneewan Chia). Master Mantak Chia is the creator of the Healing Tao System and Director of the Healing Tao Center in New York. Since childhood he has been studying the Taoist approach to life as well as other approaches. Born in Thailand to Chinese parents in 1944, he was first taught at age six by Buddhist monks how to sit and "still the mind." While he was in grammar school, he first learned traditional Thai boxing, and was then taught Tai Chi Chuan by Master Lu. When he was a student in Hong Kong, he began his studies of the Taoist way of life with Master Yi Eng, who authorized him to teach and heal. He later studied Taoist Yoga and the Buddhist Palm with Master Meugi in Singapore, and studied the Shao-Lin Method of Internal Power with Master Cheng Yao-Lun, who combined Taoist, Buddhist, and Zen teachings in his system of Thai boxing and Kung Fu. To understand the mechanisms behind healing energy better, Master Chia studied Western medical science and anatmoy for two years. After training a network of teachers in the Healing Tao system, he established the Natural Healing Center in Thailand, before moving to New York to open the Healing Tao Center in 1979. Maneewan Chia was born and raised in Hong Kong, moving with her parents to Thailand where she received a B.S. degree in Medical Technology. Since childhood, she has been very interested in nutrition and Chinese health food cooking. She assists Mantak Chia in teaching classes, including Taoist Five Element Nutrition, and managing the Healing Tao Center.

304 pages