Wudang t'ai chi ch'uan
| Also known as | Wudang taijiquan |
|---|---|
| Date founded | mid 20th century |
| Country of origin |
 China
|
| Founder | Zheng Tianxiong |
| Current head | Zheng Jianen (鄭鑒恩) |
| Arts taught | T'ai chi ch'uan |
| Ancestor arts | Wu-style taijiquan |
| Practitioners | Dan Docherty, Ian Cameron |
| Official website | www |
Wudang t'ai chi ch'uan (武當太極拳) is the name of a system of t'ai chi ch'uan (taijiquan) that was developed by a Hong Kong based t'ai chi ch'uan master known as Cheng Tin hung. While Cheng Tinhung never claimed to be teaching any particular school of t'ai chi ch'uan, his uncle was a disciple of the Wu school of t'ai chi ch'uan, which may or may not have had some influence on his own approach to the art.
The Wudang t'ai chi ch'uan system is now being taught in Europe by two of Cheng Tinhung’s disciples, Dan Docherty and Ian Cameron, both based in the United Kingdom. The system also continues to be taught in Hong Kong, and the current head of that school is Cheng Tinhung’s son Cheng Kamyan (Zheng Jianen, 鄭鑒恩), whose school is called the Hong Kong Tai Chi Association (香港太極總會).
Zhang Sanfeng, a highly mythologised figure said to be the founder of t'ai chi ch'uan, lived in the Wudang Mountains and the name "Wudang" used for this T'ai chi ch'uan system was used in order to acknowledge Zhang Sanfeng's status as the founder of t'ai chi ch'uan. There are other schools of T'ai chi ch'uan that also use this name.
The Wudang t'ai chi ch'uan system is also known as “Practical T'ai chi ch'uan”. This name comes from that given to Cheng Tinhung's style by various Chinese martial arts journalists in Hong Kong during Cheng Tinhung’s heyday, and from the school's assertion that its t'ai chi is eminently useful as a form of self-defense.
The Wudang t'ai chi ch'uan system teachers publish that they have links to famous T'ai chi ch'uan masters (see lineage diagram), including Yang Banhou, Wu Quanyou, Wu Jianquan, Cheng Wingkwong (Zheng Rongguang, 鄭榮光), Chen Gengyun (陳耕雲) and Wang Lanting (王蘭亭).
It is thought that Qi Minxuan (齊敏軒) came from Wen County, Hebei Dao in Henan Province. He was a teacher of t'ai chi ch'uan and neigong"Neigong is a type of martial arts which focus on breathing techniques". After losing his family during the Japanese Occupation and Second World War, Qi Minxuan became an itinerant martial arts instructor teaching T'ai chi ch'uan to those that would give him board and lodgings. His father Qi Gechen (齊閣臣) was a disciple of the famed T'ai chi ch'uan master Wu Quanyou. Qi Minxuan also learnt from a Buddhist monk known as Jing Yi (静一, Tranquil One), who learnt t'ai chi ch'uan from Wang Lanting. Qi Minxuan’s Buddhist name was Zhi Meng (智孟, Sagacious Elder) and was an enthusiastic student of Chan Buddhism. The fate of Qi Minxuan is unknown.
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Wikipedia