Grandmaster Tse’s Tàijí Fist 227

Yīn and Yáng Fist – Part 2

Wǔdāng Quán 武當拳 comes from the Wǔdāng Shān 武當山 – Wǔdāng Mountain, Húběi Shěng 湖北省 – Húběi Province, and people like to say it is a Nèi Jiā Quán 內家拳 – Interanl Fist. This means that the movement and the power come from inside, from the internal body, so it is an internal martial art. Shàolín Quán 少林拳 comes from Shàolín Sì 少林寺 – Shàolín Temple, Sōngshān 嵩山 – Sōng Mountain, Hénán Province 河南省. Its movements come from inside the body but we can see it on the external body, using the bone and muscle a lot and so they are called Wài Jiā Quán 外家拳 – External Fist. These are the two major branches of Kung Fu 功夫, Internal Kung Fu is Yin and External Kung Fu is Yang.

Shàolín Kung Fu is very popular and has a long history and many styles within it, like the animal styles, Tiger, Monkey, Snake, Crane etc. They are all from Shàolín Kung Fu. Some of the most popular styles of Kung Fu, like Wing Chun Kyùhn 詠春拳 and Hùhng Kyùhn 洪拳 come from Shàolín, though most styles came after the people who created them left Shàolín, but they still have the attitude and energy of Shàolín and so the Shàolín Kung Fu elements are there. Although Shàolín Quán has been popular throughout history, Wǔdāng Quán has not been so popular in the past. Of the Nèi Jiā Quán, the most popular have been Tàijíquán 太極拳, Xíng Yì Quán 形意拳 –  Shape and Mind Fist and Bāguà Zhǎng 八卦掌 – Eight Situations Palm. All of these styles have their own history and none of their founders are originally from Wǔdāng Shān.