There are five main styles of Tai Chi Chuan taught today; Chen, Yang, Wu, Sung, and Woo. The first three are the most widespread in terms of practice. Originally, each of the styles were refined and taught within a single family and handed down through the generations. The training and advanced techniques of each style were often a jealously guarded secret. Wealthy Chinese families and aristocracy often hired eminent Tai Chi masters at great expense to teach them exclusively.

In modern times, with the eclipse of martial arts as the primary battlefield techniques that conferred an advantage to the knowledgeable fighter, it has become acceptable to teach Tai Chi to everyone. The focus for most western study of Tai Chi is on health. The form is studied as a moving meditation that improves health and confers a variety of disease prevention benefits to the practitioner.

Chen is perhaps the earliest style, and its long form includes many vigorous strikes and jumps. Yang style (based on the Yang family name, and not the symbol of yin & yang) evolved from Chen and is the most widespread. The Yang style long form eliminated many of the vigorous elements from Chen, and evened out the tempo of all movements into the flowing "moving meditation" that many people associate with Tai Chi. Yang is also characterized by lower and deeper leg stances, and by many full-extension arm positions.

Wu style evolved from Yang and is the most recent of the three. It was transmitted from Yang style masters directly to the founder of Wu style, first generation Master Wu Chian Chuan. My teacher, Tai Chi Wellness Center founder Henry Cheng, is a direct fifth generation Master in the Wu style lineage.

Wu style has further refined Yang in a number of areas. The obvious primary differences are the shorter and more compact leg stances, the increased emphasis on footwork balance and stability, the clearer separation of "active" and "passive" arm and leg roles, and the use of more compact arm movements to minimize muscle tension. There is also more emphasis on the proper alignment of all joints in order to improve the cultivation and circulation of chi.

Wu style is a "medium frame" style, in contrast to the "large frame" Yang style. It requires less vigorous movements and rarely uses more difficult low stances or full limb extentions. Because of this is is particularly well suited for older people and those with conditions that limit their range of motion.