Wu Chien-ch'uan was taught martial arts by his father, Wu Ch'uan-yu, a senior student of Yang Lu-ch'an and Yang Pan-hou. Both Wu Chien-ch'uan and his father were hereditary Manchu cavalry officers of the as well as the Imperial Guards Brigade, yet the Wu family were to become patriotic supporters of Sun Yat-sen.
At the time of the establishment of the Chinese Republic in 1912, China was in turmoil, besieged for many years economically and even militarily by several foreign powers, so Wu Chien-ch'uan and his colleagues Yang Shao-hou, Yang Ch'eng-fu and Sun Lu-t'ang promoted the benefits of t'ai chi ch'uan training on a national scale. They subsequently offered classes at the Beijing Physical Culture Research Institute to as many people as possible, starting in 1914. It was the first school to provide instruction in the art to the general public. Wu Chien-ch'uan was also asked to teach the Eleventh Corps of the new Presidential Bodyguard as well as at the nationally famous martial arts school.
As the focus of t'ai chi ch'uan teaching in his time changed from a strictly military art to a discipline made available to the general public, Wu Chien-ch'uan modified the he learned from his father somewhat. Wu Chien-ch'uan's changes to the initial forms shown to his students included smoothing overt expressions of , jumps and other abrupt time changes in the training routines in order to make those forms easier for the general public to learn. These modified elements were preserved and taught in various advanced forms and pushing hands, however.
Wu Chien-ch'uan moved his family to Shanghai in 1928. In 1935, he established the ''Chien-ch'uan T'ai Chi Ch'uan Association'' on the ninth floor of the Shanghai YMCA to promote and teach t'ai chi ch'uan. What he taught has since become known as Wu style T'ai Chi Ch'uan and is one of the five primary styles practised around the world, the others being Ch'en style T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Yang style T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Wu/Hao style T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Sun style T'ai Chi Ch'uan.
The ''Chien-ch'uan T'ai Chi Ch'uan Association'' schools have subsequently been maintained by Wu Chien-ch'uan's descendants. He was succeeded as head of the Wu family system by his oldest son, Wu Kung-i, in 1942. Wu Kung-i moved the family headquarters to Hong Kong in 1949. Today the Association still has its international headquarters in Hong Kong and is currently managed by Wu Chien-ch'uan's great-grandson, Wu Kuang-yu, with branches in Shanghai, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
Several of Wu's disciples also became well known T'ai Chi teachers. Prominent in that number were the senior disciple, Ma Yueh-liang, Wu T'u-nan and Cheng Wing-kwong. His daughter Wu Yinghua and her husband Ma Yueh-liang continued running the Shanghai ''Chien-ch'uan T'ai Chi Ch'uan Association'' until their deaths in the mid 1990s.
Family tree
This family tree is not comprehensive.
LEGENDARY FIGURES
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Zhang Sanfeng*
circa 12th century
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Wang Zongyue*
T'AI CHI CH'?AN
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THE 5 MAJOR CLASSICAL FAMILY STYLES
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Chen Wangting
1600-1680 9th generation Chen
|
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
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Chen Changxing Chen Youben
1771-1853 14th generation Chen circa 1800s 14th generation Chen
Chen Old Frame Chen New Frame
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Yang Lu-ch'an Chen Qingping
1799-1872 1795-1868
Chen Small Frame, Zhao Bao Frame
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+---------------------------------+-----------------------------+ |
| | | |
Yang Pan-hou Yang Chien-hou Wu Yu-hsiang
1837-1892 1839-1917 1812-1880
Yang Small Frame |
| +-----------------+ |
| | | |
Wu Ch'uan-yü Yang Shao-hou Yang Ch'eng-fu Li I-yü
1834-1902 1862-1930 1883-1936 1832-1892
| Yang Small Frame |
Wu Chien-ch'üan | Hao Wei-chen
1870-1942 Yang Shou-chung 1849-1920
1910-1985 |
|
| Sun Lu-t'ang
Wu Kung-i 1861-1932
1900-1970
| |
Wu Ta-kuei Sun Hsing-i
1923-1972 1891-1929
Note to Family tree table
Names denoted by an asterisk are legendary or semilegendary figures in the lineage, which means their involvement in the lineage, while accepted by most of the major schools, isn't independently verifiable from known historical records.
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