History of Sun Style Tai Chi

Sun Lutang was born in northern China in 1860. He practiced three internal martial arts to an expert level before his death in 1933 and subsequently founded his own style. Noted for his prolificacy, Sun Lutang published studies on Tai Chi and internal martial arts and taught at the Beijing Physical Education Research Institute for over a decade.

Sun Lutang learned Baguazhang early in his life under the famous internal martial arts teacher Cheng Tinghua, so we see the circular movements and philosophies that dominate Sun-style movements.

Sun Lutang was also an expert in another internal martial art, Xingyiquan. The influence of Xingyi's very fast and light linear attacks and retreats can be seen in Sun's development of his own forms.

Sun Lutang, on the other hand, became a student of Hao Weizhen, a master of the Wu Hao style of Tai Chi. What is unique about this relationship is that Sun Lutang was not only older, but also an outsider, taking lessons at a time when styles were primarily shared between families. According to accounts of their relationship, Hao Weizhen fell ill one day and Sun Lutang took great care of him. He was then accepted as a student. According to another account, Sun Lutang was accepted as a student because he demonstrated considerable internal martial arts skills. In one way or another, Sun was given full access to the Wu Hao tradition, and he quickly improved as a practitioner.

He founded his own style of Tai Chi based on what he learned from Taoism and the three internal martial arts, and taught at the Beijing Physical Education Research Institute from 1914 to 1928. By the time Sun Lutang was in his 50s and 60s, he had contributed significantly to the teachings through his writings. Five of his texts have been translated into English and are still considered some of the classic works on Tai Chi and internal martial arts.

Sun Lutang passed this teaching on to his family members. Sun uniquely trained not only his sons, but also his daughter and grandsons. This helped to not only make the Sun style more widely accepted, but also to make Tai Chi more widely accepted, including women and people who wanted to teach and learn a form of Tai Chi to improve their health.

Sun Style Tai Chi Movements

The Sun Style Tai Chi movements are clearly influenced by Wu Style Tai Chi and other internal arts. The steps of one foot are followed by the other and the movements are kept light and fast. The stance is medium to high with a few sub-movements where the spine remains upright. The hands circle continuously throughout the form. Although there are fighting movements such as thrusts or punches, these are done without force.