Wujiquan
Wujiquan (Wu Chi Chuan): ’Ultimate Void Boxing’: A Rare and Secret Ultimate Void Boxing Skill, and Mother Art of Tai chi chuan; from Wuji comes Tai-ji The Wujiquan System is composed of 36 ‘Characters’: 18 kinds of natural climatic phenomena, and 18 of Qi applications. One of the rarest of traditional Shaolin Boxing systems, Wujiquan is also one of the purest of traditional Chinese soft-internal boxing systems (Neijia): being taught to very few in its entirety and only after years of rigorous training and testing for aptitude; it never became widely known, which meant that unlike the better known, Tai chi chuan there was no opportunity for the system to undergo the experimentation and mixing with other systems and arts which during recent centuries led to the variety of styles which characterize Taijiquan.
Origins, History, and Characteristics
Wujiquan’s origins are ancient, belonging to the age of the renowned legendary Chinese physician, Hua Tuo (c 208), or even earlier times. As its name and the names of its individual 36 Characters indicate, it is derived from ancient Chinese, Daoist and pre Daoist (shamanic ancient Chinese) concepts such as Yin-Yang, and also from natural climatic phenomena. The name of its creator(s) is unknown, but it is understood to have been originally taught at and included amongst the ancient systems taught at the Shaolin Temple (Songshan, Henan Province, China) from its early centuries until at least as late as the era of the Sino-Japanese Conflict (1937–1945). The authority for the assertion of the ancient origins and teaching within the original historical Shaolin Temple System from very early times is derived from one of the last Abbots of the Putian, Nan Pu Tuo (also formerly known as ‘Quanlin Yuan’), Southern Shaolin Temple (Fujian Province). The Abbot of this historic temple, the Very Reverend Yik Cha’an Cha’an Sze taught this system (and Luohan Ru Yi Quan, and Luohan) over the course of 3 years to his disciple, Grandmaster Chee Kim Thong (c 1920–2001) prior to the fall of the temple and invasion of Fujian by the Japanese – Grandmaster Chee gave the system the nickname of ‘Shaolin Tai-Ji’.