Wu Jianquan

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Wu Jianquan (1870–1942) was a Chinese tai chi master and the founder of Wu-style tai chi. He learned tai chi from his father, Wu Quanyou, who studied with Yang Luchan and Yang Banhou. The Wu family were Manchu cavalry officers and Imperial Guards, but later supported Sun Yat-sen.

In the 1910s, as China faced turmoil, Wu Jianquan and fellow masters Yang Shaohou, Yang Chengfu, and Sun Lutang promoted tai chi to the public. Starting in 1914, they taught at the Beijing Physical Culture Research Institute, making tai chi available to many people for the first time. He also taught the Eleventh Corps of the Presidential Bodyguard and at the Ching Wu martial arts school.

He adjusted some forms to be easier for ordinary people by smoothing jumps and abrupt changes, while preserving more advanced parts like pushing hands.

In 1928 he moved his family to Shanghai. In 1935 he founded the Jianquan Taijiquan Association at the Shanghai YMCA to spread tai chi. His style became known as Wu-style tai chi, one of the world’s five major tai chi styles. The association continued through his descendants, with his eldest son Wu Gongyi taking over in 1942, and his second son Wu Kung-tsao also becoming a noted master.

The Wu family later moved the headquarters to Hong Kong in 1949. Today the international headquarters are in Hong Kong, with branches around the world. Notable students included Ma Yueliang, Wu Tunan, and Cheng Wing Kwong. His daughter Wu Yinghua and her husband Ma Yueliang ran the Shanghai association until the mid-1990s.