We believe the Wu Style of tai chi is the best for promoting health in the West.

Its high stances protect your knees, and its emphasis on developing “yin energy” leads to deep nervous system relaxation.

You first learn our Wu Style Mini Form and "tai chi essentials" - fun exercises through which you learn movement patterns and principles essential to the practice of tai chi. Through this form and these exercises you begin to gain many of the benefits of tai chi practice.

Then you continue to learn the Short Form, of which the Mini Form is the first part. Practice of the Short Form promotes better balance and whole body health, and is particularly helpful for lower back conditions.

You can use it to calm and steady your mind and deeply relax your body.

We offer the following courses in this subject. Please click on any that interests you:

• Introduction to Tai Chi

• Intro to Tai Chi: Part 2

• Intro to Tai Chi: Part 3

• Short Form Refinements

• Medium Form

• Medium Form Refinements

• Long Form - 1st Half

• Long Form - 2nd Half

• Long Form Refinements Series 1

• Long Form Refinements Series 2

• Long Form Refinements Series 3

 ~~~~~~~

In our Introduction to Tai Chi courses we give you a thorough introduction to this wonderful art and its core principles, at a relaxed pace and in an accessible, fun, and easy-to-learn manner.

Over three 7- to 8-week sessions (Parts 1, 2 & 3) you will learn foundation tai chi movement skills, relaxation principles, healthy posture, the Wu Style Mini Form, and the Wu Style Short Form. You will also learn complementary qigong exercises.

The Wu Style Mini Form - which is the first third of the Short Form - contains many important tai chi movements for health and meditation, and takes only a couple minutes to perform. Below instructor Dan Winter presents it as practiced at a beginner level.

Introduction to Tai Chi: Part 1

In Part 1, we will teach you the Mini Form, i.e. the first third of the Short Form.

This course will not be offered this session.

- back to Wu Style Tai Chi overview -

 ~~~~~~~

The Mini Form is the first third of the Wu Style Short Form. In this course, you’ll learn the second third of the Short Form.

The Short Form consists of a sequence of eighteen precisely-choreographed movements. It was developed by our teacher Bruce Frantzis, drawing from the Long Form of Wu Style founder Wu Jien Chuan, who taught Bruce’s teacher Liu Hung Chieh.

These movements are specifically designed to help one develop calmness, flexibility, coordination, balance, stamina, and greater energy.

The form takes about four minutes to perform.

This course will not be offered this session.

- back to Wu Style Tai Chi overview -

 ~~~~~~~ 

In this class, you will learn the last third of the Short Form. The movements of the form gradually build in complexity and difficulty from beginning to end.

This course will not be offered this session.

- back to Wu Style Tai Chi overview -

 ~~~~~~~ 

In this class, students who have learned the Short Form will explore tai chi subjects such as circularity, bending and releasing, and the details of particular moves.

EARLY FALL SESSION - September 3 to October 16

For our Early Fall session schedule information, please click here.

LATE FALL SESSION - October 29 to December 18

Course Content: 

This session we’ll focus on powering your tai chi movements from your legs. In tai chi it is said that movement begins in the legs, is steered by the hips, and expressed through the hands. We’ll aim to embody this maxim. As part of this exploration, we’ll revisit the principle of being fully lengthened in your arms, and seek the same sense of length in your legs.

Prerequisite:

Completion of our Wu Style Short Form courses (see above), or you must know the Wu Style Short Form as taught by Bruce Frantzis.

To request Bill or Dan’s permission to participate, click here to send a request to join the course.

Class Times: (Eastern Time)

The same material will be taught in each class during each week. You are welcome to come to any of the classes each week.

• Tuesdays
  11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. ET 
  Bill (In-Person)

• Wednesdays
  6 to 7 p.m. ET
  Dan (Hybrid)

• Wednesdays
  7 - 8 p.m. ET
  Dan (In-Person)

Course Format:

This course has in-person, and hybrid sections.

For more information on coming in to the studio for a class, please click here.

For more information on how our live, interactive online courses work, please click here.

Dates:

7 weeks, October 29 to December 18. No class on November 26 and 27.

Registration and Payment:

Please click here for information on pricing, how to start a subscription, and how to add a class.  

- back to Wu Style Tai Chi overview -

 ~~~~~~~

The Medium Form was developed by our teacher Bruce Frantzis. It contains all of the Short Form moves and several additional more complex and difficult moves drawn from the Long Form of Wu Style founder Wu Jien Chuan. 

The form takes about 7 minutes to perform. It provides greater challenges to your balance and develops stronger cross-body connections than the Short Form.

Prerequisite:

Permission of instructor based on skill in the Wu Style Short Form as taught by Bruce Frantzis.

This course will not be offered this session.

- back to Wu Style Tai Chi overview -

 ~~~~~~~ 

In this series of Refinements courses, students who have already learned the Medium Form will review the moves, exploring them in more detail. Dan will also choose particular tai chi principles and teach how to integrate them into the form.

This course will not be offered this session.

- back to Wu Style Tai Chi overview -

 ~~~~~~~ 

The Long Form we teach was developed by Wu Style founder Wu Jien Chuan as a health-oriented version of his self-defense form. It takes 30 to 40 minutes to perform.

Each move amplifies the moves before it; if you go through the Long Form once, you get far greater benefits than if you practiced the Short or Medium Form for the same amount of time. 

The Long Form consists of what classically are known as the First, Second, and Third Sections. 

The First Section is very similar to the Short Form and contains about two-thirds of the Short Form's movements. The First Section's movements open up the soft tissues and energy of your upper body, especially your neck and shoulders. 

The Second Section movements primarily open up the soft tissues and energy of your legs, connecting you to the ground.

Together the First and Second Sections make up the First Half of the Long Form.

EARLY FALL SESSION - September 10 to October 21

For our Early Fall session schedule information, please click here.

LATE FALL SESSION - October 28 to December 16

This session you’ll continue to learn the first half of the Wu Style long form.

Prerequisite:

Permission of instructor based on skill in the Wu Style Short Form as taught by Bruce Frantzis.

To request Dan’s permission to participate, click here to send him a request to join the course.

Class Times: (Eastern Time)

• Mondays      
  7:45 - 8:45 p.m. ET
  Dan

Course Format:

This is a hybrid class.

For more information on coming in to the studio for a class, please click here.

For more information on how our live, interactive online courses work, please click here.

Dates:

7 weeks, October 28 to December 16.

Registration and Payment:

Please click here for information on pricing, how to start a subscription, and how to add a class.  

- back to Wu Style Tai Chi overview -

 ~~~~~~~

The Second Half of the Long Form is actually the Third Section, which is as long as the first two sections combined.

The Third Section movements link the legs and arms through the torso, opening the soft tissues and energy of the spine and internal organs and integrating all parts of your body into a whole. 

EARLY FALL SESSION - September 3 to October 21

For our Early Fall session schedule information, please click here.

LATE FALL SESSION - October 28 to December 17

This course will not be offered this session.

- back to Wu Style Tai Chi overview -

 ~~~~~~~

LATE FALL SESSION - October 28 to December 17

In this series of refinements courses Dan and Bill will review the movements of the long form, correcting errors and exploring each movement in greater detail. They will also choose a principle or theme to focus on for each 7-week session.

Course Content:

This session we’ll begin to review the 2nd half of the Long Form. As we refine the movements, we’ll focus on circular motions and where your weight should be throughout each movement. We’ll also take some time to stand in the postures, and try to find a sense of roundness and fullness in each posture. 

Prerequisite:

To gain permission of the instructor, you must know the Wu Style Medium Form and Long Form as taught by Bruce Frantzis.

To request Dan or Bill’s permission to participate, click here to send them a request to join the course.

Class Times: (Eastern Time)

• Monday Section  
  6:45 - 7:45 p.m. ET
  Dan

• Tuesday Section
  1:30 - 2:30 p.m. ET
  Bill

The same material will be taught on Monday and Tuesday of each week. You are welcome to come to either or both classes each week.

Course Format:

This is a hybrid class.

For more information on coming in to the studio for a class, please click here.

For more information on how our live, interactive online courses work, please click here.

Dates:

7 weeks, October 28 to December 17. No class November 26.

Registration and Payment:

Please click here for information on pricing, how to start a subscription, and how to add a class.  

- back to Wu Style Tai Chi overview -

 ~~~~~~~

In this series of Refinements courses, in any particular session Bill and students choose a sequence within the form of several movements. We then explore that group of moves, both reviewing and deepening the movements and exploring key principles important in those moves.

EARLY FALL SESSION - September 3 to October 15

For our Early Fall session schedule information, please click here.

LATE FALL SESSION - October 29 to December 17

Course Content: Putting the Whole Form Together

This session we’ll explore aspects of doing the form as a whole. We’ll take sections of the form and play with them. We’ll explore how the sections are brought together to make up the whole form. We’ll discuss how we each remember the sequence of the form. We’ll identify unifying principles and do the whole form focusing on one of them each week.

Prerequisite:

Permission of instructor based on knowledge equivalent to that of the current students.

At a minimum, you need to have learned from a live instructor, have been practicing for at least ten years, and be able to manifest well in your body: the movements and basic bending/stretching methods of the Short, Medium, and Long Forms; Tai Chi Circling Hands; and the Energy Gates qigong Cloud Hands, 1st and 2nd Swing, and Spine Stretch exercises.

To gain Bill’s permission to participate, click here to send him a request to join the course.

Class Times: (Eastern Time)

• Tuesdays
  5:30 to 6:30 p.m. ET
  Bill

This is a hybrid course, with both in-person and online students.

For more information on how our live, interactive online courses work, please click here.

Dates:

7 weeks, October 29 to December 17. No class November 26.

Registration and Payment:

Please click here for information on pricing, how to start a subscription, and how to add a class.  

- back to Wu Style Tai Chi overview -

 ~~~~~~~

In this series of Refinements courses, in any particular session Bill and students choose a sequence or sequences within the form of several movements. We’ll have a particular emphasis on moving from the ligaments of the body (the five bows of the body), twisting the soft tissues of the arms and legs, and opening and closing the joints of the upper body.

EARLY FALL SESSION - September 5 to October 17

For our Early Fall session schedule information, please click here.

LATE FALL SESSION - October 31 to December 19

Course Content:

This session we’ll begin to explore how to actively turn the 1st and 2nd soft tissue layers of your arms and legs to help move your body during the movements of the 2nd 3rd of the form.

Prerequisite:

Participation in the Refinements 2 courses during our recent 18-month exploration of learning to bend and stretch the ligaments of the body.

To gain Bill’s permission to participate, click here to send him a request to join the course.

Class Times: (Eastern Time)

• Thursdays
  10:10 - 11:10 a.m. ET
  Bill

This is an online course.

For more information on how our live, interactive online courses work, please click here.

Dates:

7 weeks, October 31 to December 19. No class November 28.

Registration and Payment:

Please click here for information on pricing, how to start a subscription, and how to add a class.

- back to Wu Style Tai Chi overview -