Wudang Supreme Harmony Fist

武当三丰派太和拳

Supreme Harmony Fist (Taihe Quan 太和拳) is a native Wudang art, and my favorite internal style. It is a short practice 25 movements in length, and can be characterized as a slower, more meditative cousin of Tai Chi. In the three-part division of our lineage’s Tai Chi style, this form corresponds with wuji, the undifferentiated, wholly indeterminate chaos that lay before the birth of the world. Though the form begins and ends in the dusky no-mind state of wuji, through its 25 movements, we go on a sort of guided tour of the generation, flourishing, and dissolution of the Daoist cosmos, from the first movement, Opening of Primordial Chaos 混沌初开, to the second Dividing Heaven and Earth 分判天地, to the 24th Returning to Taiji 回归太极.

Both the movements of the form and the applications are quite simple, focusing on basic strikes and throws. After studying the five stances, nine basic strikes, and three throws, you work on the applications of the 25 steps. The internal dimension of the form, however, is quite profound.

History of the Style 太和拳历史

This form can be traced back to Ming Le Zhenren 明了真人, a 14th generation Wudang Dragon Gate master, and the teacher of 15th generation Xu Benshan 徐本善 (1860-1932), who passed this style on to a number of his disciples, including 16th generation Li Helin 李和林 (from whom we get our Taiyi Wuxing Quan) and Chen Helong 陈合龙, who taught it to 17th generation master Wu Jiao Peng 伍教鹏 (1890-1990), who transmitted it to 18th generation master Li Yong Guang 李永光, who taught it openly in the 1980’s, where it passed into a number of lineages including ours, the San Feng sect 三丰派.  The martial arts historian Tan Dajiang 谭大江 (b. 1947) studied the form under master Li, collated his notes, and published a walk-through of it in the fourth issue of Wudang Magazine 武當雜誌 in 1992, the first textual transmission of the form.  Since then there have been numerous books and videos published about it.

From a mythological perspective, this form was invented by Taishang Laojun 太上老君, the deified form of Laozi, who transmitted it to Huolong Zhenren 火龙真人, from whom Zhang San Feng 张三丰 learned it.  There’s a three-line poem that preserves this exalted pedigree: 

太上老君创， Founded by Taishang Laojun,

火龙真人传， Transmitted by Huolong Zhenren,

三丰祖师扬。 Propagated by Ancestor San Feng.

Curriculum 目录

太和拳基本功 Supreme Harmony Fist Basics

1. 手法 Hand techniques (9)

2. 摔法 Throws (3)

套路 Forms

1. 太和拳 Supreme Harmony Fist

内功 Internal Training

1. 无极桩 Wuji standing meditation

2. 太和混元功 Supreme harmony primordial chaos training