Wudangquan
From Freepedia
Wǔdāngquán (Chinese: 武當拳; Yale Cantonese: mou5 dong1 kyun4) is a family of Chinese martial arts known more generally as neijia. The name refers to the Wudang Mountains of Hubei Province, which are known for their many Taoist temples.
The Chinese martial arts can be broadly sorted into two categories—Wudang and Shaolin—though not without controversy. Internal or "soft" styles of Chinese martial art are sometimes referred to as Wudang styles regardless of whether they originated or were developed in the temples of Wudangshan, just as external or "hard" styles are sometimes called Shaolin regardless of whether the individual style traces its origins to the Shaolin tradition or not.
Moreover, the line between the two is not always clearly drawn. The unquestionably internal styles of T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Xingyiquan, and Baguazhang contain postures inherited from Shaolin and Shaolin martial art styles typically incorporate some degree of qigong into their training, one of the qualities that supposedly distinguishes internal from external.
Wudangquan incorporates yin-yang theory from the I Ching as well as the Five Elements of Taoist cosmology: water, earth, fire, wood, and metal. The Five Animals of tiger, crane, snake, leopard and dragon are also evident in some of their practices. A special kind of qigong known as "nèi gōng" (內功) is used to develop nei jin, or internal power, for both offensive and defensive purposes. Wudangquan is known for its weapons training and is famous for its jian (Chinese straight sword) techniques.
