Shaolin vs. Wudan

[Aikidoka]

Most of what I know about kung fu is to do with the Shaolin familiy of styles. I have heard that Wudan is supposedly more internal than Shaolin, but I have also seen this dismissed by Shaolin masters as ignorance of the depth of Shaolin. Shaolin claims to encompass all the internal aspects of Wudan (chi kung, meditation, visualisation) and more besdies (one finger Zen, tiger claw). Could someone please enlighten me as to the main differences of the two temples, and whether anyone practises Wudan arts.

 

 

[ChangWuJi]

Wudang is an authentic style.Wudang mountain is in Hubei province China.Wudang is (was)a Taoist sect and their martial arts were mainly based on the internal aspect.They have their own style of Bagua,Taiji,and some animal styles.They also practice a style that is based on the motions of fishermen throwing a fish net (it is called yu men quan). The weapons are of a big assortment.Most noted is the Wudang sword.They also have some exotic weapons that you will not see (probably) any where else.whips,darts,hard whips etc. I do not know about them fighting with other schools or anything of the sort. They still have a temple on the mountain,but it is a big tourist site. You would probably get alot of modern wushu stuff there and have to pay a good bit of money too.(If they even have any sort of martial arts school there)If you want Wudang style gongfu then you might be better off going to Wuhan city and ask around for a teacher.I have a friend who said he saw alot of Wudang styles when he lived in Wuhan. I know a lady who grew up on Wudang mountain and her hair and her friends hair are all long and bundled up with the pin too.

[Aikidoka]

Thanks for the info ChangWuJi.