Sun Style Traditional Long Form

Quick Facts

About the kata

Sun Lutang created Sun-style taijiquan; according to the English Wikipedia he was already a recognised master of xingyiquan and baguazhang before he began studying taijiquan. He presented the form in the book Taijiquan xue; the Deyin Taijiquan Institute dates the manuscript's completion to 1919, the English Wikipedia its publication to 1921. Its most striking feature is the step. When one foot advances or retreats, the other follows it by half a step, so the weight keeps shifting between the legs and the long lunge common in Yang style barely appears here. The stances are high, and many movements, especially in turns, combine the opening and closing positions of the hands. The Deyin Taijiquan Institute therefore calls the style taiji of opening and closing, or of the living step, in Chinese kaihe huobu taijiquan. The form has no deep crouching, jumps, or explosive fajin. The movement count depends on how it is counted: the Deyin Taijiquan Institute gives 97, Michael Garofalo both 97 and 98, and the English Wikipedia summarises both. According to totaltaichi.com, a full run takes 15 to 20 minutes. Paul Lam's Tai Chi for Arthritis programme is based on Sun style; his institute chose it for its mobility and balance.

Creator and history

According to the English Wikipedia, Sun Lutang studied taijiquan from 1911 under Hao Weizhen, a master of the Wu (Hao) style. In the preface to Taijiquan xue, per the Deyin Taijiquan Institute's translation, he wrote that after comparing it with xingyiquan and baguazhang he found that all three arts belong to one family and differ only in form. Wikipedia also credits Yang Shaohou, Yang Chengfu, and Wu Jianquan with influencing Sun's style; after 1914 he taught taijiquan to the public alongside them at a physical-education institute in Beijing. The sources disagree on dates: the English Wikipedia gives Sun's birth year as 1860, the Chinese Wikipedia as 1863; the Deyin Taijiquan Institute dates the book to 1919 (the manuscript), the English Wikipedia to 1921, and Michael Garofalo to 1924, while himself dating the original 98-movement form to 1921.

Differences between styles

Compared with the Wu (Hao) style from which it derives, the Sun style, per the Deyin Taijiquan Institute, works more from the waist, changes footwork more often, and uses the lunge less. From xingyiquan it took the santishi stance, higher than a lunge, weight split roughly 40 to 60 percent; it appears in the San tong bei position and in Snake Creeps Down. From baguazhang comes the diagonal step: the leading foot points at an angle, not straight ahead, so the waist links footwork and hand work. The English Wikipedia also notes small circular hand movements.

The hardest part

Totaltaichi.com points mainly to the transition from Yang style: one must unlearn the instinct to settle into a stance on a solid base, because Sun style wants the practitioner to move almost without pause. The same site adds that memorising it is easier because much repeats, and the opening-and-closing transitions divide it into smaller units.

In competition

The 2024 IWUF competition rules list the Sun-style competition form among the compulsory routines, with a time of 5 to 6 minutes. It is a separate form of 73 movements, as named in the regulations of the 2024 World Taijiquan Championships in Singapore; according to the Deyin Taijiquan Institute it mostly follows the traditional long form, but several movements are adjusted to test flexibility, endurance, and balance. The rules do not list the traditional long form among the compulsory routines; in Singapore the traditional Sun-style form was only demonstrated in an exhibition event.