Villager and longtime practitioner of Wu-style tai chi David Goodman will launch his newest series of instructional classes beginning Tuesday, Nov. 12. Wu-style emphasizes slow, deliberate movements and can improve wellness and mindfulness. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Goodman’s way of the Wu
- Published: November 8, 2024
Hand strums the lute. White crane spreads its wings. Carry tiger to the mountain. Brush the knee. Snake creeps down. Golden rooster stands on one leg.
These and over 100 other movements are the way of Wu — specifically Wu-style tai chi, a 19th-century Chinese martial art that centers mindfulness and fluidity.
Unlike other martial arts with dramatic flying kicks or screaming board-chopping, Wu-style tai chi compels its quiet practitioners to turn inward, to meditate on the mind-body connection as they conduct dozens of continuous movements in one place.
Waving hands like clouds turns to a single whip, which leads to a high pat of the horse.
Beginning Tuesday, Nov. 12, longtime Yellow Springs resident David Goodman will kick off an eight-week, Wu-style tai chi class, set to be held in First Presbyterian Church every Tuesday and Thursday at 7 p.m. Registration is $150 to participate in the 16 classes, which will focus on basic Wu principles, footwork and form.
“Better physicality, mindfulness, relaxation, balance — that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what these classes can offer you,” Goodman told the News last week.
Goodman has been refining his Wu-style practice for over four decades. In his 20s, his fascination with the slow, measured movements of tai chi — over the “screaming and yelling and punching” he saw on TV — led him to sign up for nightly classes at Antioch College. They were taught by the renowned Fred Wu, a Chinese martial artist armed with a Ph.D. in biochemistry, a “strong, powerful presence” and a pedigree in the “soft, internal” style of baguazhang.
Later, Goodman fell under the tutelage of Mok Lau, a kung fu master from Hong Kong and, interestingly, a world famous harmonica player. When Lau introduced Goodman to Wu style, he was hooked.
Photo by Reilly Dixon
Now, with over 40 years of practice and teaching under his belt, the 69-year-old Goodman feels better than ever.
“If you’re really serious and sincere about this, I truly believe this kind of tai chi can help you recapture your youth,” Goodman said, punctuating this notion with an air kick. “My knees are starting to talk to me, but I feel like I’m 22.”
In the decade-plus Goodman has led classes in Yellow Springs, he said most of his students have tended to be seniors — people who, according to him, couldn’t have imagined regaining the fortitude and balance to stand on one leg, let alone the strength to sustain a mid-air kick. But invariably, after some time and commitment, these once uncertain students consistently learn to perform those movements and more, Goodman said.
“I always tell them, this is the best health insurance that money could never buy,” he added.
While Goodman emphasized the utility of his coursework to improving — even lengthening — the lives of his senior students, he said that the mindfulness exercise of Wu-style tai chi can benefit anyone of any age.
“Yes, you can increase blood flow and your oxygen levels, but more importantly, fostering the mind-body connection is more important today than ever before,” Goodman said. “Your mind is constantly talking to itself — ‘What’s for dinner?’ or ‘How’s my dog doing?’ — and this slow, fluid exercise gives the mind something to focus on, to quiet everything else outside. It’s an exercise of intention.”
That degree of attentiveness to one’s movements and the redirecting one’s thought patterns, Goodman added, can give way to more practical, day-to-day mindfulness — not being so reactionary to life’s mundane obstacles and taking a little more time to best overcome them.
Although Goodman’s way of the Wu differs dramatically in presentation from Bruce Lee’s dramatic aerial kicks, he acknowledged that this “soft-form” tai chi can still prime practitioners in the ways of self-defense.
“When you wave your hands like clouds, that’s actually a block and a grab,” he explained. “As the stork spreads its wings, that’s a vertical block, then a grab.”
This approach to martial artistry, Goodman described, can be boiled down to knowing when to yield to a force, and knowing when to strike as an opponent — physical or figurative — yields.
“Yielding means not confronting directly,” he said. “When there’s a punch, you yield back. When that force reaches the extreme, you return the attack. You’re full, they’re empty.”
Goodman continued: “That is the premium level of Wu-style tai chi, at least on a material level — knowing when to yield to circumstances in a more grounded, calm way, and knowing when to attack. There are so many things in our lives that we don’t have control over. This can help.”
David Goodman’s eight-week Wu-style tai chi class will begin Tuesday, Nov. 12, and will take place every Tuesday and Thursday, at 7 p.m., in First Presbyterian Church. The class costs $150. For more information or questions, contact Goodman at 937-206-7600.
The Yellow Springs News encourages respectful discussion of this article.
You must login to post a comment.
Don't have a login? Register for a free YSNews.com account.
No comments yet for this article.