Wudang Gongfu, one important school of Chinese Martial Arts has a very long history. Wudang Gongfu, incorporating ways to stay healthy and prolong the lifespan as well as collecting the skills to fight, is not only a special school of Martial Arts, but also a whole system of Martial Arts theory.

Wudang Gongfu, as a culture, takes root in the fertile soil of thousand-year long Chinese civilization, containing profound Chinese philosophical theories, combined twith the raditional notions of Taiji, Yinyang, Five-element, Eight-diagram into boxing theories, boxing skills, exercise and attack policies, tantamount to studying the laws of life activities. So we can say that Wudang Gongfu is the crystallization of Wudang Taoism in the process of studying life.

It is said that Zhang-Sanfeng, the founder of Wudang Boxing, was self-cultivating in Wudang Mountains, when he witnessed a fight between a magpie and a snake. That the magpie was flying up and down to attack and the snake was shaking its body and raising its head to fight back gave him inspiration and understanding of the Taiji theory so that proceeded to create Wudang Internal Kungfu.

The original legend of Wudang Gongfu, and the pose of the snake in the fighting have visually demonstrated the gist of Wudang Gongfu: to overcome the strong in a gentle way and to win by striking only after the enemy had struck. To ascertain one's position and then defeat the enemy.

After many boxing masters enrichment and development, Wudang Gongfu has many derivatived schools and kinds, such as, Taiji boxing, Form-and-will boxing, and Eight-diagram Palm; and Taiji Sword; Lightening Gongfu, Hard Gongfu, feats and variations of Qigong. From then on, Wudang Gongfu has walked out of the deep mountains and become an important school of Chinese Martial Arts. There are many schools of Wudang Gongfu today, but the Sect of Zhang Sanfeng remains the one that has inherited Wudang Gongfu in the most complete way. Priest Zhong Yunlong is the 14th-generation master of the Sanfeng Sect and Priest Chen Shixing is one of his most outstanding formal disciples.

Wudang Taiji Quan

Wudang Taiji Quan highly stresses the fullness of internal energy, breath, and spirit. The eight criteria that Wudang Taijiquan stresses when playing are; lightness, easiness, roundness, evenness, flexibility, changeableness, steadiness and precision. The motto for practice is: to be relaxed, complete, prompt, and sudden. The peculiar principles of Wudang Taiji are to be hard and strong inside, round and smooth outside and to strike out quickly, quick enough so the opponent does not notice. Move like waves of the Yangzi River flowing to the ocean, one after another, never stopping.

Wudang Qigong

Laozi's Dao Te Jing in the third chapter says "Empty the mind, fill the belly. Weaken the ambition, strengthen the character." So then, this is the motto for practicing China's Wudang Daoist Qigong. To study each method, each method must be understood, as well as the the energy processed. Wudang Qigong has eighteen types of practice exercises and methods. In practicing Wudang Qigong, the first step is to move the inner breath in the small heavenly circle, whitch is also known as the first gate and is called refining the energy and transforming the breath. Together, energy, breath, and spirit become spiritual breath. The second step is to move the inner breath in the large heavenly circle; this is known as the middle gate and is called refining the breath and transforming the spirit. Together spirit and breath become one. The third step is combining ten thousand things into an integral whole; this is known as refining the spirit and returning to the void. Recover and return to emptiness, understand the heart; see the character, make the body stronger, and prolong the years.

Stiff and unbending is the principle of death.
Gentle and yielding is the principle of life.
Thus an army without flexibility never wins a battle.
A tree that is unbending is easily broken.
The hard and strong will fall.
The soft and weak will overcome.