Glossary
- Upper tantien
- Also known as upper dantian. Located in the brain, this tantien controls human perceptual mechanisms and psychic functions.
- Wai ba jang (wai ba zhang, wai pa chang)
- Outer eight palms. Basic pre-birth ba gua chang practice of secondary circle-walking techniques that function as fighting applications only.
- Wai jia (wai chia)
- External practices. Practices that do not appreciably cultivate the inner part of a person's being, but are primarily concerned with accomplishing goals in the external world.
- Water element
- In Chinese cosmology, one of the basic energies or elements from which all manifested phenomena are created.
- Water method
- A meditation or energetic technique that emphasizes using full effort without strain or force.
- Wei chi
- The layer of energy between a person’s skin and muscle that protects against disease entering the body from the external environment.
- White Crane
- An external/internal Chinese martial art that mimics the actions of the bird called the white crane. There are three branches to this style: Cantonese, Fukien, and Northern, each having different specialities.
- White Eyebrow (pak mei in Cantonese, bai mei in Mandarin)
- An external/internal, short-hand Southern Shaolin fighting style from Canton province.
- Wing Chun
- A southern Chinese external martial art based primarily on hand strikes. Its primary fighting development methodology is called “sticky hands” or chi sau, a practice in which both opponents keep arm/hand contact as they try to hit and defend against each other’s attacks.
- Wood element
- In Chinese cosmology, one of the basic energies or elements from which all manifested phenomena are created.
- Wu mei
- An external/internal Southern Shaolin martial art.
- Wu Style tai chi
- A style of tai chi chuan especially known for its healing and meditation components. A small-frame fighting style that developed from the Yang style. Wu style is the second most popular form of tai chi in China and is becoming more available in the West.
- Wu wei
- Doing without doing. The fundamental Taoist concept of having action arise from an empty mind without preconception or agenda, action that operates by simply following the natural course of universal energy as it manifests itself without strain or ego involvement.
- Wushu
- A generic term that refers to martial arts used at various times in Chinese history. Sometimes called “modern martial arts.” Contemporary Wushu is now based on sport or stage performance value rather than fighting. It is philosophically different from traditional martial arts.
- Yin and yang meridans
- The twelve major vertical subtle energy channels of the body.
- Yin fu style of ba gua
- Second most popular form of ba gua today; uses the Willow Leaf Palm.
- Yin yang
- The classic Taoist concept that the universe is composed of opposites (sun/moon, active/passive, work/rest, happiness/sadness, etc.) that are not antagonistic, but complementary and necessary to fulfill each other. It is through the yin-yang play of opposites that all manifestation, obvious or subtle, occurs.
- Yung fa (yong fa)
- The fighting applications of a Chinese martial art move.
- Zen (Zen is Japanese; in Chinese: Chan)
- A spiritual discipline created by a fusion of Taoist and Buddhist methods. Zen practices are sometimes adapted to the martial arts. See Buddhism.
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