The way to health and tranquility

For a normal person just hoping to stay healthy, it is safe to do each of the five sequences with equal time and effort, and go through the sequences like this: the water stance at first, and then wood, followed by fire, earth and finally metal.

Xinling Jacquemet (front row, left) and Michael Jacquemet (front row, right), both Taoist kung fu instructors from Ecole Des Deux Voies, a Chinese kung fu training center in Valais, Switzerland, pose for a photo along with their students who are trying an advanced form of the Wudang Chunyang Wu Xing Zhuang exercise on March 3, 2020. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

But for kung fu practitioners, Wu Xing Zhuang has eight advanced forms, besides the basic standing-stance form. And that is why this exercise is also regarded as a lifetime practice for self-cultivation.

Like other classical indoor workouts such as baduan jin (eight-piece-brocade exercise), yijin jing (muscle-and-tendon-transforming exercise) and tai chi, Wu Xing Zhuang has rapidly gained traction at home and abroad, especially in the past decade. More and more people have found that doing the exercise properly and continually yields remarkable benefits -- a strong body and a peaceful mind.