1. In practicing any Tai Chi movement, one must divide the body into Yin and Yang, distinguishing between emptiness and fullness, with expansion and contraction. When the left side contracts, the right side expands; when the right side contracts, the left side expands; when the upper body contracts, the lower body expands; when the lower body contracts, the upper body expands; when the front contracts, the back expands; when the back contracts, the front expands.
2. Before initiating any hand movements in Tai Chi, one should first relax the ribs, followed by the shoulders, elbows, and wrists.
3. “Song Chen” (relaxation and sinking) does not mean the entire body sinks down; rather, it refers to the area below the Mingmen (命门, Gate of Life) sinking while the area above it rises. This embodies the principle of “sinking strength lasting, leading strength unbroken”.
4. In practicing the forms, the focus should not be on the fixed postures. The transitional movements between forms are of utmost importance, allowing for a flow that is “continuous and fluid, like flowing clouds and flowing water”.
5. When a certain part of the body cannot relax, do not focus on that area; instead, shift your attention to relaxing the areas above or below it.
6. While practicing, maintain the “Three Empties”: empty palms, empty chest, and empty soles.
7. “Qi sinks into the bones” means using intention to draw the shoulders and back towards the spine, sinking down to the tailbone.
8. During form practice, internal strength should have fluctuations (or rises and falls). The fluctuations occur as the two hips relax, allowing the body to slowly sink under the influence of gravity. When it sinks to the bottom, the body will automatically rebound upwards. This principle should be consistent throughout the entire set of forms.
9. We often say “Song Chen”. What does it mean to sink? Sinking is not about dropping straight down; it should be like a piece of paper floating down in the air. The left side sinks while the right side rises, and then the right side sinks while the left side rises. This creates a gentle floating motion.
10. When practicing, one should visualize the head, back, chest, and hips as four skins. At any time, only one skin can expand.
11. Every movement in the forms should involve counter-pulling. For example, if the hands move upwards, the body should sink down (the hip skin). If the hands extend forward, the body should move backward (the back skin). If the hands move left, the body moves right; if the hands move right, the body moves left. The hands and body should seem to pull against each other, or like a ball expanding in all directions.
12. After completing any movement, the body should achieve “virtual leading top strength”, with the chest contained and the back pulled, relaxing the hips and expanding the knees, while the hands open at the Laogong (劳工穴, Labor Palace) point, with intention reaching the fingertips.
13. One must only begin the next movement after the previous one is fully completed; do not rush ahead. (This is something I struggle with, often feeling rushed.)
14. Every movement begins at the body’s “centerline” and ends at the “centerline”.
15. If the palms and fingers can relax, and the wrists are not stiff, dropped, or bent, then the entire palm and fingers will naturally feel full, and the fingers will open naturally. One must never use brute force to close or spread the fingers. The fingertips should lead with top strength, while the base of the fingers sinks into the Dantian (丹田, Elixir Field).
16. Both hands should act as one. The back should feel as if there is an invisible thread connecting the left and right hands. When one hand sinks, the other hand is drawn upwards. When one hand draws inward, the other hand is drawn outward.
17. When one hand moves, the intention should be to open that hand in all directions.
18. When pushing forward, the position of the shoulder blades should be relaxed. When retracting the hands, the Jianjing (肩井穴, Shoulder Well) point should be relaxed.
19. When extending the hands forward, they must not go outside the circle. The so-called “circle” is an invisible circle formed in front of the body, which one can feel. If the hands go outside the circle, as long as the opponent adheres, with a slight pull, one will lose balance and the body will lean forward.
20. One method to relax the shoulders, sink the elbows, and relax the wrists is to first relax the entire arm, using intention to push open the shoulder joint, imagining a valve of a water pipe being opened, allowing water to flow slowly from the shoulder down the upper arm. When the upper arm is filled with water, the weight of the water causes the elbow to sink. Then, open the elbow joint to let the water continue flowing to the forearm. Once the forearm is filled with water, open the wrist joint to let the water flow to the palm, and finally open the space between the thumb and index finger to let the water flow to the fingertips.
21. During push hands, to increase the weight on the hands, one should not simply press down with force, but rather lead the body upwards with top strength, allowing the weight on the hands to naturally increase. If both hands move to the left, the body must move to the right. Similarly, if both hands move to the right, the body must move to the left.
22. When practicing forms or push hands, one must relax every joint in the upper limbs, including the wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints. Imagine that the inner sides of the wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints are holding a small expanding ball, pushing each joint open. Additionally, if one or both hands are simultaneously embracing a circle in front of the chest, imagine a round ball centered between the hands and chest. This ball can expand and contract according to one’s intention, representing opening and closing. Furthermore, visualize the body as a ball. When imagining the ball expanding, not only do the hands move forward, but the body also moves backward, and the elbows and sides of the body expand outward, even the top of the head and feet stretch up and down. This is because the ball expands in all directions simultaneously.
23. The sequence of relaxing the shoulders, elbows, and wrists is a training of “intention”. The goal is to make any part of the hands obey the command of “intention”. As the skill of the hands improves, the sequence of relaxing the shoulders, elbows, and wrists can be combined in any order, such as wrist, elbow, shoulder.
24. Imagine the body as a bell in a temple. The inner sides of the legs are the inner walls of the bell, and the tailbone is the clapper. The clapper can only swing within the range of the bell’s inner wall. This means that the tailbone should never overlap with either leg; otherwise, it would be double.
25. Whether practicing forms or push hands, when in a bow stance, the back foot should not push back or down with force, but rather open the hips, expand the knees, and relax the groin, knee, and ankle joints. This way, the back foot will not become stiff, and the weight will flow to the sole and toes, rebounding. The rebound force will travel from the heel to the leg, waist, etc. At this point, the heel will feel a rising sensation, allowing the body to move up and down flexibly.
26. When in a bow stance, the body’s weight should shift from the lower abdomen to the inner thigh of the front solid leg. Imagine that each hip has a balloon. The balloon at the root of the front leg’s hip slowly shrinks, causing the hip area to relax, retract, and sink; while the balloon at the back leg’s hip slowly expands.
27. If the body turns left, the right foot should move first, followed by the left foot; conversely, if the body turns right, the left foot should move first, followed by the right foot. However, whether turning left or right, one must maintain top strength, using intention to shrink one side of the body, rotating around the spine as the main axis, leading the entire body to turn.
28. Whether practicing forms or push hands, if one wishes to rotate the spine, it must be done in place, without moving forward, backward, or sideways during the turn.
29. The transition between the solid and empty feet during form practice, such as shifting from a sitting stance to a bow stance or vice versa, should not simply involve pushing the solid foot forward or backward, transferring the body’s weight in a straight line from one foot to the other. A better method is to imagine the Dantian as a water pump, and the entire leg of the solid foot as filled with water. When transitioning between the two legs, the water pump in the Dantian slowly draws the water from the solid leg, then gradually fills the empty leg. The flow of water should resemble an inverted English letter “∩”. In this process of imagining the pumping and filling of water, the body will naturally move forward or backward. The so-called intention is not merely thinking; it must feel as if water is flowing from one leg upwards, passing through the Dantian, and then flowing downwards. This means we must be able to “use intention” to direct the flow of water.
Additionally, beyond being able to direct the flow of water with “intention”, one must also control the speed of the water flow. The flow of water should be smooth, without pauses. For example, if the amount of water in the solid leg starts at 9 and decreases to 0, then the amount of water being filled in the empty leg should start at 0 and increase to 9. The feeling of the water’s flow and speed through intention may initially be vague and slow. Sometimes, the feeling may even be interrupted. However, with more practice, the feeling and speed of intention can accelerate and strengthen, becoming faster than lightning. This is how one can achieve the principle of Tai Chi: “using intention rather than force” and “the hand is not as fast as the intention”. During the practice of “intention”, the mind must be highly focused, without thinking of other things.
Furthermore, during the aforementioned transition between the legs, one must maintain “virtual leading top strength” and achieve “step-by-step relaxation, step-by-step connection”. This is essential to meet the requirement of “with every movement, the whole body must be light and agile, and must be interconnected”. When we follow the above methods to transition between the two legs, if we can achieve full-body relaxation and lightness, at the moment when the weight shifts entirely from one leg to the other, one will feel a force rebounding from the ground to the solid foot. We should relax from the soles of the feet, through the ankle joints, knee joints, hips, etc., allowing this rebound force to travel to any part of the body according to our intention, serving as the source of power for that body part.
For example, the upward step of the empty foot or the Peng Jin (掤劲, warding off strength) in the hands. It is important to note that if there are any areas along the path of the ground rebound force that are not relaxed, then the transmission of the ground rebound force will stop at the point of tension. Therefore, during form practice, it is essential to relax the entire body, step-by-step relaxation, step-by-step connection, with one movement following another without interruption.
30. In each Tai Chi practice session, one should only choose one focus for practice, such as the shoulders, elbows, wrists, or the transition of the legs between solid and empty. One must not be greedy, as haste makes waste.
31. The so-called mental methods and focuses are merely tools or means to help us meet the requirements of Tai Chi. Once we have mastered a certain focus and can use it freely, we should forget about that focus and allow its requirements to arise naturally.
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