1. Mr. Yang Chengfu——”Tai Chi Chuan is the art of softness containing hardness, with needles hidden in cotton. The postures should be upright and complete, calm and relaxed, with movements light, agile, and round, purely guided by the spirit.”“2. Mr. Cheng Man-ch’ing——”Absorb the energy of heaven, connect with the power of the earth, and extend life with softness. Each of the thirteen postures has its application, called ‘Lui’ (rolling), and its essence is ‘Zhong Ding’ (central stability). That is all. In application, one ‘Lui’ is sufficient. The form is merely designed for practice; in actual application, one need not use any posture.”3. Mr. Hao Weizhen——”When first practicing, it feels as if one is in water, with both feet on the ground, and movements encounter resistance like water. The second level is like being in water with both feet floating, moving freely in the water. The third level is light and agile, as if walking on the surface of the water, with a focused spirit, not daring to be scattered. This is the completion of the form.”4. Mr. Shi Ming——”Floating and moving through the void, the energy circles of the shoulders, waist, and hips—this is the entirety of Tai Chi Chuan’s body and application. To connect with someone without making mistakes like losing balance or resisting, two conditions must be met: one is to float, and the other is to move. Floating means that all joints and muscles are relaxed, completely eliminating stiffness and dead weight, with a sense of rising; moving means the energy flows, guided by intention, allowing internal energy to move freely within the body. Connecting means receiving energy (not with the hands but with the feet), and upon contact, the opponent becomes helpless, their whole body stuck, heels off the ground, and hands unable to act. (Scattering means being loose like water, not resisting or opposing. The void is like the gaseous state of water; when the opponent strikes, it feels empty and insubstantial.) The energy circles of the shoulders, waist, and hips extend downward along the body’s vertical line, gradually dispersing evenly around the shoulders, waist, and hips, forming an energy circle with a diameter of about one meter. The shoulder and hip circles are the same size, while the waist circle is slightly smaller. The shoulder circle mainly ensures the flexibility of the shoulders, elbows, wrists, and hands; the waist circle ensures the free rotation of the waist and provides power to all parts of the body; the hip circle ensures a stable lower body, allowing for agile movement in conjunction with upper limb activities to support the generation of force. The three circles are centered around the waist circle, imagining the shoulder circle connected above the waist circle and the hip circle connected below, moving flexibly together.”5. Mr. Yang Yuting——”Softness is not weakness; extreme softness is a high level of not resisting or opposing, like a shadow following a form, always feeling empty and insubstantial, unable to touch the opponent’s center. Advancing leads to emptiness, retreating leads to losing position. Extreme hardness makes the receiver feel the opponent’s strength, making it impossible to gain an advantage. On the other hand, after long practice, a buoyant energy develops, a highly elastic overall force (like the waves of the sea lifting a giant ship).”6. Mr. Chen Weiming——”Relax the tendons, loosen the joints, to seek softness. To seek softness allows the whole body to disperse without being connected. If you push the hand, the hand moves but the elbow does not; push the elbow, the elbow moves but the shoulder does not; push the shoulder, the shoulder moves but the body does not; push the body, the body moves but the waist does not; push the waist, the waist moves but the legs do not, thus remaining as stable as Mount Tai. When releasing, the energy flows from the feet to the legs, waist, shoulders, elbows, and hands, thus being able to release like an arrow. If one cannot be soft, the whole body becomes a single entity; although strong, when faced with a stronger force, if pushed in one place, the whole body becomes unstable. The function of softness is indeed great. Thus, one can be whole and dispersed, soft and hard, advancing and retreating, empty and solid, which is the wonderful application of Tai Chi Chuan.”7. Mr. Xiang Kairan——”Tai Chi is a circle. Tai Chi Chuan is a martial art formed by countless interconnected circles. Every movement, every gesture must not deviate from this circle. If it deviates from this circle, it violates the principles of Tai Chi Chuan. Not only must every movement not deviate from this circle, but when the limbs and body are still, they must also not leave the circle. The defense in Tai Chi Chuan is also an attack, and the attack is also a defense. One cannot use Tai Chi methods to attack others, nor can one use Tai Chi methods to defend. Because every hand is a circle, within this circle, half is defense and half is attack. The deeper the skill, the smaller the circle. Sometimes, one may not even see its rotation, yet it encompasses all the abilities of defense and attack. Pushing hands is also a Tai Chi circle. Within a circle, there are four hands: Peng (ward off), Lui (roll back), Ji (press), and An (push). Peng and Ji form a semicircle, while Lui and An form another semicircle. At the point of contact between the two, each hand forms a small circle. Within each small circle, there are also divisions of half circles for sticking and moving. Both hands must stick and move simultaneously, with clear distinctions between empty and solid; if not clear, one commits a double error. Once the distinctions between empty and solid are clear, one must pay attention to one hand being solid within the empty, and the other being empty within the solid. Otherwise, one hand may also commit a double error, with consequences similar to committing a double error with both hands. Whether practicing forms or pushing hands, one must pay attention to the tailbone and spine. All movements originate from here. The spine must be upright, neither leaning nor biased. Because movements must originate from the tailbone, it is sufficient to move the body and limbs, not to move the body by pulling the limbs. If the tailbone has a circle, then each part’s circle can stick and move; if the tailbone does not function, then each part’s circle loses its ability to stick and move.”8. Mr. Dong Yingjie——”The practice of Tai Chi Chuan uses the mind to guide the energy, without using crude force, purely allowing nature to take its course, avoiding the pain of strained muscles and joints, and the labor of skin abrasion. How can one have strength without using force? The essence of Tai Chi practice is to sink the shoulders and drop the elbows, allowing the energy to sink to the Dantian (the energy center). The energy can enter the Dantian (the central mechanism of energy), from which it distributes to the limbs and body, allowing energy to circulate throughout the body, with intention guiding the energy. Practicing in this position, the strength is limitless. The ancients said: “Extreme softness leads to extreme hardness.” This is what it means.”
9. Mr. Wang Yongquan——”In terms of energy circles in Tai Chi Chuan, there are ‘three horizontal and one vertical’ and four major circles. The horizontal circles include the shoulder circle, waist circle, and hip circle; the vertical circle includes the three-dimensional circle at the lower Dantian. The shoulder circle governs the body’s balance, the waist circle governs the body’s rotation, and the hip circle governs the body’s advance and retreat; the three-dimensional circle at the Dantian governs the body’s striking and force generation. Additionally, there are circles at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, ankles, and neck joints, with the upper and lower arms and legs containing several smaller circles; the entire body can be viewed as a large spherical body containing a cross. Inside the sphere, there is a horizontal line and a vertical line intersecting at the center, like one’s own center point. The horizontal line indicates that the shoulders are level, preventing the body from tilting. The vertical line is perpendicular between the Baihui (Hundred Meetings) point and the tailbone, with the intersection point at the front side of the thoracic vertebrae being the body’s center point. In the practice of energy and forms, one can imagine the body as a large round balloon, with postures changing as the balloon rotates, the rotation of the balloon being guided by its center, with the vertical line of the cross as the axis driving the balloon’s rotation, and the horizontal line of the cross pushing the balloon’s forward movement and expansion. The body’s advance and retreat are like the sphere bobbing on the water; the body’s rise and fall are like the sphere expanding and contracting; the body’s rotation is like the sphere rolling in the waves.
Regardless of how the position of the sphere changes, the internal cross lines must maintain balance and uprightness. Through practice over time, the body can remain adaptable. In pushing hands, receiving energy or issuing force can utilize the large balloon. If the opponent strikes my left side, I rotate the balloon to the left; if the opponent strikes my right side, I rotate the balloon to the right; if the opponent strikes from above, I rotate the balloon upward; always causing the opponent’s force to miss. When issuing force, one can either rotate forward along the edge of the horizontal or vertical circle, or move straight forward to collide with the opponent. If the opponent is weak on the left, I rotate the balloon to the left to strike their center with my right side; if the opponent is weak on the right, I rotate the balloon to the right to strike their center with my left side; if the opponent is weak above, I rotate the balloon upward to strike their center; if the opponent’s force is strong and wants to push me upward, I quickly make the balloon contract and then expand, creating a spring-like force to strike. Once the balloon moves, it simultaneously has both the ability to transform and to issue force. The side rotating to the left transforms the opponent’s incoming force, while the side rotating to the right directly attacks the opponent’s center. The side rotating to the right transforms the opponent’s incoming force, while the side rotating to the left directly attacks the opponent’s center. The side rotating backward transforms the opponent’s incoming force, while the side rotating forward directly attacks the opponent’s center. Additionally, the large balloon can also protect one’s center; when the opponent strikes me, they can only hit the surface of the balloon, without affecting my center.”
10. Mr. Ma Yueliang——”The ‘lightness’ of Tai Chi Chuan cannot be explained simply as not using force. Lightness is relative to heaviness. Lightness means avoiding ‘explosive force’ and preventing double errors. Lightness is not slackness. Slackness and explosive force are both major taboos in Tai Chi Chuan. Lightness is having strength without using it. Thus, it is said that ‘it seems slack but is not slack, it is about to expand but has not yet expanded’—this is the essence of Tai Chi strength.”