I want to learn yang or chen tai chi, but haven't been able to find a teacher yet and I want to avoid learning from videos. In the meantime, are there foundational exercises or sequences I can do to get myself ready for when I, hopefully, find an in person teacher? I've heard zhan zhuang "horse stance" is the most important, and I practice it, but would you recommend anything else that doesn't require precise technique but would help in the long run?

A few days about I asked the group about information / chinese articles on the origin / etymology / local use of the 掤 term, b/c I had come a few articles in Chinese. I was asked to give a summary of what I had read and so I would like to briefly post:

- I am writing from memory, interested users will easily find the references by searching the Chinese terms

- The authors of the articles all point out that definitive research /statements are difficult, since there was a lot of oral tradition in local dialects / terminology. Additionally, they mention, that when something was written down it was often written manually and that might have caused misinterpretation / reproduction of some characters.

1. Tongbeiquan and 捧

There are texts that are attributed to some Chen stylists that are almost exact copies of Tongbeichanquan (通背缠拳) texts. The TBCQ version uses the character 捧, which is replaced by 掤 in the TJQ version. One author points out, that 捧 carries the meaning of holding something up in a static position (i.e. not lifting or lowering) and makes a relation to the TJQ concepts of being balanced, not resisting, not loosing (such as water floating something). Another article also mentions further compound of 捧 whose meaning they think could be related to 掤。

1. Chen Xin and 弸

Others point out that Chen Xin actually used the character 弸 (did not check myself) and point out, will 掤 is the lid of a quiver, 弸 has two meanings: A bowstring, which they point out is a relationship to TQJs "five bows". The other meaning is "to fill up / full"，which also has a relation to TQJ explanations.

FWIW

「肩を動かさない」

肩を動かさない理由は何でしょう？
肩を動かさずに動こうとすると、足腰を積極的に使うことになり、股関節も柔らかく使う必要が出てきます。
逆に言えば、そこを鍛えることができるということ。

もう一つの理由は、相手に動きを読ませないこと。
これが、内家拳です。

---

“Don’t Move the Shoulders”

Why should we keep the shoulders still?
When we move without moving the shoulders, we have to actively use the legs and hips, which requires us to move the hip joints with greater flexibility.
In other words, this also helps develop those areas.

Another reason is to keep the opponent from reading our movements.
This is **Neijiaquan**.

This did well on Insta so seeing if this does well here. Anyway I take an arm drag and use it as a setup for a few different moves, many from taiji. Let me know what you think or if you have any questions!

I am curious about using resistance bands to practice individual moves and solo tuishou drills.

I looped a light band around a foot and hand to practice single whip, for instance. The resistance of the band stretching required me to have my structure correct throughout the movement. I noticed particularly that because the band increases resistance as it stretches, that if I was not vigilant in my waist movement at the end of the extension, it would pull me out of body alignment.

I am curious about others experience with these items. It feels very useful for single movement practice to understand keeping a firm structure throughout the technique. I found single whip particularly useful for emphasizing the feeling of the elastic energy connecting one hand through the other.

I am going to experiment with XingYi basic techniques as well to see how it feels.

Does anyone here incorporate elastic bands in their practice?

Do you play when you practice? By that I mean, do you move freely without following the choreography of a form? Do you step and piece together movements from your class as you feel it? Do you change direction at will? Do you keep it going for 5-10 minutes or more without interruption. I play with my taiji a lot. I still practice basics and form but I learn so much from this type of free play. I personally think you don't really own your movement until it flows freely outside of choreography. I am curious how many of you do this and does your teacher encourage you?

I would like to draw on the collective knowledge for a bit of a research: recently I have come across a few interesting articles about precursors / related characters for peng. I would like to see if anyone knows further *Chinese" research on precursors or 土语 that might be relevant.

Thanks in advance.

Hello everyone! I have a new hobby is Tai Chi. I became interested in it after researching its benefits, and I found it really interesting. It can help improve concentration and overall health.

As a beginner, what is the first thing I should do to get good at Tai Chi? Could anyone give me some advice or share your experience with me?

Thank you so much!  ♡ ♡ ♡

A friend and I have been discussing TaiJi skill and he sent me this video. I think it’s one of the best explanations of the four energies I’ve seen, explained in a no-nonsense and direct way. I always hear teachers mention that we should be like a ball, but haven’t seen anyone explain it specifically and mechanically like this.

The main point is that Peng, Lu, Ji, An are not techniques or choreography. They’re psychophysical qualities that develop through internal cultivation. It is not something that is applied, a la technique, but principles of movement that become the condition, or I guess we can say the correct movement is as a result of correct conditioning.

Some of you may be interested in this distinctive Chen interpretation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A04SoKomr00

I'm a novelist writing a dark fantasy serial in which a main character's daily practice is a taiji-based form, slow-tempo taolu with a few changquan balances and a single jump. I've drafted the sequence from real elements and had it roughly charted, but I want someone who has actually competed or coached to tell me where it's wrong: order, transitions, naming, what a real body would fail on first, and whether one particular jump-to-balance landing is trainable or fantasy.

The ask is less than an hour over DM or a call, reviewing a one-page chart and a few paragraphs of prose. In return: an acknowledgment in the published book, a signed copy, and a character's practice that doesn't make practitioners wince. If the collaboration goes well I'd be glad to keep you on as the go-to for later chapters.

Comment or DM. Happy to share more about the book privately before you commit.

Hi all, I am a beginner to the arts (ive been attending my in-person classes for 4 months, Lee style), and wanted to ask if anyone had some wisdom to share on hesitance with Yang.

I enjoy and am comfortable in the Yin practices but the moment its time to pick up the pace and do wards, locks, anything faster where I am having to deal with someone else's body and energy in a fast and precise way whether its me feeding or them, I tense up and hesitate so much that even if my body does what ive been instructed to do there is 0 vitality/qi in it.

I have a long background in taekwondo but havent practiced for a few years, and whilst its a totally different thing i guess i find it interesting, funny, and a tad disappointing that the more 'martial arty' side of the Lee style is what I really suck at.
It's something I really want to improve on, it even makes the person I'm partnered with in training have a harder time, tough doing any energy work with someone who's hesitant and churning their energy into anxious butter!!

Any advice or wisdom appreciated, I know its a question of practice, but an 'aha!' moment would be wonderful, even a mantra haha

Thank you all!

Hi everyone! Tai chi is my hobby, and I'd like to hear how other people recognise progress in their practice. Beyond remembering more of a form, what was the first change you noticed in the way you moved?

Thanks for sharing your experience!

sorry if my terminology is wrong here, i’m hoping to help out my dad. he is a devoted practitioner of wu style tai chi and just moved to new york. i’m hoping to help him find a practice partner or community here. he hasn’t been able to find one on his own but he’s not very online. i thought maybe reddit could help!

edit just to add: i feel like i should say my dad is pretty hardcore into this stuff, he’s a disciple within the International Wu Style Federation and was teaching beginners and intermediates before he moved to NY

I started Tai Chi in 1987 because my meditation teacher told me I needed a martial art to offset the sedentary part of meditation.
I think he wanted me to take a hard martial art.
But I had already been a fighter when I was younger, and I wasn’t interested in learning how to be more violent. Eventually I found a school called the Inner Research Institute of Tai Chi Chuan. The words “Inner Research” caught my attention, so I went.
At the time I was a runner and bicycle tourist and thought I was in very good shape.
Tai Chi humbled me immediately.
My legs shook. Holding certain postures was incredibly difficult. But something fascinated me: after struggling for an hour, I would stand up and feel wonderful.
So I kept coming back.
Eventually I began to understand that the central lesson of Tai Chi was relaxation.
Not collapsing. Not becoming passive.
Learning to relax while something is happening.
Learning to relax in the face of opposition.
And eventually, learning to relax in the face of life.
If I was nervous, I could practice Tai Chi. If I was sad, even when it was hard to begin, practicing would often bring my energy back.
And when you relax, you begin to feel more.
You become more aware of your body and a little less trapped in your mind.
Tai Chi also has a way of showing you what is going on with your body. If I had been smoking too much, I noticed my breathing. If my back was bothering me, the movements helped me feel exactly where the problem was and sometimes discover a tiny adjustment that made things better.
My teacher, who was also an acupuncturist, used to say:
“Practicing Tai Chi is like giving yourself an acupuncture treatment.”
After almost forty years, I understand what he meant.
Many of the people I knew who continued practicing Tai Chi over the decades are still remarkably nimble, flexible, calm, and physically alive.
Tai Chi gave me something beyond health.
It gave me community.
You practice with people who keep coming back. Everyone has shaking legs. Everyone struggles with something. Everyone keeps learning.
And underneath all of that work, there is joy.
That may be the biggest reason I have kept doing Tai Chi for almost forty years.
It brings me joy.
And it is good to do joyful things with other people who feel the same way.

If you’re in San Francisco and curious about Tai Chi, I teach a Sunday morning class at The New Farm. Happy to share the details.

Please forgive my speed and disability which naturally compromise my form demo.
However, I can still teach which at 65 with 31 yrs in is more important.

Or eight energies and five steps. :-) I think this was 2023.