Practicing Tai Chi, as an entry-level skill, should understand and follow the most basic rules of Tai Chi, such as head up, shoulders down, elbows down, wrists sitting, fingers spread, chest contained, abdomen solid, buttocks gathered, and waist loose. Otherwise, even if it is only for fitness, the effect will be greatly reduced.
Tai Chi masters have repeatedly reminded us that practicing Tai Chi is a matter of a millimeter difference, a thousand miles away. The fake Tai Chi of looking up, holding shoulders, lifting elbows, straightening wrists, invisible fingers, sticking out chest, lifting belly, sticking buttocks, and pulling waist is not only a millimeter difference from the real Tai Chi of head up, shoulders down, elbows down, wrists sitting, fingers spread, chest contained, abdomen solid, buttocks gathered, and waist loose, but they have nothing in common, so the difference is not just a thousand miles away, but a world of difference.
- Posture
Posture is the primary issue in practicing Tai Chi well. So what kind of postures should be practiced in Tai Chi? There are many kinds of Tai Chi standing exercises, including opening and closing standing exercises, squatting standing exercises, horse stance standing exercises, hand-waving Pipa standing exercises, hand-lifting standing exercises, white crane spreading wings standing exercises, etc. In fact, each Tai Chi movement is a standing exercise.
The standing exercise should be practiced to the point that two or three or even three or five ordinary people cannot push or pull, and no matter how good a young man is, he cannot even lift his arms. Only then can the requirements of Tai Chi standing exercises be basically met.
- Head skills
The requirements for the head in Tai Chi are that the head should be upright and the chin should be slightly retracted. It is called: empty neck and top strength, the chin should be slightly retracted, and the qi should flow through the top. If the strength of the top of the head is not enough when pushing hands to push someone, it may not be able to push or push far. With this strength of the top of the head, it may be possible to push or push very beautifully.
Therefore, empty neck and top strength are indispensable. The facial expression should be natural, and you should not smile or grin. In short, no matter how difficult or easy it is, the facial expression should be natural, as if nothing has happened.
- Eye Skills
When practicing Tai Chi, your eyes should always match the movements. Look ahead when you should, and look at your front hand when you should. No matter where you look, it should make people feel natural and appropriate. For example, in the White Crane Spreads Its Wings, you should look straight ahead after the posture is set; in the Left Wild Horse Spreads Its Mane, when holding the ball, the right hand is on top and the left hand is on the bottom, and the eyes should look at the right index finger above.
When the left foot steps out and slowly settles into a left bow step, the left hand also reaches the left chest at the same time, and the right hand stops beside the right hip. At this time, the eyes should look at the left hand’s base or index finger. When looking at the left hand, you can neither stare nor be confused, but look at the front hand with both eyes.
- Breathing Skills
Breathing should be natural when practicing Tai Chi. When practicing, breathe in and out in coordination with the movements, so that the breathing is slowly prolonged. It is best if the ears cannot hear the breathing, and there should be no interruption in breathing. It should be noted that practicing Tai Chi is different from the 28-hour or 48-hour breaths of morning exercises. Instead, you should coordinate your breathing according to the difficulty and length of the movements. From the start to the end, you should inhale when you rise and exhale when you fall, and inhale when you close and exhale when you release.
Over time, you can combine the movements with breathing. If you work harder, you can reach the state of Qi and strength. Of course, there are more advanced breathing skills, that is, when you are practicing Tai Chi, you suddenly feel a thunder in your ear, and you don’t feel that you are breathing. This is fetal breathing. If you can often reach the state of fetal breathing, longevity is certain.
- Ear skills
I talked about breathing that the ears can’t hear, so what do the ears hear? I think the ears should listen to the sound of cicadas. What is the sound of cicadas? The sound of cicadas is the sound of “er” emitted in our brain when we are quiet for a while. As long as you can eliminate distracting thoughts, keep your mind focused, and listen to the cicadas attentively, over time, you will hear a “clatter” in your ears in an instant, like thunder, and you will be quiet.
At this time, you only know how to practice boxing, and don’t know anything else. You see as if you don’t see. You see people as if you don’t see them, see things as if you don’t see them, and see everything as if you don’t see them. This is the best effect of seeking stillness in movement in Tai Chi. Long-term stillness leads to liveliness. This movement is not the movement of practicing Tai Chi movements, but the movement of a little true Yang. This little true Yang is the movement of no thought and self-raising (so to practice real Tai Chi, especially health-preserving exercises, you can’t practice together, and it’s not convenient for men and women to practice together. This is the key).
- Tongue skills
When practicing Tai Chi, you should roll the tip of your tongue back from the preparatory posture and press it against the Tianchi acupoint. There are two acupoints at the root of the tongue, the left is Jinjing and the right is Shiquan. As the movements slowly move, the two acupoints under the tongue will secrete saliva, which is called “Jade Liquid” in the jargon.
- Shoulder skills
When practicing Tai Chi, no matter what movements you do, whether rising or falling, your shoulders will always sink. This sinking is not a rigid sinking, but a natural and relaxed sinking. People who don’t know how to practice boxing often think that sinking shoulders has no effect. Shoulder is the root of the arm. If the shoulder can be relaxed and sink, then ordinary people will definitely not be able to lift your arm.
The same is true for releasing people. If the opponent is heavier, then if you slightly tilt your shoulder, you will immediately lose your strength. Because the shoulder is tilted, the arm is disconnected from the whole body and the elbow and wrist, so there is no strength. Only when the shoulder is relaxed, the arm and the whole body become a tightly locked whole, and become one with the elbow and wrist, can the strength be used well.
The ancestors called the shoulder the root of the arm, the elbow is the middle section, and the wrist is the tip section. This shows the importance of sinking shoulders in Tai Chi. When practicing Tai Chi, except for individual movements such as the down posture, no matter how difficult the movements are, the two shoulders must always be on the same horizontal line.
In pushing hands, shoulder leaning is a very powerful fighting action. If the opponent pushes me, I can just use the opponent’s pulling force to lean towards the middle of the opponent. The light one leans out a few feet away, and the heavy one immediately goes into shock. This shows the power of sinking shoulders and shoulder leaning.
- Elbow Kung Fu
Practicing Tai Chi emphasizes sinking shoulders and dropping elbows. If the shoulders are relaxed and sunken, but the elbows are slightly lifted outward and sunken inward, the effect of sinking shoulders will be immediately destroyed, and the strength will be scattered. The elbow is the middle section of the arm. If there is a problem with the middle section, the root section and the tip section will be affected, and the strength cannot be complete.
Therefore, whether it is the wild horse split mane, the knee hugging step or other movements, the elbow cannot be lifted outward or buckled inward, and even the four-corner shuttle is not allowed to lift the elbow. In pushing hands, the lethality of the elbow is too powerful, so masters are often reluctant to use elbows to hit the opponent.
If this elbow is pushed up, such as hitting the ribs, it will break several ribs, and the lighter one will vomit blood, so the use of elbows is strictly prohibited in pushing hands competitions. The standing elbow is even more powerful. Even if it hits the opponent’s back, it can make the opponent unbearable, not to mention hitting the vital point.
- Wrist Kung Fu and Fingertip Kung Fu
Practicing Tai Chi emphasizes wrist sitting and finger extension, so that the shoulder, elbow and wrist become a consistent whole. If the shoulder is heavy, the elbow is dropped, but the wrist is not seated, the strength of the arm cannot be unified, and the strength of the shoulder and elbow cannot be reliably guaranteed.
The arm is the two doors of the upper body. The shoulder, elbow and wrist must be a unified whole to be able to use it freely. If the shoulder, elbow and wrist are unified, the strength cannot be exerted if the fingers are not extended, so the problem of finger extension cannot be underestimated. When sending someone out, the finger is at the front. It is not possible to send someone out without rolling the wrist (such as squeezing, it will not work if the wrist is not rolled), and it is not possible without the shaking and elastic strength of the fingertips.
Fingers not extending are not watchable from the performance point of view. When doing Tai Chi push hands, the fingertips should be like a Chinese medicine pulse. Once they touch the opponent, they can hear the opponent’s strength and skill clearly.
- Strength of the two arms
Practicing Tai Chi embodies circular motion everywhere, which the predecessors of martial arts called “holding the origin and guarding the unity”. I have explained this “one” in ear kung fu, and I would like to emphasize it again. This is the innate qi, which is the true yang without thoughts.
Mr. Sun Lutang said, “Tai Chi is a rubber ball, and Xingyi is an iron ball.” Mr. Sun said Tai Chi is a rubber ball, not a rubber ball without air, but a fully inflated rubber ball, which is round everywhere, leaving the opponent with nowhere to attack. For example, when pushing hands, the two arms are very round, like a rubber ball, so where can the opponent attack? The opponent has no way to attack, and there is no flaw. This is the effect that holding the ball should achieve.
In terms of shoulders, the shoulders are round, and a fist can fit in the armpits below the shoulders; in terms of waist, the waist is like an axle, and can be used freely everywhere; in terms of back, the back is round, and the back is like a bow, which means infinite strength; in terms of crotch, the crotch is round when the anus is lifted and the crotch is wrapped; in terms of legs, the rear supporting leg (such as bow step) is round; in terms of hands, the tiger’s mouth is round; in terms of starting and ending hands, the starting hand is an arc, and the ending hand is also an arc. In the jargon, it means “starting hands should be light and agile, and ending hands should be calm”.
The so-called starting hands light and agile, and ending hands calmly, means that the practitioner does not deliberately use strength, but it makes experts feel that there is a kind of hidden strength everywhere. Quite a lot of people think that practicing Tai Chi, just practice casually, and don’t use any strength. This is wrong. If you practice strictly according to the standards of Tai Chi, without sticking out your chest, lifting your belly, and sticking out your buttocks, even after practicing a set of 24 postures, most people’s legs will tremble.
- Chest Skills
Practicing Tai Chi has very strict requirements on the chest. The head is up, the elbows are down, the wrists are down, and the fingers are extended. However, if the chest is pushed up, the above-mentioned wholeness will be destroyed. The shoulder, elbow, and wrist requirements mentioned above are all requirements for the force to sink down, and if the chest is pushed up, the qi will surge up and stop at the chest. Tai Chi requires the whole body to be one, and the force will be relaxed to the feet. If the qi surges up, it is impossible to relax to the feet.
Only when the chest is slightly retracted can the qi descend to the Dantian. If the chest is slightly retracted, the back can be rounded and the qi can be attached to the back. Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua all require the chest to be retracted, and even Western boxing requires the chest to be retracted. Only when the chest is retracted can the strength of the two shoulders be extended forward, left, and right. If the chest is pushed up, the strength will be dismembered and blocked by the chest, and it is impossible to release it far. Tai Chi emphasizes the spirit to be gathered into the bones, and the qi to be attached to the back, so the chest must be retracted. Therefore, if the chest is not retracted, not only the strength is blocked, but also the qi cannot sink to the Dantian. Therefore, regardless of gender, when practicing Tai Chi, one must retract the chest.
- Abdominal Kung Fu
Practicing Tai Chi requires that the Qi sinks into the Dantian. The Dantian is one inch and three below the navel. When the Qi sinks into the Dantian, the abdomen is round and filled with Qi. If you lift your belly and say that the Qi sinks into the Dantian, is that possible? When you lift your belly, the abdomen is flat, which means that the Qi has not sunk into the Dantian. If the Qi has not sunk into the Dantian, it will inevitably surge into the chest. Therefore, lifting the belly and retracting the abdomen are taboos for practicing Tai Chi well.
A Tai Chi master with Kung Fu sinks the Qi into the Dantian, and can withstand a few punches and kicks on the abdomen. Tai Chi Push Hands emphasizes a full abdomen. Tai Chi Push Hands masters, such as Mr. Hao Jiajun, use their abdomen to hit people with much more force than ordinary people use their hands. Often, he pulls inward, and a bounce of the abdomen can knock people out a few feet away. The power of the abdomen to release people is higher than that of others using pushes and squeezes.
- Waist Kung Fu
The waist and abdomen are connected, so why should we talk about them separately? Because the martial arts masters of the past talked more about the waist, I talk about the waist and abdomen separately so that I can focus on the abdomen. When practicing Tai Chi, the waist drives the limbs, and the waist is the master of the body. The predecessors said that the waist is like an axle. When practicing Tai Chi, the left and right rotation of the waist drives the hands and feet. If the waist does not move, the arms will hardly move.
Tai Chi masters can use their waists reasonably, so their movements are often unnoticed by ordinary people. It should be noted that the left and right rotation of the waist does not mean swinging or twisting the waist. If it is swinging or twisting the waist, it is a big mistake. Therefore, when practicing Tai Chi, everything moves when you move, and everything is still when you are still. Everything moves in the waist, and everything is still in the heart and brain.
Let’s take the example of the left wild horse splitting mane. The left foot steps out and lands, the toes are upturned, the heels are on the ground, and the two hands slowly separate to the left and right. On the surface, it seems that the hands are moving, but in fact, the waist is slowly rotating to the left. If the waist does not move, the movement stops immediately. Another example is the Cloud Hands. On the surface, it seems that the hands are moving left and right, but in fact, it is the waist that is rotating left and right. It is just that the wrists are flipped when the waist turns left and right.
If only the hands are moving and the waist does not rotate left and right, it can only be said that it is a beginner in Tai Chi. Pushing hands emphasizes the power of the waist. If you push hands with someone, can you do it with a sore waist? If you don’t have the skills of the waist and can’t rotate back and forth, left and right, can you catch the opponent’s push? It can be seen how important the waist plays in practicing Tai Chi and Tai Chi Pushing Hands.
- Buttocks skills
Practicing Tai Chi has extremely strict requirements for holding the buttocks. From the perspective of the whole body, the buttocks occupy a very critical position. If the buttocks are raised, the strength of the whole body will be disconnected at the buttocks, and the upper and lower parts cannot be combined, so that the strength of the whole body is disconnected.
The strength from the head to the waist is coordinated and moved downward. When the buttocks are retracted, the strength of the whole body can be relaxed to the feet, so that the strength of the whole body and the whole body can be unified and fall on the two feet. Then, when releasing or sending people, the unified strength of the whole body can be used reasonably, from the heels to the legs, buttocks, abdomen, waist, chest, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and hands, and the upper and lower parts are coordinated. Thus, the strength of the whole body becomes a complete system. This is the importance of the buttocks retraction.
When practicing Tai Chi, the head should be up, the shoulders should be down, the elbows should be down, the wrists should be sitting, the fingers should be extended, the chest should be contained, the abdomen should be solid, the buttocks should be retracted, the anus should be lifted, and the posture should be taken in the middle. When practicing, the hands should be light and agile, and the hands should be calm. The hardness contains softness, and the softness contains hardness. This is the style and taste of Tai Chi.
- Leg Kung Fu
We have talked about the pile before. Here we talk about the legs, mainly talking about the leg skills of the bow step. We talked about the problem of sticking out the buttocks before. Because the buttocks cannot be retracted, the reflection in the bow step is the waist pulling.
The requirements for Tai Chi’s bow step are: hold the buttocks, form a natural bend in the back leg, and push the back knee outward as much as possible, so that the knee and the back toe are in a straight line, and the front knee does not exceed the toe. Only when this requirement is met can it be a Tai Chi bow step, otherwise it is not a Tai Chi bow step.
- Footwork
There is a famous saying in the Chinese martial arts community: leg training is the basis. Western fitness training has also discovered this point: leg training is the core and foundation of strength training. “People get old first in their legs.” Legs are the foundation of a person’s life. Leg muscles account for 60% of the weight of the body’s muscles. All human activities rely on strong leg strength to support them. Strong muscles can not only better protect bone joints and improve basic strength, but also better prevent the loss of bone nutrition, prevent osteoporosis, and prevent strength loss. If the leg strength is insufficient, it will not only affect the body’s athletic ability, but also reduce the body’s stability. Therefore, from ancient times to the present, there has always been a saying that “if you practice boxing without leg training, you will get old in vain”, which shows the importance of leg strength training.
I wonder if you have noticed that traditional Tai Chi requires a lot of leg strength. Many movements require one leg to support the entire weight of the body, and keep the buttocks and body from shaking. If you want to keep the body straight, the leg strength must be strong enough. Therefore, it can be said that Tai Chi exercises the human body first of all, and the benefits of Tai Chi to the human body are first of all the benefits brought by strong legs.
- Mirror Kung Fu
A mirror is a mirror used to check whether the movements of oneself or others in Tai Chi are correct or not. The function of this mirror is to use it to check one’s own Tai Chi movements and the movements of others at all times to avoid deviation. No matter who practices Tai Chi, the original shape will be revealed immediately when using this mirror.
What is this mirror? It is the restoration method. The restoration method is to restore the movement without any adjustment. Except for some movements such as Xia Shi and Hai Di Zhen, which can be slightly tilted forward, all other movements are restored without any adjustment.
For example, in the starting posture, if the movement leans forward, then if you restore it without any adjustment, the ugly posture of leaning forward will immediately appear; if the starting posture leans backward, then if you restore it without any adjustment, the ugly posture of leaning backward, sticking out the belly and chest will immediately appear; if the starting posture has one shoulder higher than the other, then if you restore it without any adjustment, the ugly posture of one shoulder higher than the other will immediately appear; if the starting posture has a sticking out buttocks, then if you restore it without any adjustment, the ugly posture of practicing boxing with the buttocks sticking out will immediately appear.