As one of the treasures of the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation, learning Yang-style Tai Chi requires first mastering certain basic skills.

Basic skills of Yang-style Tai Chi

With the popularity of Tai Chi, the fitness value of Tai Chi has been increasingly loved and valued by the general public. If you want to learn Tai Chi well, you must follow the correct method, step by step, and learn from the most basic knowledge one by one. The method I introduce here is the entry-level Yang-style Tai Chi suitable for middle-aged and elderly friends to exercise. I hope beginners can refer to it for practice.

Since Tai Chi was spread by famous martial arts and Taoist masters in ancient my country, its fitness and health value has been well known. Tai Chi absorbs the essence of various ancient Chinese boxing methods, and combines the ancient guiding, breathing and qigong techniques and the meridian theory of traditional Chinese medicine, as well as the ancient Yin-Yang and Five Elements theory, with Taoism, Tai Chi Bagua and other theories as the philosophical basis of Tai Chi.

(I) Basic hand shape

  1. Fist – curl the five fingers, press the thumb on the second knuckle of the index finger and middle finger, do not clench the fist too tightly, and the fist surface should be flat.
  2. Palm – bend the five fingers slightly and spread them apart naturally, with the tiger’s mouth in an arc shape. The fingers should not be too bent or straight.
  3. Hook – bend the wrist, pinch the first knuckles of the five fingers together, and the fingers and wrist should be loose and natural, not stiff.

(II) Basic step type

  1. Bow step – stand with the two feet open front and back, bend the front leg, half squat, the knee and toes are perpendicular and the toes are slightly inward, the back leg is straight, the toes are inward 45 degrees, the whole foot is on the ground, and the horizontal crotch distance between the two feet is 10-20 cm. Practice left and right.
  2. Horse step – open the two feet to the left and right, about 3 times the length of the foot. Push the heel outward, bend the thigh and half squat, toes facing forward, knees do not exceed toes, the whole foot is on the ground, and the upper body is upright.
  3. Resting step – cross your legs and bend your knees to squat, with the front foot on the ground, toes outward, the back foot heel off the ground, the outer side of the arm close to the calf, the upper body upright, practice left and right.
  4. Forefoot step – bend one leg and squat, thigh and calf close together, buttocks close to the calf, the whole foot on the ground, knee and toes slightly outward, the other leg as flat as possible close to the ground, the whole foot on the ground, toes inward, practice left and right.
  5. Empty step – open your feet front and back, the front foot toes touch the ground and slightly inward, legs slightly bent, the sole of the foot flat or the heel on the ground with the wings raised, the toes of the back foot outward 45 degrees, bend your knees and half squat, the center of gravity falls on the back leg, practice left and right.
  6. Ding step – bend your knees and half squat with your legs together, one foot on the ground, the other foot in the middle of its inner side, the sole of the foot flat, toes lightly touching the ground, the upper body upright, practice left and right.
  7. Horizontal step – Spread your feet to the left and right, about the same distance as the bow step, with your whole feet on the ground, your toes facing forward, one leg bent and half squatting, the other leg straight, practice left and right.

(III) Tai Chi Zhuang Gong

Practicing Tai Chi Zhuang Gong is an important part of practicing Tai Chi. Since ancient times, there has been a saying that “the root of boxing is the stance, the stance is the spirit of boxing, the stance is not effective without boxing, and the stance is not stable without boxing”.

The following introduces the basic requirements of Tai Chi Zhuang Gong – natural and relaxed demeanor, upright and comfortable body, upright appearance, horizontal and restrained eyes, nose inhalation and exhalation, tongue hanging and anus lifting, qi sinking into Dantian (focusing on Dantian), empty neck and forehead, sinking shoulders and elbows, spreading fingers and relaxing palms, not sticking out the chest (holding the chest and pulling the back), contracting the abdomen and leaving the buttocks, relaxing the knee joints, slightly gripping the ground with toes, and clearly distinguishing between the real and the fake.

  1. Wuji Posture – Stand upright with your feet together, straighten your head, look straight ahead, breathe in and out through your nose, lift your tongue and lift your anus, sink your qi into your dantian, empty your neck and retract your forehead, lower your shoulders and arms to hang naturally, spread your fingers and relax your palms on the outside of your hips, do not stick out your chest, tighten your abdomen and keep your buttocks, relax your knees and toes and slightly grip the ground, calm your mind and body, and breathe steadily, slowly and deeply.
  2. Taiji Posture – Stand with your feet parallel and about shoulder-width apart, relax your whole body, raise your arms parallel and slowly to the same height and width as your shoulders, palms down, keep moving, bend your knees and half squat, then bend your elbows slightly, press your hands down in front of your chest, keep moving, rotate your arms outward and hold them in a circle, with your fingertips facing each other, and a distance of 10-15 cm between your fingers, focus on your dantian, look straight ahead, and gradually increase the time.
  3. Lifting and lowering pile – Step with your feet parallel and about shoulder-width apart, relax your whole body, slowly raise your arms parallel to shoulder-width apart, palms down, keep moving upward, bend your knees and half squat, then bend your elbows slightly, press your hands down in front of your abdomen, elbows and knees facing each other, inhale and exhale through the nose, inhale to rise and exhale to fall, look straight ahead, and practice repeatedly.
  4. Opening and closing pile – Step with your feet parallel and about shoulder-width apart, relax your whole body, slowly raise your arms parallel to shoulder-width apart, palms down, keep moving upward, bend your knees and half squat, then bend your elbows slightly, press your hands down in front of your chest, keep moving upward, rotate your arms outward, palms facing each other in front of your chest, 10-15 cm apart, inhale to open, do not lift your chest and keep your palms facing each other, exhale to close, palms 10-15 cm apart, inhale and exhale through the nose, look straight ahead, and practice repeatedly.
  5. Empty Step Pole – Step with your feet parallel and about shoulder-width apart, relax your whole body, slowly raise your arms parallel to shoulder-width apart, palms facing down, keep moving up, bend your knees and half squat, then bend your elbows slightly, press your hands down to your chest, keep moving up, shift your center of gravity to your right leg, slowly lift your left heel, and at the same time, slightly rotate your arms inward. Keep moving up, half step your left foot 45 degrees to the left front, heel on the ground, toes winged, knees relaxed, at the same time, slightly bend your arms and rotate them outward, left fingers and left foot up and down, fingertips between eyes and nose, right palm on the inside of left elbow, palm facing left elbow, palms facing each other diagonally, fingertips diagonally upward, eyes looking straight at the direction of left palm, practice left and right repeatedly.
  6. Balanced Stance – Stand with your feet parallel and about shoulder-width apart, relax your whole body, slowly raise your arms parallel to the same height and width as your shoulders, palms down, keep moving upwards, bend your knees and half squat, then bend your elbows slightly. Press your hands down to the outside of your hips, keep moving upwards, shift your center of gravity to your right leg, slowly lift your left heel, use your left hand to drive your left leg to raise your knees and elbows and knees together, place your left fingertips between your eyes and nose, press your right hand on the outside of your right hip, palms down and fingertips forward, look straight ahead at the direction of your left palm, and practice left and right repeatedly.

The above various types of Stance Exercises can be practiced individually, but they must all start with the Wuji Stance. For example, you can only do the Wuji Stance once for chain exercises. The connection between other types of Stance Exercises can be done directly from the opening step. After each type of exercise is completed, raise your arms parallel to the same height as your shoulders, stand up straight, and then slowly drop your arms to your hips to punch – punch forward from the waist, not higher than the shoulder, not lower than the chest, and the force reaches the fist surface, practice left and right repeatedly.

Holding the palms – hold the upper and lower hands in a ball-holding shape, with the palms facing each other or crossed, do not hold the armpits and shrug, keep both arms in an arc shape, and practice repeatedly.

Cloud Hands – Move the palms inward in a vertical circle, do not be stiff or bend into a triangle, the hands should not be higher than the eyebrows, nor lower than the crotch, and practice repeatedly. After becoming proficient, you can practice repeatedly left and right with the horizontal crotch step.

Holding the hands – the arms must be in an arc shape, the wrists are at the same height as the shoulders, the fingertips are facing the nose tip, the shoulders are lowered and the elbows are dropped, the back hand can be pressed down to the side of the body, the palms are down, the fingertips are facing forward, or it can be pushed out at the same time as the front hand, and both arms must be in an arc shape, and practice repeatedly left and right.

Stroke the hands – the movement must be in an arc shape, the front arm is not higher than the eyes and the palm is down, the back hand palm is up and close to the front arm elbow, the two arms rotate downward, and the arc is pulled back 45 degrees from the side of the body, and practice repeatedly left and right.

Squeeze hands – bend both arms in front of the chest, with the inner palm facing forward and the outer palm facing inward, with the inner palm facing the front hand pulse gate, and push both arms forward at the same time, with both arms rounded, and the forearms not higher than the mouth or lower than the shoulders, practice repeatedly.

Press hands – press the two palms from top to bottom on the abdomen, with the palms diagonally downward, and push them forward in an arc from bottom to front, with the palms facing forward and the fingertips not higher than the eyes, practice repeatedly.

Embrace the tail of the sparrow – after practicing the single action of embrace, stroke, squeeze and press proficiently, you can combine it with the step type combination practice. The name of the combined practice action in Yang style Tai Chi is Embrace the tail of the sparrow. The practice method is: embrace: the upper and lower hands are in a ball-holding shape, with the left hand below and the right hand above, and both arms should be kept in an arc shape, the legs are bent and squatted, and the left heel is raised to form a Ding step. Keep moving up, turn your body slightly to the left, step your left foot forward to the left and forward to form a virtual step, and at the same time move your center of gravity forward to form a bow step, extend your left arm in an arc, with your wrist at the same height as your shoulder, and your fingertips facing the tip of your nose. Your right hand can be pressed down to the side of your body, with your palm facing down and your fingertips facing forward, or it can be pushed out at the same time with your front hand, with both arms in an arc shape.

Keep moving up,

Stroke: Rotate your right hand upward in an arc, with your right palm facing up and closing with your left elbow, rotate your left arm inward, with your hand not higher than your eyes, with your palm facing down, and your center of gravity moving backward to form a virtual step, and your hands rotating downward, with the arc stroked from the side of your body to the right and back at 45 degrees, and then to the right side and back at 45 degrees.

Keep moving up,

Push: Drop your right hand forward and downward, and at the same time turn your body to the left, bend your arms in front of your chest, with your right palm facing forward to your left pulse gate, and move your center of gravity forward to form a bow step, and at the same time push your arms forward, with your arms rounded, and your forearms not higher than your mouth or lower than your shoulders.

Keep moving up,

Press: Cross your palms, with the left hand below and the right hand above, with the palms facing down. Separate your palms at shoulder height and shoulder width. At the same time, move your center of gravity backward and hook your left toe (you can also keep your left foot still). Press your palms down from top to bottom in an arc on your abdomen, with your palms diagonally facing down. Keep moving up, push your palms forward in an arc from bottom to front, with your palms facing forward and your fingertips not higher than your eyes. Repeat the exercise left and right.

(IV) Steps

  1. Tai Chi Five Elements Steps

The plum blossom pile (the five barrels in mahjong) was introduced earlier. We will practice in the order of step up, step up, side step, step back, step back, and side step. Stand with your feet together at the number one position on the right side. Turn your right foot outward 45 degrees, bend your knees and squat, and point your left foot forward to the middle position number two. Step up to form a virtual step, and move your center of gravity forward to form a bow step.

Sit back with your center of gravity and hook your toes. Move your center of gravity forward with your left foot outward 45 degrees (you can also move your center of gravity forward and directly move your left foot outward 45 degrees). At the same time, your right foot passes through the center left foot position two, moves forward to the upper right position three, steps forward to form a virtual step, and at the same time moves your center of gravity forward to form a bow step. Keep moving up, the left foot passes the right foot position 3, and moves sideways to the position 4, with the toes touching the ground and then the whole foot touching the ground, forming a horizontal crotch step, the center of gravity moves to the left to form a horizontal crotch step, keep moving up, the right foot passes the left foot position 4 to the middle point position 2 and steps back, with the toes touching the ground and then the whole foot touching the ground, the center of gravity moves back to form a virtual step with the left toe slightly inward, keep moving up, the left foot passes the middle point position 2 and steps back to the right foot position 5, with the toes touching the ground and then the whole foot touching the ground, the center of gravity moves back to form a virtual step with the left toe inward, keep moving up, the right foot passes the position 5 and the left foot goes to the position 1, with the toes touching the ground and then the whole foot touching the ground, forming a horizontal crotch step, the center of gravity moves to the right to form a horizontal crotch step, the left foot is close to the right foot and steps together to end the posture. This is to complete a Tai Chi Five Elements Step.

For continuous practice, you can do the right foot outward 45 degrees from the back, and then do the action, that is, the left foot passes through the first position and the right foot goes to the middle point of the second position, and practice repeatedly on the left and right sides (that is, change the fifth position to the first position, first do the left foot outward 45 degrees, and then step on the right foot). In the process of completing the action, except for standing at the beginning and end of the posture, the height should be maintained between other movements, and it cannot be too high or too low.

  1. Tai Chi Seven Star (Bagua) Step

The Seven Star (Bagua) Step is mainly to do the inward or outward swing of the toes according to the direction you need to go. During the movement, one foot lands on the toes outward, and the other foot lands on the toes inward, making an “S” shape movement.

The first step is to swing the left foot outward,

The second step is to turn the right foot inward,

The third step is to swing the left foot outward,

The fourth step is to swing the right foot outward,

The fifth step is to turn the left foot inward,

The sixth step is to swing the right foot outward for the Seven Star Step, and do an “O” (circle) movement.

The first step is to swing the left foot outward,

The second step is to turn the right foot inward,

The third step is to swing the left foot outward,

The fourth step is to turn the right foot inward for the Bagua step, and practice repeatedly.

The main practice method is to change the Qixing step from the fourth step to the “S”-shaped movement route;

The Bagua step does not change in the fourth step, and continues to walk in “O” (circle), and the size of the circle is based on the size of the individual’s footwork. Practice left and right repeatedly.

(V) Leg Techniques

  1. Leg Stretching

Simply speaking, leg stretching is to stretch the leg ligaments, so that our movements are more perfect when doing Tai Chi routines. What we mainly learn here are straight leg stretching and side leg stretching; straight leg stretching requires the left leg to be straightened with the toes pointing toward the right leg, and the arms can be bent with both hands to hold the feet, and the legs cannot be bent. The legs and feet are gradually raised according to their physical condition. Side leg stretching requires the left leg to be straightened with the toes pointing outward at 90 degrees to the right leg, and the left hand holds the right foot and the arms can be bent sideways, and the legs and feet are gradually raised according to their physical condition. After straight leg stretching and side leg stretching, you should hold a fixed object to perform straight leg swinging and side leg swinging. Repeatedly practice left and right.

  1. Single foot clapping

Support one leg, bend the knee of the other leg and lift it up, stretch the sole of the foot flat, and swing it forward. When it is higher than the shoulder, use the palm of the same or opposite side to clap the upper foot from top to front to make a sound, and practice left and right repeatedly. Middle-aged and elderly students can clap the thigh first, then the calf, and then clap the foot when they are able.

  1. Separate feet

Support one leg, bend the knee of the other leg and lift it up, stretch the sole of the foot flat, slowly extend the knee to the same side at an angle of about 45 degrees, the foot should not be lower than the waist, the legs should be straight, and the arms should cooperate. Repeatedly practice left and right. Middle-aged and elderly students can gradually increase the height of the foot according to their actual situation.

  1. Kick the foot

Support one leg, bend the knee of the other leg and lift it up, hook the toes, slowly push the knee to the same side at an angle of about 45 degrees, the force reaches the heel, the foot should not be lower than the waist, the legs should be straight, and the arms should cooperate. Repeatedly practice left and right. Middle-aged and elderly students can gradually increase the height of their feet according to their actual situation.

  1. Outward swing

Support one leg, straighten the other leg, hook the toes and lift it, kick the leg upward to the other side, make a circular motion through the face, and when the foot reaches the other side, flatten the instep, pat the instep with both palms twice, bend the legs and buckle them after patting, and keep the body upright with both palms to the opposite side. Middle-aged and elderly students can pat the thigh first, then the calf, and then pat the foot when they are capable.

Conclusion

Through the above Tai Chi basic skills practice, it should be said that the practice method of Yang style Tai Chi has been basically mastered. Whether it is possible to learn routines, such as 24-style Tai Chi, 37-style Yang style Tai Chi, etc., the author recommends that students should find a wise teacher (a wise teacher), practice the single posture movements of Tai Chi one by one, and then practice in combination. Only in this way can you practice and master the essentials and essence of Tai Chi, and perform correct and scientific Tai Chi fitness exercises.