This article explains the entry essentials and basic knowledge of Zhaobao Taijiquan in an easy-to-understand style. It is what you must know when learning Zhaobao Taijiquan. Careful reading can help you avoid detours in the process of learning Zhaobao Taijiquan and quickly improve your Taijiquan skills.

Tai Chi is a treasure of my country’s ancient health culture. Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Laozi used words and language to explain the harmony between man and nature, harmony between man and man, and harmony between man and health. The theoretical article “Tao Te Ching” has been circulated in the world, but it is difficult for the world to understand and comprehend. Therefore, combining one’s own health knowledge with the laws of survival in nature, people are taught to use body language to express and explain the philosophy of health preservation, self-cultivation, and the method of harmony with nature. That is the Tai Chi that is now popular all over the world. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Jiang Fa, a native of Zhaobao, returned from studying under Wang Zongyue in Shanxi and passed on the Northern Zhaobao Tai Chi to the world. It has been continuously developed and inherited by generations of masters until now. Zhaobao Town has been passed down to the tenth generation of masters such as “Master Zheng Wuqing”, “Master Zheng Boying”, and “Master Hou Chunxiu”, and it has a history of more than 400 years. Zhaobao Tai Chi has flourished all over the world. Here I want to talk about Zhaobao Tai Chi “Master Zheng Wuqing” after years of study and continuous research and development. The practice method I have realized summarizes several characteristics of practicing Tai Chi.

1, Zhaobao Tai Chi’s Relaxation and Naturalness (Natural Falling)

There are many schools of Tai Chi, and each school has its commonality and individuality. The commonality is that they all pay attention to relaxation and naturalness. But what kind of nature are we talking about? What kind of relaxation? Natural, in Zhaobao Tai Chi Zheng Wuqing’s boxing method, it is said that nature must conform to the objective rules of nature and comfort, what the human body perceives, and cannot violate the smoothness of the human body. It is smooth and comfortable, and there should be no feeling of awkwardness. That is to say, there should be no unsmoothness, unreasonableness, and awkwardness. This is relaxation and nature. For example, if we say someone is uncomfortable, unnatural, or uncomfortable (this is the local dialect of Henan people), go see him, it means he is sick. If our body is natural and comfortable, it means we are healthy, so we should seek naturalness and comfort in practicing boxing, so we require people to seek relaxation in the body when they move. This is a main point of view and also our goal. However, there is a lot of knowledge and learning involved. How to think about the composition and structure of the human body? The human body is mainly composed of four major elements: tendons, bones, blood, and flesh. If you can practice these four major components unobstructed, comfortable, and natural in Tai Chi, you will be normal and healthy. Therefore, all forms of exercise should be placed on relaxation and naturalness. So what is relaxation? It’s very simple. Relaxation means “natural body fall and full of energy.” But “natural body fall” is a frank statement. All practitioners will never achieve “natural body fall” as long as they do not walk in a vertical circle when practicing Tai Chi. So only “vertical circle” can achieve “natural falling body”. Then you say that “natural falling body” can only go down, so how to go up? The current academic knowledge in physics is “the conversion relationship between kinetic energy and potential energy”. In practicing Tai Chi, combining kinetic energy and potential energy with natural falling body is our practice principle. Let me give you an example that is easiest for everyone to understand. It’s very simple. When children are playing, every movement can be very relaxed and natural, but we can’t do it. Why? We are old. To be like a child again, we must imitate the ease and nature of childhood. If our bodies can be soft and soft every day, and there is no blockage in the body, then we will prolong our lives. Then you say that we always have pain here and there year after year. How much money do we have to spend a year? But knowledge is a double-edged sword. If you carry the burden of knowledge when practicing Tai Chi, you will be overwhelmed. Similarly, you must know how to work and rest. So we must have knowledge and use knowledge, so we should not be overwhelmed by knowledge.

2, Balance of Zhaobao Tai Chi

The mechanics of Zhaobao Tai Chi in practice are somewhat different from those of other Tai Chi. The first requirement in practicing Zhaobao Tai Chi is to meet the mechanical requirements of the human body, and the mechanical requirements are to balance oneself in Tai Chi practice. How can one balance oneself? People say that everyone can balance, so how can one not balance? What we want to talk about is pure balance. When we walk, one leg supports the body, so when we walk, we will swing to one side and the other side. So why can’t we swing to both sides? In other words, one leg supports the body, and the other leg is lifted up, and it can still balance, so it will not swing when it walks. This is a question of the principle of practice. It’s very simple. We have done a lot of things we do, but we don’t know how to do it. In addition, the difference between our leg practice method and theirs is that the tibia of our legs in Tai Chi practice is never allowed to exceed the vertical line. This is what makes us different from other Tai Chi, because if our tibia is too arched, not only will the steps be unstable, but the body will also be unable to move up at the critical moment, not to mention being able to balance. Some people talk about 37% or 46% in Tai Chi practice, but we talk about 55%, which means balance. What we require is balance. If you are unbalanced at any time, you will fall down by yourself. Do you still need others to push you? No need.

3, The Standing Circle of Zhaobao Tai Chi

The Standing Circle in Zhaobao Tai Chi first requires that the hands should hang down naturally. When you put your hands down from top to bottom, you should not feel pressure when putting them down, nor should you let your hands float up, and you should not consciously control their speed. This is called naturalness. As long as you consciously control its speed, you are wrong and unnatural. This problem is very simple. In practicing Tai Chi, what is important is the smooth flow of qi and blood. If the qi flows smoothly, it will be successful. The smooth flow of Qi and blood varies in the practice of Tai Chi, especially in the details, but generally speaking, they all want to make people healthy, which is a common feature of practicing Tai Chi. Some people ask what is a standing circle? Standing circle means walking from top to bottom, which is very relaxed and natural, and is completed without conscious control. If you want to walk in a flat circle, you must consciously control up and down. If you don’t have conscious control, you can’t walk in a flat circle. And standing circle means putting your arms down, and then naturally going up from the perspective of dive force conversion force. If it is a flat circle, who can control it “naturally falling” without conscious control? Heart, intention, Qi, rigidity, and stiffness. If there is intention to make Qi tense, rigidity makes muscles tense, and Qi and blood cannot flow smoothly. So, you can’t relax if you want to. And we walk in the standing circle naturally and easily, not walking in the flat circle with intention. So, if there is a problem in that movement, look for the problem in that movement.

4,  Zhaobao Tai Chi’s Spirit, Qi and Spirit

Practicing Zhaobao Tai Chi requires great attention to the role of spirit, Qi and Spirit. When practicing, you should look straight ahead with your eyes, and you cannot lower your head, nor swing your head left and right, nor look left and right. In other Tai Chi practices, the head follows the body and the eyes follow the hands, and people think that this is the correct feeling, but it is not. The head is the head of the six yang, and the head cannot move randomly. If the head moves, the six spirits will be lost. When the head moves, the whole body should move with it. It is not the body that moves before the head moves. This point must be clearly distinguished, otherwise the boxing will not be practiced well. Moreover, when practicing, the head is in that position, the eyes are looking at that position, and the direction of the body must be in that position. In addition, some people often look down or look left and right when practicing Tai Chi, which is wrong. The eyes are the seedlings of the heart. If the eyes cannot look straight ahead correctly, but look left and right, then the spirit of the person cannot be raised, and there is no spirit. It is only a form of training. In this way, it is easy to feel tired and sleepy during the practice, and the spirit is not high. Moreover, the Qi cannot rise. If you can’t cheer up, how can you practice Tai Chi well? Someone asked, why do I always want to sleep or feel weak during the practice? It is because when practicing, the eyes are always looking at something on the ground, or always afraid that their feet are placed in the wrong place. To put it bluntly, it is bowing the head. To tell a joke, there is no money on the ground, why do you always bow your head? When practicing, the vision of the person is always running forward along the body, and the peripheral vision of the eyes must control the parts above the abdomen downward, and even the peripheral vision of the eyes must be able to take care of six directions. Just like driving a car, if you bow your head while driving, you will crash into others. Especially when practicing, if you only look at the ground, your spirit and energy will not be able to rise, and you will feel sleepy. So people will unconsciously lower their heads while practicing, but you must always remind yourself to raise your head during practice, just like hanging your head with a rope, to calm your head and lead your energy. Just like some people are used to lowering their heads, and suddenly they raise their heads, and feel proud and excited, and feel much more comfortable. This is the effect of calming the head and leading the energy. To put it in an easy-to-understand way, the tree rises upwards, and the roots go down. In fact, it is a pulling force, it’s that simple. According to current science, the real things cannot be false at all. If you master the right method and do it down-to-earth, it will come quickly. If there is a deviation in the mastery, there will be problems and progress will be slow. Therefore, when practicing Tai Chi, you must master the correct practice method. Only in this way can you come quickly and avoid deviations. Tai Chi is even more so.

5, Zhaobao Tai Chi’s Live Stance

Someone asked, people who practice Tai Chi say that if you practice Tai Chi without practicing Kung Fu, it will be nothing when you grow old. You need to stand while practicing Tai Chi, so does Zhaobao Tai Chi need to stand while practicing Tai Chi? Every Tai Chi has its own standing practice, but in Zhaobao, it is live standing practice, not dead standing practice. And there is standing practice in every movement, it depends on whether you can understand it under the guidance of the teacher. In the movements of Zhaobao Tai Chi, there is a virtual-real transition in every movement, and when the horse stance is formed in each virtual-real transition, it is standing practice. And there are two horse stance transitions in each movement, and the formation of each horse stance is standing practice. Especially in the standing posture at the beginning, isn’t it the Wuji stance standing practice? Some people talk about the dead horse stance, squatting and not moving is practicing standing practice, which is actually a wrong understanding and unnecessary. Then some people are confused and ask if this means there is no need to practice standing practice specifically? We have been standing at the beginning of practicing Tai Chi. Moreover, every movement involves standing still. There is really no need to practice standing still specifically. It is just like some people practicing Qigong. Taijiquan is Qigong. It depends on how you experience and understand it. This is just my personal understanding, which can be used as a reference. You have to rely on yourself to understand everything. I won’t say more. Let me explain the saying that if you practice boxing without practicing Qigong, you will be empty-handed when you grow old. So what is boxing? What is Qigong? Time is Qigong. If you practice boxing for a long time, you will naturally develop Qigong. It is the same with doing anything. After a long time and a long time of running-in, you can form an instinctive natural reaction, which is Qigong. For example, we usually eat for a long time and get used to it. If you close your eyes and use chopsticks to put food into your mouth when you eat, do you think the food will go out of your mouth? Definitely not, because we have become accustomed to it. Is this an instinctive reaction? Let me give you another example. Let’s talk about ourselves. For example, when we are completely defenseless, if a friend burns us with a cigarette butt when we are unconscious and defenseless, will we be startled and shake unconsciously? Do you think this is an instinctive reaction? This is the reaction that everyone should have. It is clear if I say this. When an idea comes, a bird can hardly fly. This is the reason. After a long time, kung fu will naturally emerge. What is boxing? Boxing is a movement choreographed from martial arts and dance. It is for the flexibility and coordination of the body. Moreover, many movements are summed up from the experience of predecessors fighting with real swords and guns in ancient battlefields. Therefore, it has everything choreographed in it. What can you practice and understand from it? It depends on your imagination and understanding. Practice it the way you think. If you practice it as martial arts, it is martial arts. If you practice it as dance, it is dance. The key is your own thinking. This is my personal opinion, which may not be correct. It may be different from some teachers’ views, but it doesn’t matter. As long as you can achieve your desired goal, don’t worry about what others think. But there is one thing, we must first learn and do it according to the methods taught by our predecessors, and then understand it. What is the relationship between these things and Tai Chi? Are they useful in our practice of Tai Chi? But don’t always use other people’s things and our things repeatedly, that is not feasible.

6, Breathing in Zhaobao Tai Chi

Breathing is particular in each Tai Chi. Some emphasize abdominal breathing, and some emphasize reverse breathing. In Zhaobao, natural breathing is emphasized. Don’t worry about how to breathe, as long as it can be natural and smooth. What we want is natural and smooth, and what we want is health. This is our goal. If you force breathing too much, care too much about breathing, and pay too much attention to breathing when learning and practicing boxing, it will not only fail to play a role in health, but also cause dizziness, chest tightness, poor blood circulation, and palpitations. If you don’t care too much about breathing and let it breathe naturally, breathing will be natural and smooth. It is said in boxing that “there is no boxing, there is no intention, and true skills emerge from the unintentional”. So when you practice to a certain level, it will transform by itself when it needs to be transformed. Don’t force it to transform.

7, The Taoism of Zhaobao Taijiquan

China talks about Taoism. What is Taoism? Taoism in mathematics is 1, 1 is a whole, that is, transformation, 1 can encompass everything, so in ancient Chinese mathematics, 1 gave birth to 2, 2 gave birth to 3, and 3 gave birth to all things. And we also talk about it as a whole in boxing practice, advocating pure nature, not forcing, so every movement and every form in boxing practice is relaxed and natural, just like a baby playing in the water, relaxed and natural, without violating the meaning of relaxation and naturalness of one’s body and mind, letting the qi and blood flow naturally in the body, this is called nature. “Think of Taoism, know Taoism, do Taoism, and get Taoism”. If you get Taoism, won’t you succeed? Isn’t this what we want? Just like taking things, take what you can take, and don’t force it if you can’t take it. If you can’t take it once, take it twice more. Furthermore, just take what belongs to you. Don’t force what doesn’t belong to you. Otherwise, not only will you not get it, but you will also lose your own things. That would be miserable. You should learn to treat what you need and what you don’t need correctly. Take what you need and throw away what you don’t need. Just like when we practice boxing, don’t ask how many routines I have practiced. The key is to be able to understand, practice, practice smoothly, and practice well. It’s enough to have your own expertise. In any principle, including martial arts, it is important to understand everything, not to understand nothing. As long as you understand one principle, you will understand all other principles. It’s very simple and not that complicated. In fact, these are some principles in our daily life. Everyone understands them, but they just don’t want to do them. They think they are too simple. If they want to do something, they have to do it in a complicated way. This is just a fuss. If you can get it simply, why make it complicated? It’s human nature. Just like when we are walking and suddenly stumble and are about to fall, we will unconsciously and instinctively take a step forward to steady ourselves and not fall. This is a natural reaction. Do you still need to react through your brain?