Tai chi chuan

"Master Hao Weizhen has researched the art for many decades and has a deep understanding of the true method of it. I was taught by master Hao and have been practicing the art day and night for many years. Now I have gained some understanding of the essential philosophy. Taking these findings further afield to compare my studies of xingyiquan and baguazhang, I find that the three belong to one family and this family divides into three different styles of forms. Although the three styles have different postures, they share the very same philosophy."

"Tai chi chuan is the art of softness containing hardness, of a needle concealed in cotton."

"There are three levels of skill in pushing hands: non-awareness, awareness after the fact, and awareness before the fact."

"Two hands rise, separating into yin and yáng Left and right like a yin and yáng fishMovement springs from extreme stillness, opening then closing Relax the shoulders and sit on the leg as if embracing the moonTwo hands form into yin and yáng palms Two palms crossed over for locking jointsWait for opportunity before moving, watch for changes Create opportunity by following the opponents force"

"It is very sad that the elders in the tai chi family have passed. They devoted their lives to the development of tai chi chuan in China and everywhere. To the whole world."

"The meaning of the tai chi symbol lies in the mutual production of yin and yang, the complementary exchange of hard and soft, the thousand changes and the ten thousand transformations. This is the basis for tai chi chuan. Push hands is the embodiment of the tai chi symbol."

"Everything in the universe is forever changing. Tai chi chuan may appear slow and unhurried to an observer, but the movements flow together continuously, without pause. Architecturally speaking, a curved line can support much more weight than a straight line. Likewise, in tai chi chuan, speed is not the main objective. Balance and stability are more important. Push Hands practice is extremely important because it requires an acute ability to sense and become aware of mistakes and flaws in the opponents moves. If he is making no mistakes, then create an opportunity for them to occur. It is imperative that your own moves be executed flawlessly. As long as the opponent intends to knock me over or attack me, then his weakness will be exposed. "Preserve gains and maintain stability. Modesty brings gain, arrogance yields loss." This is an essential aspect of the political and personal philosophy of Chinese people. It is much more important to be spared defeat than to defeat the other. As long as I myself am not defeated, it does not really matter if my opponent loses. If he does not handle himself well, he will eventually be defeated. If he does handle himself well, that is also fine."

"When you do the forms, you relax. The mind has to be relaxed in order to be joyful and make progress to the other levels. To complete the moves of the form with a continuous flow is the hardest to achieve, even at the senior level. The forms continuous coordinated motion is beautiful. Coordination deteriorates with age, but with the practice of tai chi chuan, this wont happen. ... on the differentiation of tai chi chuan taught at the Beijing Physical Culture Research Institute into different styles, Yang and Wu after 1914: It was the students who began to define what they were learning from the instructors who taught it to them while they studied with the masters from both families. We didnt say the styles were different; the students said they were different because of the form instruction."

"The postures or form differ considerably between different schools of tai chi chuan, although their fundamentals and principles are basically the same. This may even occur between learners of the same style and is related to what one has learned from ones teacher, the level of understanding and how early and late one learned the exercise. Spontaneous evolution and development is often the rule as time passes on regardless of the art. The matter has also been compared with ones handwriting, which may be considerably different from anothers. ... on the application of the form Turn Body Double Kick: If the enemy attacks with a punch, you meet it with your upper hand, and kick him with your right foot. If the enemy takes advantage of your movement to launch a second attack, you can dodge it by turning your body, divert the oncoming fist with your right hand using the "plucking force" (cǎi jìn) and kick at his abdomen or the side of his body with your right foot. The manoeuvre is called "diverting the oncoming force into emptiness"."

"Too much talk about tai chi chuan is not good. It is much better to spend ones time practicing the form. It is through practicing the form that one actually comes to understand the sayings about tai chi."

"The aim of tai chi chuan is to improve health, prevent disease and to achieve longevity Tai chi chuan has basic principles Put very simply it has direction, location, light and heavy, empty and full, long and short, timing, etc It also considers the body reaction, ie huà (neutralizing attacks), ná (joint locking and breaking), dǎ (hitting to uproot) and faa (discharging energy) All depend on the opponents reaction in determining how one should move"