Grandmaster Yang Chengfu orally provided the Ten Essential Principles for the practice of Tai Chi Chuan to his senior student, Chen Wei Ming, who recorded the instructions in writing. Chen Wei Ming helped his teacher write three books on Tai Chi Chuan. The ten principles are provided in the following material. 1. Empty, Lively, Pushing […]
It is very clearly stated in the Ten Essentials of Tai Chi Chuan：should lift the head, sink the chest and pull up the back, sink the shoulders and drop the elbows, drop the hip and relax the waist. Meanwhile, center the tailbone. In order to lift the head, slightly tuck in your chin while pushing […]
In the Hand Form, Body Shape is closely linked to Footwork. The different stances have corresponding body shapes. Please note that no matter what footwork is used, the body shape must follow the Principles directing us to maintain the proper alignment resulting in smooth, easy movement and natural breathing. With three exceptions, when performing movements […]
Traditional Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan emphasizes training in five directions: Hand Technique, Gaze, Body Shape, Method, and Footwork. The Footwork is the foundation. The main Footwork includes Bow Stance, Empty Stance, One leg Standing Stance, and Down Stance. Let’s talk Bow Stance first. The demonstrations in figures are based on the left foot in […]
Included in Footwork is another stance called the Empty Stance, or Empty-Full Stance. The requirements for the Empty Stance are: The front foot points to the forward direction and the back foot points 45 degrees from the forward direction. This is a narrower stance than the Bow Stance with the feet on either side of […]
Included in the Footwork is another stance called One Leg Standing Stance or Du Li. The requirements of this stance are: Stand on one leg with the standing leg’s knee slightly bent so as not to lock the joint. The standing leg is turned out 45 degrees. The raised leg lifts up with the knee […]