Beginner List of Key Points

Author Tim Cushing posted to neijia mailing list 21 Oct 1994

OK--here's a starter list of issues, concerns, things to practice, principles to incorporate, fundamentals, or whatever you might want to call them. This is sort of a beginners list, in that Ive omitted discussions of spiritßhen, stillness in motion concepts, etc.

Speaking of categories, I've roughly split them according to what I see as fundamentals vs. teaching aids. The words are few (well, for me:) so you'll have to interpret these denotative statements within the connotation of tai chi (kibitzing and even flaming warmly;) accepted). These are also in no way the sum total of everything, so additions would be good (I should probably re-read the classics to look for relevant details I've omitted)...

[Acknowledgements: My teachers, Marjorie Jackson and Toni DeMoulin, have provided most of these in class and as handouts]

((Oh, and this is from slow forms point of view))

Fundamentals

• start practice by relaxingßtilling (sung) the mind, body, etc. and becoming aware of your self, root, surroundings and the directions
• the mind leads (everything); without removing the mind from the body, etc., focus the mind in the direction of movement as that changes
• the body follows the mind in its natural order: mind, eyes, head, shoulders(waist)ärms/hand, weight, foot work (martially, within each movement there is an opponent, and the hand leads the body as first contact to your opponent)
• movement continues to flow without stopping in a slow and even tempo, but each movement flows to completion (don't smear one into the next) and within the tempo there are tides of slow & very slow (or you could say that there is no one *point* of reference for everything moving)
• all movements, transitions, etc. are circular; the continuous flow forms smooth curves of yin and yang (every up has a down, every forward has a back, every move has counter balancing); the change from yin to yang and vvs. occurs at the apexes of the circles
• arms & legs must be relaxed but never empty; energy is directed into both the yang and the yin hands/etc. (in movement they separate)
• arms & legs must be round, the back must be straight, the hips must be under the shoulders (in terms of the energy flow; need some more words here, I think)
• keep the postures low and at an even height (notwithstanding exceptions) but do not sacrifice correct alignment for a low posture; the hips move laterally, staying in one plane
• the leading foot points the direction of movement; the knees always point/move in line with the toe of the foot
• the length of your stride is dependent on the strength, balance and height of the supporting leg; step no further than you can immediately reverse your movement and pick up your foot without pushing off or hopping

Teaching Aids

• do not look down, except briefly to step; when the eyes are looking downward, the entire spirit goes down and the alignment of the body cannot be optimal"
• to sink does not mean get a lower stance; you sink by putting a sense of heaviness into the lower abdomen (tan t'ien) which usually lowers the pelvis slightly but does not make the stance, the legs, go lower; you can sink into the tan t'ien even while standing up almost straight"
• to turn the waist is to turn both shoulders simultaneously, the waist and the shoulders are connected and one cannot turn without the other" [Toni says: Most beginners cannot distinguish their waists from their hips. I have found that when I say, "turn your shoulders and leave your hips stationary, that the concept of waist" is learned much sooner and more distinctly.]
• imagine your waist as an axle and arms as spokes of a wheel; any time there is horizontal movement in the upper arms, look for a waist turn"
• when circling the hand, begin by first turning, curling the fingertips toward the direction of movement in the circle; the palm will follow the fingers and the arm will become round and full as it follows in its natural order" [Toni says: Many people begin the movement of a circle with the heel of the palm, causing the arms to become straight during the movement even though full and round at the end.]
• focus your mind energy through your arms and out the contact point of the handärm; try to extend this energy as though you were shooting laser beams beyond and through an opponent" [Toni says: Most people know where their yang had is; try to direct equal intensity, equal energy, through the yin hand.]
• relax the fingers and concentrate energy on the correct part of the hand for the specific movement; when you bend your wrist, don't bring up the fingers--bring the heel of the palm forward while relaxing the fingers (opens the pathways in the shoulders and elbows)"
• use the hand to move or lift the arm, not the arm to move or lift the hand; use just enough mind energy to lift the hand, the arm will follow the hand without effort (elbows are are lower than the wrists when the hands are above the waist)"
• keep arms in front of and away from the body; if your back was against a wall, at no time would the arms need to go thru the wall (if the arm needs to go back further, you must turn the waist to get the arm there)"
• drop and relax the shoulders, do not raise and lower them; drop the elbows, this will help to drop and relax the shoulders"
• if it is difficult keeping the back foot flat, try putting the baby toe on the ground. If the baby toe is flat, then the entire foot will be flat and the knee will be in proper alignment without directing too much energy into keeping the foot flat"
• the back foot points approximately sixty-five degrees away from the direction of the leading foot (less than ninety degrees and more than forty-five degrees)"
• when stepping forward, step in a channel, except all half steps are at the instep of the other foot"
• relax the abdomen and allow a heavy feeling, a sinking feeling, to drop the body onto and trough the supporting foot and into the ground"
• step forward with the heel first, then slowly unbend the ankle until the foot is flat; only after the foot is completely flat should any weight be transferred to that foot/leg; to raise the foot, lift the knee, the foot will follow without effort"
• to move forward, bend the front knee to the end of the toes, no further and no less; do not push off with the back foot"
• to step backward, step with the toe first; to move (sit) backward, unbend the front knee until all the weight is on the back leg"
• push down with the front foot to move back, push down with the back foot to move forward; push down by pushing the knee straight thru the ankle (not just the heel) along the line of the leg bones (push down *into* the earth--don't push off *from* the earth)"

 

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