TWO: Part the Horse's Mane (Both Sides) 16
FORM THREE: White Crane Spreads Its Wings 20
FORM FOUR: Brush Knee (Both Sides) 21
FORM FIVE: Hands Strum the Lute 26
FORM SIX: Step Back and Roll Arms (Both Sides) 26
FORM SEVEN: Grasp the Bird's Tail (Left Side) 30
FORM EIGHT: Grasp the Bird's Tail (Right Side) 34
FORM NINE: Single Whip 38
FORM TEN: Wave Hands Like Clouds (Left Side) 40
FORM ELEVEN: Single Whip 45
FORM TWELVE: High Pat the Horse 46
FORM THIRTEEN: Kick with the Right Heel 47
FORM FOURTEEN: Strike the Opponent's Ears with Both Fists 49
FORM FIFTEEN: Turn and Kick with the Left Heel 50
FORM SIXTEEN: Push Down and Stand on One Leg (Left Side) 52
FORM SEVENTEEN: Push Down and Stand on One Leg (Right Side) 54
FORM EIGHTEEN: Work at Shuttles (Both Sides) 56
FORM NINETEEN: Needle at the Bottom of the Sea 58
FORM TWENTY: Flash Arm 59
FORM TWENTY-ONE: Turn and Deflect Downward, Parry, and Punch 60
FORM TWENTY-TWO: Apparent Close 62
FORM TWENTY-THREE: Cross Hands 63
FORM TWENTY-FOUR: Closing Form 64
Conclusion 67
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Acknowledgments |
I have been privileged to study the martial arts from my youth with many fine teachers, some of them internationally celebrated, others almost unknown but equally elegant in their simplicity, integrity, and devotion to their arts.
I am eternally bound in love and gratitude to the late Grand Master Chiu Chuk-Kai, the eighth-generation master of the Chinese T'ai-Mantis system.
He is gone from this world after more than ninety amazingly productive years, but his benevolent spirit lives on in teachings that have blessed and benefited thousands throughout the world.
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An Introduction to the World of T'ai Chi |
T'ai Chi, once an exercise practiced by only a handful of devoted disciples in China, has now become an internationally recognized and practiced art form. The international popularity of T'ai Chi has prompted me to create a text for beginners that would help familiarize them with this holistic art before beginning more formal instruction.
In the following section, I will present the information that one should know before beginning the practice of T'ai Chi. I will begin by describing the reasons why one should study T'ai Chi and illustrating the many benefits of its regular practice. Next I will briefly describe the history of T'ai Chi and why I chose to present the "Simplified T'ai Chi Form" in this book. Lastly, before beginning description of the form, I will describe how to best make use of this book as an aid in studying T'ai Chi.
Why T'ai Chi?
Perhaps you have begun this book because you have heard something about T'ai Chi and believe that reading this manual and practicing its exercises will help you become more healthful, flexible, and freer in movement and mind. Congratulations! You have made the right choice!
The graceful and lithesome movements of T'ai Chi recently have attracted worldwide attention, not only by the sports and recreation community but also by the medical profession and business persons. This is because T'ai Chi is both medicinal and practical in its effects. Whether you are seeking an exercise regimen, a path to better health, or simply a way to relax and find your "center," T'ai Chi fits the need. The movements of T'ai Chi are forms of kung fu, but the T'ai Chi forms are very different from the more combative forms of kung fu in their execution. Whereas kung fu techniques are usually swift and sometimes sharply defined, the T'ai Chi movements are part of a routine that when well executed may appear almost dreamlike in its flowing smoothness.
A Glimpse into the History of T'ai Chi
Although no official records have been found to document the origin of T'ai Chi, according to Chinese legends a man named Zhang San Feng founded the art almost eight hundred years ago. Most of our available information about the origins of T'ai Chi has been passed on orally from generation to generation, and errors and exaggerations have of course crept into the many versions.
The most interesting tale is a product of the Song* dynasty (960-1279). According to this story, Zhang one day came upon a fight between a magpie and a snake. Zhang was wonder-struck at the constant repositioning of the two creatures who shifted effortlessly from attack to defense and back again, finally breaking off, as if by mutual agreement, and going their separate ways.
For days Zhang marveled at the clinging fluidity of those movements and the wonderful appropriateness of their ever-changing attitudes. Suddenly enlightened, he saw a previously unidentified source of strength within the human body. Zhang recognized that the quality present in the martial dance of the snake and the magpie was nothing more than softness. Zhang saw that softness, this mysterious and powerful element, could be developed in human beings. He decided to find out how to do so. To prove that softness overcomes hardness in the fighting arts, Zhang withdrew from the world for several years to think and to test his hypothesis. He experimented in various ways until finally he achieved success.
Today Zhang's outstanding principles and method of training have been handed down as T'ai Chi Ch'uan together with its offspring Xing-yi Quan (sometimes rendered "Hsing-i Ch'uan") and Ba-gua Zhang (Pa-kua Chang). To differentiate Shaolin martial arts and other systems, masters down through the ages have classified T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Xing-yi Quan, and Ba-gua Zhang as "soft fist" schools distinct from the earlier-mentioned "hard fist" kung fu schools.
Ingeniously incorporating techniques and attitudes from Shaolin temple boxing and Daoist breathing, Zhang succeeded in creating a wondrous style that differed from all the other systems of martial arts in his time. Today Zhang's principles and method of training have been handed down as T'ai Chi.
Why This Form for the Beginner?
Conventional forms of T'ai Chi consist of eighty or more movements. These forms take a considerable amount of time to learn and perform. Many people today find it difficult to devote the time necessary to learn such lengthy routines. They exhaust their patience trying and give up. Many people are thus lost to the art.
As the correct execution of a few movements is more important than running through a lengthy routine sloppily, China's Physical Culture and Sports Commission created a shorter course called "Simplified T'ai Chi" based on the contemporary Yang Style, which traces
