Key Points of the East Coast
United States
Tai Chi Seminar
Supple
Push-Hands Partner Practice
Tai Chi Chuan embodies the
philosophical ideas of “non-action (Wu-wei)” from Laozi and Zhuangzi,
as well as the principle of Yin–Yang transformation from the I Ching
(Book of Changes).
Grandmaster Cheng
Man-ch’ing applied the logic of Wu-wei to the practice of supple Tai Chi. He proposed several important training principles such as “Beautiful
Lady’s Hands,” “No Arms in Tai Chi or Tai Chi does not initiate with the
hands,” and “Investing in Loss or Accepting loss is gaining advantage.”
The concept of Yin–Yang
in Tai Chi includes the transformations between movement and stillness,
emptiness and fullness, hardness and softness, as well as the dynamic
principle of mutual generation and mutual control.
The Treatise on Tai Chi
Chuan states:
“Yin does not depart from
Yang; Yang does not depart from Yin. Yin and Yang assist each other; only then
can one understand Jin (trained energy).”
The Tai Chi Classics
further states:
“The root is in the feet,
issued through the legs, directed by the waist, and expressed in the fingers.
From the feet to the legs to the waist, the movement must be unified in one
continuous energy.”
These teachings all take Wu-wei
and Yin–Yang as the foundation of the relaxed and soft martial art of
Tai Chi.
In order to preserve these
training principles passed down through generations of Tai Chi masters, the Push-Hands
Referee Committee of the World Tai Chi Chuan Federation has consolidated
four training methods and incorporated them as required movements for
Designated Push-Hands Partner Routine Competition.
During practice, both
partners must not only relax the major joints of the body, but also release brute
force, rigid effort, aggressive intention, attachment, and stubborn resistance.
They should harmonize with each other’s movements of advancing, retreating,
turning left and right, and maintaining central equilibrium.
This is one of the training
methods for developing Listening Energy (Ting Jin).
From the perspective of
Laozi and Zhuangzi, Wu-wei may appear outwardly as softness, weakness,
non-assertion, or non-interference, yet in reality it is the path toward true
strength, unlimited adaptability, and great usefulness.
When combined with the Yin–Yang
transformations described in the I Ching—movement and stillness,
emptiness and fullness, hardness and softness—the practice naturally produces
cycles of mutual generation and mutual control, forming a continuous,
ever-circulating skill of relaxed and soft Tai Chi.
Key Training Principles
1. Wu-wei
(Non-action)
Acting in accordance with the natural momentum of the situation.
2. Yin–Yang
The interplay of emptiness and fullness, movement and stillness, hardness and
softness.
3. Ten
Essential Principles of Yang-Style Tai Chi
Suspend the head top (Xu
Ling Ding Jin)
Sink the shoulders and
drop the elbows
Contain the chest and
expand the back
Relax the waist
Clearly distinguish
empty and full
Use mind rather than brute force
Coordinate upper and
lower body
Harmonize internal and
external
Maintain continuous
connection without interruption
4.
Key Principles from Grandmaster Cheng Man-ch’ing
Beautiful Lady’s Hands
No Arms
in Tai Chi” (NAIT)
Investing in Loss
5.
Principles from Master Song Zhijian
Original Space Position (OSP),
Original Body Position (OBP),
Guided Motion (GM),
Reaction Motion (RM),
Moving Forward and
Backward (F&B) --swinging movement,
Float Up and Float Down
(U&D),
Inertial Movement (IM),
and
Arc Moving Line（AML）.
6. The Eight Methods of Tai Chi
Four Primary Energies: Peng,
Lü, Ji, An; Four Corner Energies: Cai, Lie, Zhou, Kao
7. Five Element Footwork
Advance, retreat, look
left, look right, and central equilibrium.
8.
Five Methods of Sensitivity Training （Five Push Hands Techniques to
Contemplate and Practice）
Stick, adhere, connect, follow, and neither lose nor resist.
9.
Nine Major Joints
Shoulder, elbow, wrist,
neck, back, waist, hip, knee, and ankle — connected with lightness and
continuity.
10. Four Character
Essentials
Light,
slow, even, and upright — avoiding breaks, bumps, or unevenness.
11. Relaxation and Expansion of the Body
Supple
Push-Hands Partner Practice – Breakdown of Movements
1.
Sticking and Adhering Method (4-movement breakdown)
Peng → Lü → Cai → An → Kao → Peng …
Mutual generation and mutual control, circulating
continuously without interruption.
2.
Outer Connection Method (5-movement breakdown)
Peng → Lü → Cai → An → Kao → Peng
Mutual generation and mutual control, circulating
continuously.
Yin–Yang alternation:
Left hand → Right hand → Left hand → Right hand → Left hand.
3.
Inner Connection Method (8-movement breakdown)
Peng → Lü → Cai → An → Kao → Peng …
Mutual generation and mutual control, circulating
continuously.
4.
Eight-Method Sequence (5-movement breakdown)
Peng → Lü → Cai-Lie → An → Kao-Zhou → Ji → Peng …
Mutual generation and mutual control, circulating
continuously without end.
