History & styles

The t'ai chi classics: principles in brief

Behind every traditional form stands a small library of old texts that teachers quote, argue over and return to throughout their lives. You do not need to read them to begin, but their ideas are woven through every good class.

What the classics are

Wikipedia's article on the tai chi classics describes them as a collection of articles on the art written by master practitioners over the centuries, covering everything from its philosophical principles to methods of practice and application. Many were handed down privately within lineages and became widely known only when they were published in the twentieth century. They are written mostly in classical Chinese, which is terse and allusive, so translations differ considerably.

Several texts are traditionally attributed to legendary figures such as Zhang Sanfeng and Wang Zongyue. The same article notes that modern scholarship has not been able to date any of them earlier than the late nineteenth century. Later works by known teachers, including writings from the Wu (Hao) family and books published by Sun Lutang and Yang Chengfu, are also often counted among the classics.

What follows is not a translation. It is a plain-language account of the ideas that come up again and again.

Softness overcoming hardness

The central idea is that a relaxed, yielding body can neutralise a strong, stiff one. Softness here does not mean limpness. It means the absence of unnecessary tension, so that the body can change instantly and force can pass through it or be redirected. A stiff arm can be grabbed and used; a soft one gives the opponent nothing to hold.

Rooting

Stability comes from the ground up. The weight sinks through relaxed hips and knees into the feet, and the feet feel as if they extend down into the floor. A rooted practitioner is hard to move, not because they are pushing back, but because force meets a structure that goes all the way to the ground. Much of the slow form is training in rooting while moving.

The body moves as one

The classics describe power that starts in the feet, is directed by the waist and expressed through the hands, with every part moving together. When one part moves, everything moves; when one part stops, everything stops. Beginners tend to move the arms on their own; the long work of practice is connecting them to the legs and torso so that the whole body arrives at once.

Distinguishing full and empty

At any moment, one leg bears more weight than the other. Being clear about which is "full" and which is "empty", and shifting between them smoothly, is what keeps the form balanced and mobile. Standing with the weight evenly split and fixed is sometimes called double-weighting, and teachers warn against it because it leaves no easy way to change.

Listening

In partner work, the classics speak of sensing an opponent's intention through touch before it becomes action. This "listening" is trained in pushing hands, where partners keep light contact and learn to feel the smallest change in pressure or direction. Listening leads to following: moving with the partner, neither resisting nor losing contact, until an opening appears.

Stillness in motion

The mind should be calm and attentive while the body moves, and the body should keep a sense of composure even when moving quickly. Many teachers describe the form as a kind of moving meditation. The spine stays upright, the head is held lightly as if suspended from above, and the breath is slow and natural rather than forced.

Continuity

Movement should flow without breaks, like a long river. The end of one posture is the beginning of the next. Stops and jerks are places where the connection has been lost.

Using the principles

• Choose one principle for each practice session and watch for it throughout the form.
• Ask your teacher which principle a correction relates to.
• Test principles with a partner; they are claims about movement that can be felt.
• Read more than one translation if you go to the texts themselves.

The page on progressing explains how these ideas become the focus once the sequence of the form is learned, and Taoism, Buddhism and the martial arts looks at the philosophy behind them.