Taiji Moving Art


Gentle movement is a necessary requirement for the efficient instinctive functioning of the body (inactivity destroys the health-giving inner-processes of the body, while rough competitive movements gradually destroy the body itself).

Gentle movement is also the first step in connecting our Deepmind into the physical plane through its triple aspects of intention, awareness and intelligence.

Taiji is the sublime art designed to achieve this double aim.




Questions on the Aplication of Taiji.

Q. When progressing to the Free Pattern Pushing-hands, do the ideas and techniques from the Fixed Pattern Pushing-hands apply without modification?
A. The situation is different but the method is the same. You must understand and have achieved a degree of naturalness in all aspects of the method of receiving, neutralising and returning the partners efforts as follows: with a relaxed body and sensitive Mind, without resisting and without losing contact, use the sense of touch to detect your partner’s changes, then withdraw in the exact direction of their energy. Next, by changing direction always a little ahead of the partner, draw them in a gentle curve. When the partner’s energy withdraws, merge with their Mind-energy-body system and release a wave of internal energy. This is practised and refined within the Fixed Patterns and used within the Free Pushing-hands.

Q. In Taiji it is said that the soft overcomes the hard and the slow overcomes the fast. How can this be true?
A. Soft internal strength is free to change faster than hard external strength, so defeats it by controlling it, not by opposing it, while sensitive timing can defeat speed.

Q. If I always wait for my partner to move and my partner is fast, how is it possible to prevail?
A. Although the partner is fast, it requires a perceptible moment to attain that speed. In that short space we can take the initiative.

Q. But the margin for error is so small, in a dangerous situation can we rely on such a method?
A. The method of waiting for the partner to move is just for beginners. To ensure complete control we must advance to the level of seeing and responding to their intention as it forms within their Mind, not waiting for their body to move.

Q. The use of Taiji for fighting and the training for spiritual refinement seem like opposite poles of the one art. If I concentrate on one can it interfere with the other?
A. Many who have good skill in the art of fighting are devoid of inner refinement. This is a tragedy for the art and those people. Remember the ideal of balance. Understanding this, Taiji as an art of skilful movement supports and ultimately disappears into the art of Taiji for inner refinement.



Taiji - Waves
Three simple types of waves ripple through the body each time it moves. Transverse waves, Longitudinal Waves and Torsion Waves. Practically speaking every movement is a complex mixture of these types. To visualise these waves: more...


Taiji - Body Alignment
Step 1 (Move): A wave of intention, energy and movement rises...
Step 2 (Release): Align the Lower Body.
Step 3 (Stretch): Align the Upper Body.
Step 4 (Unstretch): Strengthen the Alignment while issuing 'Spring Force'.
Step 5 (Settle): Intention, energy and body settle naturally. more...[EN, DE]

Patrick Kelly's 20 Important Points.
Every part of the body changes continuously. 1.
Mind and Body aligned within the changes. 2.
Elastic strength is transmitted through chains of stretching muscles. 3. more...


Taiji - Yield, Neutralise & Issue
Yielding, Neutralising, Issuing; Yin-Yin, Yin-Yang, Yang-Yang.
Body Level. Yield: Relax the Body and withdraw in the direction of the partner's movement. Neutralise: Release and align the Body down to the ground while drawing the partner's Body out of alignment.
Issue: Raise Relaxed Elastic Force to combine with the partner's attempt to re-align their Body. more...


Essentials of Elastic Power. Of the 5 muscle changes, contracting, relaxing and holding are obvious and used by all but the 2 hidden phases of stretch and un-stretch are too fast and too subtle to be sensed or controlled from the superficial mind. Zheng Manjing (Cheng Man-Ching) said: 'If you want to know how to use Taiji, then you must know the five elements.' All good old masters of Taiji understand these five types of strength which can be generated within the body. more...


Beyond Self-defence. Taijii is an art where the soft overcomes the hard, the calm subdues the aggressive and the subtle transcends the gross. Taijii Form develops internal strength, Pushing-hands develops sensitivity. Being externally relaxed while internally strong allows the possibility of resolving pressure without conflict. more...


Higher Martial Arts. Deep-mind based training leads to Higher Martial Arts. Normal superficial-mind based training can never go beyond mere speed, strength and external technique. more...


Yang Family Classics - 40 Chapters. Attributed by the Yang family to Zhang Sanfeng and known now as the "Forty Chapters". From the 20th chapter:
"As a martial art, T’ai Chi is externally soft, but internally hard, even as it seeks softness. If we are externally soft, after a long time internal hardness will naturally develop. Not consciously cultivating hardness, in reality our mind is on softness. What is difficult is remaining internally reserved, to possess hardness without expressing it, always meeting the opponent with softness. Meeting hardness with softness transforms the opponent’s hardness into nothingness. How to acquire this skill? When we have mastered touching, connecting, merging and following, we will naturally progress from awareness of movement to interpreting energy and finally spiritual illumination within the realm of absolute transcendence. If we have not reached absolute transcendence, how could we manifest the miracle of four ounces leading a thousand pounds? It is simply a matter of understanding the method of merging to the point of perfecting the subtle seeing and hearing."