The List

Just imagine the number of things that need to be in place to simply receive an attack and issue a return.

Listen, Connect, Stick, Follow, Understanding, Neutralize, Seal, Unbalance and Push. That means you have to be conscious of the Internal Landscape and be able to stay there under duress. You have to be able to expand into your environment and into your opponent and sync up to him. You need to feel the whole 3D nature of the swirling gyroscopic energy coming in and catch it softly, support for a moment, release it and assist its acceleration away from you. All the while from beginning to end you need to attach to the opponents reflexes following their timing, turning them on and off at will.

I used to categorize these skills according to their traditional Chinese names but it seems that one should be able to define Tai Chi to someone who does not know the private vocabulary. If I talk about the Ting, Wen, Na, Fa cycle it isn’t clear to an outsider that this relates to the application of energy and its timing. Of course the acquisition of Jins and cultivation of Jing, Chi and Shen and all the rest are essential components that comprise the fundamentals, qualities and skills I mention here.

The Tai Chi Curriculum Includes the 1) Proficiency in the Fundamentals 2) The Qualities and 3) The Skills:

1) Fundamentals – Stances, Posture, The Moves, The Forms, Balance, Rooting, Stepping, Head up, Tailbone down, Joints sunk, Functional Use of the Waist and Back, Breath low, Open crown, Opening the hands, The Gaze, Peripheral Awareness, Independence of body parts, Weight forward towards ball of foot, Integration

2) Qualities - Calm Mind, Softness, Strength, Simplicity, Naturalness, Comfortable, Subtle, Clear, Relaxed on the inside, Peaceful, Artistic, Precise, Meaningful, Hidden, Open, Unified, Musical, Continuous, with Straightness and Roundness, Insubstantial and substantial, Quality of Motion

3) Skills - Footwork, Handwork, Use of the mind, Awareness of group energy, Gathering and Issuing, Understanding, Intention, Opening and Closing, Solo practice, Chi gung, Applications, Two Person Practice, Improvisation, Hydraulic Motion/Wave Energy, Transfer of Momentum, Appear, Disappear, Expand and Condense, Consciousness of the Body Field, Continuity, Timing, Yielding, Sinking, Dynamic Relaxation, The Ability to Receive Energy (Push, Punch, Grab, etc.) and Transmute it without undue strength and Return it, Internal Awareness, Fajin

And still… without the Secret Handshake this is just The List.