Purpose of Taijiquan: Taijiquan was originally invented as a fighting art, i.e., a martial art. In recent years, Taijiquan is often known, especially in the West, as a form of exercise that is good for health. Taijiquan is actually both: A form of exercise that is good for health and a martial art that is good for self defense.

Different Styles of Taijiquan: There are many different styles of Taijiquan. The original style is the Chen Style, which gave rise to the Yang Style, when Yang Lu-Chan (1799-1872) from Hebei Province went to the Chen village to work and learned Taijiquan from Chen Chang-Xing (a 14th generation Chen) for an extended period (like 20 or 30 years). Then Yang went back to Beijing and taught Taijiquan. Because many of his students were from the imperial court’s aristocratic class, instead of soldiers, laborers, and farmers, he modified the Chen Style Taijiquan to make it less physically demanding and more suitable for the aristocratic class (but not necessarily decreased its effectiveness as a martial art). During these three hundred plus years, several other leading practitioners of Taijiquan made their own modifications and extensions of the Chen Style Taijiquan and gave rise to the Hao Style, Wu Style, Sun Style, and Wu Style (this Wu is a different Chinese character from the previous Wu). Today, the Yang Style is the most commonly practiced Taijiquan style in the world.

Because there are so many different styles as well as different forms even within the same style, it was difficult to evaluate and give scores during competitions. Therefore, certain standardized sets were agreed upon in China. The Simplified Yang Style 24 Form Set was established in 1956. The Standardized 42 Form Set was established in the 1980s, which consists of mostly Yang Style forms, but also utilizes some forms from other styles, such as the Chen, Wu, and Sun Styles.

Contents of Class: In the Saturday morning class at the NJCCC, we will be learning the Simplified Yang Style 24 Form Set. The focus will be on Taijiquan as an exercise that is good for health, but we will also discuss the martial applications of the various forms. Knowing something about the martial applications allows one to understand the origin of the forms and also helps one to remember and do the different forms better, which in turn means that it is better for one’s health.

Basic Fundamentals of Taijiquan: In its martial application, Taijiquan makes extensive use of the yin-yang concept. One tries not to confront an opponent’s force head on. Instead, the counterattack often allows the opponent to continue in the direction of his force, and utilizes that momentum to cause the opponent to lose his balance. Once the opponent senses that he may lose his balance and moves in the other direction, one also changes direction and counterattacks along the momentum of the opponent’s new motion. Thus one is constantly shifting directions and utilizes the yin-yang complement of the opponent’s motion. To facilitate the constant shifting of directions, one needs to keep the body upright. Furthermore, to increase one’s sensitivity to the opponent’s movements and intentions and therefore to be able to counterattack more effectively, one needs to keep one’s body, muscles, and mind relax.

Another fundamental aspect of Taijiquan is that the power doesn’t just come from the strength of the arms, but also from the power and momentum of the movement of the legs and the hip/waist. Coupling this with the strategic placements of one’s legs, arms, and body relative to those of the opponent to generate more leverage, a smaller person can defend successfully against a bigger and stronger opponent.

As one progresses into Taijiquan, proper breathing is very important, especially in generating more power and enhancing one’s health. However, beginning students already have too many things to learn and remember. Therefore beginning students can just breathe naturally and slowly, in a relaxed manner. As one progresses beyond the beginner’s level, then one should start paying some attention to breathing. The general rule is that when one is exerting force (e.g., pushing out to punch or pushing downward to block/deflect), one should breathe out. And when one is pulling in or making a movement to set up an attack, one should breathe in. When one progresses to the more advanced level, then one needs to practice more sophisticated breathing in order to generate the power of Taijiquan as an internal martial art.