The Complete Book of Tai Chi Chuan

The philosophy of Tai Chi Chuan originated not with warlords whose aim was to kill, but with Taoist masters whose aim was to prolong life and attain immortality. This different in philosophy and history has led to a difference in the basic psychology of the art's exponents. (Location 431)

Any increase in power is not the result of your fist's repeated contact with the sandbags, but of the action of your repeated punching. Hence, if you just punch into the air repeatedly, instead of into a sandbag (which actually discourages you from punching hard, as it causes you pain), the increase in your punching power will be greater and faster. (Location 484)

The increase in stamina is apparent, not real, because you will end up panting for breath if you allow the increase in your need for air which results from your increased activity to regulate your rate of breathing, instead of your trained mind. Your heart will also be working harder, and your blood rushing unnaturally, which is not only stressful and impairs your ability to think clearly and react spontaneously in combat, but may in the long run unfavourably affect your health in ways you may not be able to envisage. (Location 493)

While its manifestations are many and often profound, in its simplest form the concept of yin and yang refers to the two opposing yet complimentary aspects of everything in the universe, be it an object, a process or an idea. (Location 536)

However, many Tai Chi Chuan students have nowadays gone to the other extreme, thinking that hard, external training and application are alien to Tai Chi Chuan. An appreciation of the yin-yang principle helps to overcome this superficial view and provide the necessary insight to more effective training. (Location 583)

“If my opponent does not move, I do not move; if my opponent moves, I move faster”. (Location 611)

Symbolically it may be expressed as follows: “If yin, more yin; if yang, more yang”. Obviously, this strategy can only be used by someone who is competent. If, while your opponent is preparing to attack, you become impatient instead of remaining still, then you do not have sufficient yin to implement this strategy; and if, when the opponent attacks, you react too slowly, then you do not have sufficient yang. (Location 617)

These 13 Techniques are the eight fundamental Tai Chi hand movement of warding off, rolling back, pressing, pushing, spreading, taking, elbowing and leaning, and the five fundamental leg movements of moving forward, moving back, moving to the left, moving to the right, and remaining at the centre. These 13 fundamental techniques will be explained in some detail later. (Location 638)

existence is in the “Song of Secrets for Training in the 13 Techniques” of Wu Yu Xiang (1813-1880), the “Five Characters Formula” of Li Yi Yu (1832-1892), and the “Ten Important Points of Tai Chi Chuan” of Yang Cheng Fu (1883-1936). (Location 891)

source of life is at the waist. Pay attention to “apparent” and “solid”, Without hindrance chi flows with grace. Stillness in movement, movement in stillness, (Location 898)

Note: Waist means hips stillness is movement is what im doing on stairs etc

Why do we practise Tai Chi Chuan? It is to attain health, vitality and longevity. (Location 926)

The Five Characters Formula refers to mind tranquil, body agile, energy full, force complete, and spirit focused. (Location 934)

When energy flows thus from top to below, it is called “closed”. When energy flows from the waist to the spine, spreads to the shoulders, and reaches the hands and fingers, it is called “open”. “Closed” is receiving, “open” is releasing. If you understand “open” and “closed”, you understand yin-yang. When you have reached this stage, you will be more and more skilful each day until eventually you will attain the stage where you will achieve whatever your mind desires; there will then be nothing that you cannot achieve.2 (Location 967)

4     Differentiate between “Apparent” and “Solid”. Differentiating between “apparent” and “solid” is the first fundamental of Tai Chi Chuan. If the whole body-weight is over the right leg, the right leg is “solid” and the left leg is “apparent”; (Location 1007)

Chuan exponent moves, he is like being in stillness. Thus while practising Tai Chi Chuan, the slower the movement is, the better. When movement is slow, breathing becomes deep and long, (Location 1048)

Experience has shown that delaying the practice of a Tai Chi set in order to spend more time on these basic hand and leg movements usually results in the student progressing faster in the long run. (Location 1071)

But do not be misled into thinking that the main purpose of zhan zhuang is just to develop strong, stable stances. Much more important is the development of internal force, without which Tai Chi Chuan, Pakua Kungfu and Xingyi Kungfu cannot be called internal arts. (Location 1100)

Tai Chi means “the grand ultimate” and some students may have heard of the expression: “From the infinite ultimate or the void is born the grand ultimate or the cosmos”. We will start our internal force training with an exercise which reflects this. (Location 1103)

At a later stage, you may feel internal force flowing inside your body; at an advanced stage you may feel your own vital energy merge with the cosmic energy of the universe, the experience of which is reflected in the name of the stance - the Infinite Ultimate Stance. (Location 1111)

If you turn your body without rotating your waist, you interrupt the flow of energy from your dantian, but if you rotate your waist, your body will turn naturally, and your energy flow will be spontaneous. Feel this internal flow of energy as you rotate your waist. (Location 1152)

Note: Honestly seems like just a good biomechanical reason wonder why we need to add the flourish

You may recall Li Yi Yu's advice, as quoted in the previous chapter, that “Force starts from the heel, is controlled by the waist, materialised at the hand, and executed from the spine, with full mindfulness”. (Location 1280)

Having knees that are both “stable” and “mobile” or strong and flexible reflects the yin-yang principle of Tai Chi Chuan. If your knees are strong but limited to only an angular bent, or if you can rotate your knees but only in pain, your Tai Chi Chuan training is incomplete. (Location 1377)

Tai Chi Chi Kung and Tai Chi internal force are often used synonymously, although technically speaking chi kung is the method and internal force is the effect. (Location 1399)

Taoist cultivation, which will be explained in Chapter 21, involves three stages, namely cultivating jing (essence) to become chi (energy), cultivating chi to become shen (spirit), and cultivating shen to return to the cosmos. Chi kung is therefore the bridge leading from the physical (jing) to the spiritual (shen). (Location 1412)

Stand still for a few seconds (or a few minutes if you intend to have a longer training session) in the Infinite Ultimate Stance (Figure 6.1a). Then move one of your legs to the side to form the Goat-riding or Tai Chi Stance. Simultaneously raise both arms, with your elbows fairly straight, in front of you to chest-level (Figure 6.1b), breathing in gently through your nose. Then lower your arms gently in front as if you were pressing on water with your palms, breathing out gently through your mouth (Figure 6.1c). Fig 6.1 Lifting Water After raising and lowering your arms with the correct breathing between five and ten times, you should have entered a chi kung state of mind, a subconscious level. Gently visualise good cosmic energy flowing into you as you breathe in, and your vital energy flowing down your arms into your palms as you breathe out (cosmic energy and vital energy are terms generally used to refer to energy outside and inside your body respectively). It is important that your visualisation be done gently; if you have difficulty visualising, just a gentle thought of cosmic energy flowing into you, and vital energy flowing to your palms, will do. After raising and lowering your arms 30 times, with the appropriate visualisation and energy flow, gently bring your feet together and remain still in the Infinite Ultimate Stance for a few minutes. You will feel internal force flowing down (Location 1429)

“Rooted at feet, executed at legs, controlled at waist, materialised at hands”. When you attack with your hands, your power comes not from them but from your feet, executed through your legs and controlled by your waist. For example, if you push your opponent, the power of the push does not come from your palms, but is channelled all the way from your feet through your legs, body and palms into your opponent. (Location 1738)

Health is more than just freedom from clinical illness. To be truly healthy a person must also be able to sleep and eat well, be emotionally stable and mentally sound, have energy and zest for work and play, and usually be capable of enjoying wholesome sex. Someone who habitually takes sleeping pills to sleep and vitamin pills as food supplements, who becomes angry or nervous easily, who is unable to think clearly, who is often lazy or languid, and unable to lead a normal sex life, cannot be called healthy. (Location 2481)

This explains why the mechanistic, reductionist treatment of illness is unsatisfactory, why conventional Western medicine is unable to establish the causes of such diseases as hypertension, asthma, rheumatism, ulcers, diabetes and cancer, and, on a positive note, why patients often report having had these so-called incurable diseases cured by alternative means like practising chi kung and Tai Chi Chuan. (Location 2505)

Treatment, therefore, needs to be holistic and aimed at the root cause. If we treat a diseased liver only at the level of the organ, for example, its disordered tissues or cells may cause the same disease to recur, or it may manifest as disorder in other parts of the body. In Chinese medicine we do not treat the liver or its tissues and cells; we treat the whole person at its basic chi level. (Location 2512)

Note: Obviously need to treat symptoms at the root, core issue with western medicine Like my mom’s constipation or most treatments for physical thing, and our over-reliance on pain medications vs on actual solutions

Translated into conventional medical terms, harmonious chi flow means that the feed-back system, defence system, immune system, regenerative system, hormonal system, transport system and all other body systems are functioning naturally. (Location 2539)

As the root cause of illness is blockage of energy flow, the logical remedy is to clear the blockage. Of the numerous therapeutic approaches to clearing energy blockage, such as herbalism, acupuncture, massage, external medicine and physiotherapy, practising chi kung is the most direct and effective for curing chronic illness and illness where the causes are difficult to define, like hypertension, rheumatism, depression and cancer. (Location 2551)

This was an extremely useful innovation by Zhang San Feng when he evolved Tai Chi Chuan from Shaolin Kungfu. Instead of having to train in Shaolin Kungfu, chi kung and Zen - the three arts that are of greatest benefit to the enhancement of health, work and leisure - he put them together as one unified art. (Location 2558)

What are the signs that indicate that you have attained harmonious energy flow and a heightened state of mind? When you have achieved a high level of energy control, you can usually feel the energy flow yourself and channel the energy wherever you wish. If you channel it to your palms, for example, they can be very powerful even if you have never practised against a sandbag. You will also solve any health problems you may have - complaints like colds, fever, bodily pain, depression, nervousness and anxiety will never bother you. You will eat and sleep well, and enjoy your work as much as your play. (Location 2565)

Note: Love this For me the test of mastery is beating Reynaud’s syndrome, not getting sick gonna start tagging that when i feel anything off At this point haven’t been sick since Covid about 1 year ago, even though the family has been sick a bunch

When you have attained a heightened state of mind, you will have a sense of tranquillity, joy and inner peace, yet you will be mentally sharp and fresh at all times. Your emotional and mental dimension will have widened and deepened, and the sort of pettiness with which many people are preoccupied, like gossip and envy will appear very childish. You will be amazed at the depth and clarity with which you perceive and solve problems which appeared formidable before. And your friends will also feel the calmness and confidence that you inspire. (Location 2570)

Increasing our energy level and harmonising our energy flow, enhancing our physical, emotional and mental health, and promoting a heightened state of consciousness, explain why and how Tai Chi Chuan can enrich our lives. They also provide useful criteria for measuring how much we have benefited from this wonderful art. (Location 2670)

When you are suddenly awakened to the great cosmic truth that you do not have a physical body but are actually a boundless flow of energy in unity with the energy of the cosmos, you will have achieved the highest aim of Tai Chi Chuan. (Location 2677)