Taijiquan Teachings and Practice

"Lian quan bu lian gong dao lao yi chang kong"

The above pinyin quote means "to train a form without first understanding the basics is like building a skyscraper without a foundation." As such, I would like to start from the very basic taijiquan exercises. I hope that everyone will have the patience to follow this teaching page religiously. I will do my best to continue to update this page every couple of weeks.

The first basic taijiquan exercises will be:

Muscles, Tendons, and Joints Relaxation (MTJR)Exercises:

MTJR Exercise #1: Clockwise Rotation

Stand upright with both feet together.
Part your right leg so that your feet are one-shoulder width apart.
Bring both hands from the side to the front and interlock the fingers, forming a space the size of a tennis ball between the palms.
Bring your right foot to the back in line with the left heel.
Rotate your palms in a clockwise direction. Make a full circle starting with the right palm in front. Rotate the right palm down, bringing it in towards you, up, forward, and down again; thus completing a full circle.
At the same time, rotate your right heel clockwise out to the right, down, in, up, and down again; thus completing a full circle. Be sure to co-ordinate the rotations of the palms and right heel.
Do sixteen rotations, two-sets of an eight count.

MTJR Exercise #2: Anti-clockwise Rotation

Stand upright with both feet together.
Part your left leg so that your feet are one-shoulder width apart.
Bring both hands from the side to the front and interlock the fingers, forming a space the size of a tennis ball between the palms.
Bring your left foot to the back in line with the right heel.
Rotate your palms in a anti-clockwise direction. Make a full circle starting with the left palm in front. Rotate the left palm up, bringing it in towards you, down, forward, and up again; thus completing a full circle.
At the same time, rotate your left heel anti-clockwise out to the left, down, in, up, and down again; thus completing a full circle. Be sure to co-ordinate the rotations of the palms and left heel.
Do sixteen rotations, two-sets of an eight count.

MTJR Exercise #3: Anti-Clockwise Circle

Continue from the end of the last rotation from exercise #2. Bring both palms out and down, swinging towards the back, up again, over, and down to the front; thus completing an anti-clockwise circle.
Keep your body upright (Shen Zhen).

MTJR Exercise #4: Clockwise Circle

Continue from the end of the last rotation from exercise #3. Bring both palms from the back down, swinging towards the front, up again, over, and down towards the back; thus completing clockwise circle.
Keep your body upright (Shen Zhen).