Taoist tai chi
Taoist Tai Chi is a form of Tai Chi Chuan developed by Moy Lin-shin, who started teaching in Toronto, Canada after he moved there in 1970. For this Moy modified the orthodox Yang style Tai Chi Chuan form, integrating it with his knowledge of Lok Hup Ba Fa and other internal arts. According to Lin, Taoist Tai Chi was designed with only its possible health benefits in mind. One of Moy's main teachers was Leung Jee-peng (Liang Tzu-peng) (1900-1974), an instructor in Lok Hup Ba Fa and other arts from the Chin Woo Athletic Association in Shanghai.
Form Principles
Taoist Tai Chi has several principles of movement that are meant to be a part of every posture. Several of these are attributes espoused by many non-Society teachers, but are expressed somewhat differently than is traditional within Taoist Tai Chi. Here is a brief description.
- Position of the feet "45/90": the principle of 45/90 refers to the desired degree of the feet in relation to one another, usually with the front foot at 90 degrees (straight forward) and the back foot (left or right) at 45 degrees outward. This is meant to aid in squaring the hips.
- "Squaring the hips": at the end/forward position of a movement (such as Single Whip) the hips of a practitioner should be square or facing completely forward and in line with the front or "90" foot. Conversely, when at the rollback or beginning of a posture the hips should be in line with the back or "45" foot. The professed health benefit of this is that it supposedly facilitates a turning/stretching of the spine and an opening of the pelvic region (specifically the hip joint).
- "In-stepping/out-stepping" In order to properly square the hips, the feet should be placed on either side of a straight imagined line. Stepping either too far outside or inside the line makes the space between the feet either too large or to small to square the hips.
- "Head to heel": there should be a straight line from the top of the head to the heel of the rear foot in all forward positions.
- The knee should not extend beyond the toes to prevent injury.
- In Taoist Tai Chi, similar to the teaching of Wu style Tai Chi Chuan, only one foot should be weight-bearing at a time. Also referenced as one foot being Yin or empty and another being Yang or full.
Foundation exercises
In addition to the full 108 Taoist Tai Chi set, students are taught a unique group of cyclical warm-up exercises that focus on the joints, called "the foundations"[1]. These exercises are not only used as preliminaries to the form, they are espoused as being the basic elements that provide health benefit in the varying movements of Taoist Tai Chi. Instructors often explain postures by refering to a foundation exercise.
The main foundations include:
- A basic lower arm rotation: the lower arms are held up and forward and rotate in and out. The hands are located in front of the left and right meridian. The elbows are stationary.
- A rotation of the arms in front of the body: making a circular motion with the hands: where one pushes away the other pulls in. The thumbs move from the central axis of the body. It is mainly an upper body stretch in which the arms move outward from the center and then back.
- "Dan Yu" (spine stretching). A squatting exercise meant to work primarily the pelvic region, the legs and the lower back. Fifty or more repetitions may be performed in advanced classes. The feet are placed in a stance wider than the hips. When squatting the knees move in the direction of the feet.
- "Tor Yu" (spine turning). The feet are at the typical "45/90" position, minding the "in-stepping/out-stepping" (see above). The pelvis alternates between weight over the front "90" and the back "45" foot. Thus the trunk moves following the pelvis. The hands follow the body and cross in front of the lower Dan Tien when the body moves backward to the '45 back" position, and then uncross and push away towards the "90 front" position leading the trunk. For the outside observer it seems that the hands make a circular motion, however they don't for the practitioner. In addition to its purported health benefits this exercise is particularly similar to the Silk reeling of other styles in that it helps develop the theory of movement present in all of Taoist Tai Chi.
- An arm/shoulder stretch: the arms move sideways, backward low, and forward up again with the hands crossed on the centerline in front of the chest.
- A variant of the "Wave Hands like Clouds" move.
- A repetition of the posture "Snake Creeps Low", in which the practitioner may come to a full standing position in between left and right sides of the posture. For those who have sufficient leg strength and healthy knees, one may move to a full "butterfly sit" position.
- Sometimes repetitions of various other movements (e.g., Brush Knee, Go Back to Ward Off Monkey, or Flying at a Slant) but usually movements that lend themselves to repetition.
Taoist Tai Chi form list
The 108 movements of the Taoist Tai Chi set are:
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