Grandmaster Tse’s Tàijí Fist 216

Body Movements – Part 5

As we have seen, in Chén Shì Tàijíquán 陈式太极拳 – Chén Style Tàijíquán we have eight body movements. however, they are not just movements, they are also related to attitude and energy. They are 縱 Zòng, 橫 Héng, 高 Gāo, 低 Dī, 進 Jìn, 退 Tuì, 反 Fǎn and 側 Cè. Zòng is let go.  Héng is strength. Gāo is high. Dī is low. Jìn is forward. Tuì is backwards. Fǎn is circling forwards and backwards. Cè is circling left and right. They are all about how we move the body and we can practise them individually, jumping like Zòng, holding a strong position – Héng, like we are holding some weight. Standing up high like Gāo or squatting down like Dī. Walking forwards like Jìn or backwards like Tuì. Jumping or rolling forwards and backwards like Fǎn and jumping sideways left or right like Cè. After we have practised them individually, we can mix them up and do them together freely and move however we want. In the end, our Tàijíquán body movement will be very good and we may even develop some unusual new movement for our Tàijíquán.