After we practice Tai Chi for a period of time, due to work and life reasons, we cannot often listen to the teacher's teachings. Sometimes we feel at a loss and don't know where to start when problems arise. At this time, we can go back and consolidate the core points of Tai Chi, which is like a sudden enlightenment. The following is an excerpt of an article that Teacher Gu once published on his blog for the readers.
太极拳结构复杂，动作繁多，短期内掌握确实有一定困难，那么如何能在较短时间里尽快掌握它呢？繁杂中求简约，在众多的要求中抓住核心，由简入繁，步步深入。
1. Stay upright
Keeping the body in an upright and comfortable state during the exercise is regarded as the first key point of Tai Chi. Under the premise of keeping the spine aligned, the body can move. After a period of time, you will be able to loosen your waist and open your hips and move freely;
2. Physical stretching
Tai Chi is a limb lengthening exercise. Relax the muscles and bones, stretch the limbs, and elastic strength will appear after a long time;
3. Relax the whole body
Tai Chi is a flexible boxing technique, so it is very important to remove clumsy strength. To get rid of clumsiness, we must start with relaxation. Relaxation is intentional and positive; it is not careless, passive and exhausted. Some people interpret relaxation as weakness, and introversion as lack of energy. This is a mistake, so be careful.
When learning Tai Chi for the first time, you only need to remember the above three points: from looseness to softness, from softness to hardness, from hardness to softness, until hardness and softness complement each other. Starting from the simple and gradually deepening, it is not difficult to enter the gate wall of Tai Chi.
Machine-translated from the Chinese original 练习太极拳的核心！ (published 2020-10-12). WeChat original ↗