r/taijiquan

I saw this video that may be interesting or beneficial to beginner to intermediate TJQ practitioners. It may not be too useful for advanced practitioners as I would imagine these principles are already dialed in.

Once the separations and resulting polarity are achieved as elucidated in u/DjinnBlossom’s commentary on YCF’s ten points, one can connect to, control, and issue force to the opponent/partner using dangjin. The dang is the region of the inner thighs/pelvic floor/crotch — sorry if this is not the most perfect translation. To me, dangjin represents the internal connection between this region and the opponent and also between this region and the earth and the utilization of this region as a fulcrum when moving oneself and one’s opponent, manifesting itself as a very solid connection between one and their opponent through the point(s) of contact and also within oneself and to the earth. This contributes to a rooted stability and enables the rooted control of one’s opponent.

This is often more effective than thinking about “doing” other jin as a means to achieve a desired outcome (not to say one can not derive benefit from intentionally focusing on the utilization or maintenance of other jin).

It is important to achieve and maintain the polarity to enable the effective utilization of dangjin, though. And once these internal separations are achieved and automatic it is not really necessary to think of dangjin as such as you will be utilizing it as a result of satisfying the required mechanical conditions in the body regardless of whether you are thinking about it. As an aside, I guess maybe that’s what jin is — an emergent mechanical quality that is the result of achieving specific physical conditions. And while visualizations can help us develop these physical conditions, jin aren’t really achieved by visualizations or by having the right mental concept but by achieving these physical conditions through the training and transformation of the body and by maintaining these conditions in practical contexts. The achievement of these conditions is gong fu definitionally.

Note: I think George Xu is saying at the beginning of the video that though his arm may feel heavy to the opponent, it is light to him — not that his opponent is literally heavy. Not sure though. This lightness is achieved through proper internal separation/differentiation.

I also assume that when he says “if you give the trunk” at the beginning he essentially means “if you have a good root” (in the internal martial arts sense). Again an assumption, though 😅

Hi everyone,

I just came across some groundbreaking news regarding the academic recognition of our art. On April 28th, 2026, China announced that Taijiquan has been officially included as one of the 38 newly added undergraduate majors for the 2026 academic year.

As the author of Mastering Taijiquan in the Modern Age, I find this particularly exciting. It represents a massive step forward in the modernization of Taijiquan. It is now being treated as a formal academic discipline, sitting right alongside new AI-related majors. It really signals a shift in how the field is viewed—not just as exercise or fighting, but as a "vital field for understanding the human experience itself."

It seems the "Modern Age" is arriving faster than we thought! What does everyone think about this shift toward academic formalization?

As I was working on translating Yang Chengfu’s Ten Essential Points, I had a realization: the Ten Points are instructions for defining and reintegrating space in the body by creating polarities. Without polarization and the differential categories it creates, space cannot exist, location cannot be articulated, and transformation is impossible. I believe this insight can be a powerful framework through which to understand Taijiquan training on the most fundamental level.

By polarizing the body, I mean creating a distinction between two conditions with opposite qualities, i.e. differentiation. The term 太極 taiji itself simply means “great polarity”. If a practice does not derive from polarity, it cannot rightly be called Taijiquan. Differentiation between two poles is what enables transformation—in order for something to change from one state to another, there must be more than one possible state, and these states must exist along the same pole, connected through a differential. Power generation structures, from batteries to hydroelectric dams, all operate on this same principle.

The first axis of differentiation is vertical: Yang Chengfu’s first point, 虛靈頂勁 xuling dingjin “keep a light and lively energy at the crown”. The crown of the head, the highest point, must be stabilized upward. This creates a contrast along a vertical axis—once you have up, you must also have down. This is the first polar division because the issue of gravity must be addressed; emptiness needs to be distinguished from full in the vertical dimension because gravity is always acting on us, and if the body is already busy shouldering that burden, it will not be free to do something different. A channel between top and bottom must be established so that the effect of gravity on our mass can be neutralized. This is done by allowing our mass to sink downward and letting our awareness (神 shen) to rise up into the void that’s left behind. In order to sink, there needs to be some reference point to sink against; that reference point is the crown. The result is an empty pole at the top and a full pole at the bottom. 

After the weight of the body is accounted for by suspending from the crown, it becomes possible to define front and back. This is what 含胸抜背 hanxiong babei “contain the chest and draw the back” accomplishes. The torso is differentiated into empty and full, with the empty pole in the front and the full pole in the back. The chest loses fullness and is contained (the qi no longer protrudes past the heads of the humeri), and that fullness is transferred to the back, which “draws” or distends to accommodate it. Tellingly, Yang states: 能含胸則自能拔背 “If you can contain the chest, you’ll naturally be able to draw the back”, implying that to contain the chest is the same thing as drawing the back. However, even though the qualities of empty and full are coincidental, Yang consistently focuses on emptying to produce fullness, rather than the other way around. This acknowledges the ultimate goal of Taijiquan practice: by pursuing extreme yin, we wind up with extreme yang. Cultivating one quality to the limit naturally generates its polar opposite. This is the principle of polar inversion, a sudden flipping of polarity. All Taijiquan practice is laying the groundwork for inversion.

In Point Three, the waist (腰 yao) is described as the mediator between the empty and full poles of the above two axes. It is the center of the taiji diagram around which yin and yang revolve and transform into one another. On a basic level, the waist must loosen so that the fullness at the top of the body can sink to the bottom: 能鬆腰後兩足有力，下盤穩固 “if you can loosen the waist, the feet will have strength, and the lower body will be stable”. This stability in turn enables transformation in the other dimensions: 有不得力，必於腰腿求之也 “if your power [in any dimension] is insufficient, you must seek it in the waist and legs (i.e., rectifying the vertical pole)”.

In actual practice, differentiating top and bottom is not pursued separately from distinguishing front and back. Realistically, the body opens in all directions at the same time. Yang’s fifth point, 沉肩墜肘 chenjian zhuizhou “sink the shoulders and weight the elbows”, illustrates the interdependence of the vertical and anterior-posterior axes. While sinking the shoulders and elbows corresponds to the vertical pole, this sinking is not possible without first releasing backward. If the chest is not properly contained behind the heads of the humeri, the shoulders will be locked in an upward position because they are pulled forward and bind to the chest. It is only by allowing fullness to migrate from the chest to the back that a pathway downward to sink can be found. Front and back rely on establishing up and down, but up and down also depend on resolving front and back.

Implicit in differentiating the above two polarities is a third distinction, one between the inside and outside of the body. The intersection of the vertical and anterior-posterior axes defines an internal space contained within an external boundary that corresponds to the polar ends of those same axes. In other words, the space where the poles exist is the outside, and the place between the poles is the inside. This space is an emergent phenomenon, a byproduct of achieving the first two polarities. Far from being an afterthought, though, Yang devotes Point Eight 內外相合 neiwai xianghe “harmonize inside and outside” to discuss the importance of merging inside and outside into a unified essence. Specifically, this is the point where he talks about 開 opening and 合 closing. There is only one dimension of space that can open and close, and that is the interior-exterior pole. The ability to cycle force from the inside to the outside is fundamental; without it, conducting force across the other poles is impossible.

With top-bottom and front-back defined (and inside-outside implied), Yang goes on to distinguish left and right in his fourth point, which he considers to be the most important principle of the art. The practitioner needs to clearly delineate a single point of rotation by keeping all their weight to either the left or right. Without a clean distinction between a full leg and an empty leg, the body cannot resolve to a single point of rotation; rotation around more than one point is not possible, which results in bracing. This condition is known as double weighting, often considered the most basic error in Taijiquan. Taijiquan cannot work without separating left and right, but left-right separation of empty and full itself is impossible without first establishing the other three polarities. It is a simple principle that is actually unobtainable without that foundation already in place.

Yang’s first five points thus describe the eight directions of the Taijiquan body: top and bottom, front and back, inside and outside, left and right. However, it isn’t until Point Six that Yang gives explicit instruction on how to accomplish these differentiations: 用意不用力 yong yi buyong li “use mindfulness, not force”. Each pole can only be created and sustained by using the mind to observe it into existence. Like sorting out jigsaw puzzle pieces that come jumbled together in a box, the mind must be attentive in discerning differences and detecting correspondences, separating according to categories. Once the sorting phase of the first five points is stable, the pieces can be recombined, but now into something coherent, greater than the sum of its parts. This is the content of points seven through ten, the integration phase, to be discussed in Part 2…

Thank you all for reading the news I posted and for sharing your thoughts. Frankly, I do not know any more details than what was in the news report.

However, for me, this is good news. An art that was codified and taught in an era when less than 5% of the population could read—and when most firmly believed in knowledge passed down from ancient ancestors, such as the earth being flat and square—should be reviewed, explained, and explored from today's perspective, based on the knowledge base we have now. Taijiquan can be a learnable discipline, just like any other modern discipline. These are just my vision and my exploration based on my 50+ years Taijiquan journey.

I do not know what is in the minds of those responsible for making Taijiquan a major in modern college. But I am thinking of writing them a letter to learn more, if possible. I may give them some suggestions which they might not listen to, or may totally disagree with, but this is the way a new field is defined and stabilized.

If I get any feedback, I will be more than happy to share it with you. Thank you.

For those who missed the original news, you can find it here: Huge news for traditional arts: Taijiquan officially becomes an undergraduate major in China (2026) : r/taijiquan

Good Afternoon,

I have been looking into different ruler and taiji ball exercises to assist with different aspects of my practice. For those with experience, what is a good solo introduction to the work?

My current goal is to become proficient holding the tools in the center of the palms and circling in vertical and horizontal planes, eventually hoping to work into a figure eight pattern.

What would be some pitfalls to watch out for? I imagine being aware not to over-extend so the postural alignment is maintained and utilizing the breath in the similar inhale/expand exhale/contract pattern.

Tips or recommendations from experienced users of these tools would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Saw this and it reminded me/seems related to the posts related to “swinging” of the arms that have been posted here this past week. This video has to do with the “swinging” of the body like a temple bell as a heuristic.

Seems like a good heuristic to key in on certain general body mechanics and coordination between the centerline and limbs, but I don’t know how much I will personally focus on it (i.e. the visualization) in my own practice. I feel like if you’re practicing the form and partner drills the “right way” these mechanics will be there or will emerge regardless of whether you’re using this specific visualization or not due to internal connection and the interplay of weightedness/emptiness or fullness/emptiness within the body as you move through the form.

Thoughts?

Hi all,

After a few recent exchanges here in the sub, I’d like to suggest a modification of the sub rules.

We’re martial artists. The arts have a variety of cultural norms and traditions. We’re not a hobby sub. We are a sub for people who observe certain firms if etiquette and tradition.

If someone posts a video in the sub asking for comments, then they shouldn’t argue and attack everyone who isn’t fully in love with their work. If technical comments are requested, the comments should be received with grace and professionalism. The OP should be regular participants also.

But what has really got me very angry was in the last exchange the OP accused me of not honoring a teacher I’d met many times who is now deceased. The teacher, whose name I won’t drag into this, is someone I met in the states, who taught regularly in the states and who passed away in the states. Whether the OP actually knew who he was or met him I can’t say. But at one point, he said that when the teacher died he and his colleagues did a ceremony for him, what had I ever done, etc? I personally believe there was a cultural bias against me because I’m a Westerner but regardless…

Guys, we all know that if a comment like that is made person to person in a traditional martial arts environment, it gets handled in the old school way because thats the type of insult people don’t just brush off. I said as much and the OP shot something back about respect but then deleted his post.

Not a lot upsets or hurts me. Frankly, my skills are crude at best. I admit that and I’m ok with that. I’ve always been the school underdog. And that’s ok. But I’ve always walked the walk and been respectful. I cared about this teacher and I grieved his loss. To say I didn’t while this guy supposedly did…that’s an attack at a deeper level and it shouldn’t be accepted. And if we were in person, he’d have to defend those words.

I just think there’s a strategy of attacking commenters and then, saying stuff like this, which would never be tolerated in a real environment. If you want comments on your video, then engage the comments decently. Do not attack the integrity of people or try to dishonor them. Those comments should not be accepted here. Maybe we could include this in our rules.

Most modern qigong demonstrations focus only on slow arm movements and breathing. But real qigong goes much deeper than that.

In this video, I break down the internal body mechanics behind a very common qigong exercise — and explain the difference between simply moving the arms versus genuinely training internal connection, structure, breath, rooting, and whole-body force.

Key concepts covered include:
• Rooting through the feet and toes
• Stabilizing the lower body without unnecessary tension
• Passive movement generated by breath and internal pressure
• Hollowing the chest instead of expanding outward
• Twisting the joints to maintain internal connection
• Containing force inward rather than dispersing outward
• Melting and sinking the torso instead of mechanically lowering the arms
• Coordinating breath, structure, intent, and movement as one connected process

This is the difference between qigong as light physical exercise and qigong as genuine internal training for Tai Chi and internal martial arts.

The goal is not external choreography — it is developing internal connection, structure, pressure, relaxation with support, and unified whole-body movement.

#Qigong #TaiChi #InternalMartialArts #Neigong #QiGongTraining #TaiChiChuan #InternalPower #Song #Dantian #Rooting #BodyMechanics #MartialArts #ChineseMartialArts #BreathingExercise #StandingMeditation #KungFu #Taiji #SilkReeling #WholeBodyPower #ChiKung

Unfortunately, no name is mentioned. Does anyone know who it is?

I've been working on a tool that uses computer vision (Google MediaPipe Pose) to provide real-time form feedback for tai chi practice. It runs entirely client-side in the browser — no app, no data uploaded, privacy-first.

Currently covers 5 foundational Yang-style movements with movement-specific checks: arm positioning, bow stance depth, shoulder alignment, hand separation, etc. It also has a step-by-step narration mode with breathing cues.

Try it here (free, no signup): https://wuflow.polsia.app/practice/feedback

What I'm specifically looking for:

1. Are the form checks reasonable? I tuned them to standard Yang-style positioning but I know there are variations
2. Is the spoken feedback helpful or annoying? It has a cooldown system to avoid nagging
3. What movements would you want next? I have 6 more intermediate movements in the pipeline

I know AI can't replace a teacher — this is meant as a supplement for solo home practice, not a replacement for instruction. But I'd love to know if it's heading in a useful direction.

Longer technical writeup: https://medium.com/@itisithegr81/i-built-a-free-ai-tai-chi-coach-that-watches-your-form-in-real-time-d56d9f333aec