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“Taiji Quan by the Numbers”

(excerpted from Drawing Silk)
The same Player from the wooded hill, inspired by the teachings of the late B.P. Chan, who often used number images in his vivid presentation of principles, compiled this set of nine steps to “Taiji Immortality.” The mnemonic images are often good to meditate on before engaging in the Form so they may resonate in the deeper levels of your mind during practice. It is best to select any one item and focus on that just before practicing, so your training in the Solo Form reflects the principle involved. When you have progressed through all nine after a period of weeks or months, return to number one again and begin the cycle anew.

When you can apply all of these "Numbers" consistently in your daily

practice, you will surely be a "Taiji Immortal!"

B.P. Chan taught in New York City for a number of years and was a marvelous synthesizer of Internal martial arts principles in his teaching.

Taiji Quan by the Numbers

“Taiji Quan by the numbers” is a series of mnemonic devices to help in remembering and actualizing Taiji Quan principles in your practice. Some of them are from the teaching of various masters; many of them are original. The approach “by the numbers” is inspired by the classical Chinese literary principle of “saying much with little”, or using the minimum number of words to express ideas of great depth and with manifold ramifications.

1) The One, unbroken unity, the Wu Ji (the undifferentiated Oneness of the Universe), before Yin and Yang have spun themselves off into the Taiji (opposite yet complementary forces). In practice this refers to a standing meditative posture such as “Holding the Moon” or “Holding the One,” letting the arms embrace an imaginary ball while the feet are placed slightly more than shoulder width apart. (All specific instructions must be from competent teachers). In Lao Tze’s Tao Te Ching, Chapter 10, we find a reference to “embracing the Unity.” This is the unified, still and focused mind, the “Full Moon” of our True Nature, the beginning and end of all Taiji Quan practice.

2) Two is Yin and Yang--up / down; in / out; forward / backward; and the multiple dualities of the Taiji in practice and in life. We cultivate this awareness by using the “Raise Hands and Step Up” Form of Yang Taiji Quan as a standing meditative pose to develop sensitivity to the varying yin / yang balances of all parts of the body. Interchanging this pose from right to left teaches light “empty stepping,” and the changing yin / yang balance of arms, legs, feet, and hands.

3) Three heavies and Three Lights: Using this Principle you can create relaxation with alert awareness throughout your body. (Heavy means sunk and deeply relaxed and has no connotations of stiffness or immobility). Keep your knees heavy (slightly bent), elbows heavy (to relax shoulders and chest), and tip of lower spine heavy (like the plumb on the end of a line). Keep the top of head light, (lifted effortlessly without strain), fingertips light, and eyes light (no fixed or strained expression). The light head and fingertips counterbalance the heavy coccyx and elbows.

There are also Three Methods:
Foot Method (proper stance),
Body Method (correct use of the waist), and
Hand Method (application of hand techniques).
In practice, first adjust your feet, then body, and lastly hands, building up your Form like a tree or house on a solid foundation.

Finally the Three Levels: Keep your “Eyes level, shoulders level, hips level.” No bobbing up and down during the Form.

4)             The Four “F’s”:
    Form
    Function
    Feeling
    Forgetting

First you learn the sequence of movements, correct transitions, etc. This is Form.

Then you must learn the proper (defensive) Applications of the Form to understand the purposefulness of the movements in depth, as well as how to image the flow of qi in each Form. This is learning the Function.

From long practice of Form and Function, you will develop a Feeling for the flow and use of energy in each movement, and the qi will begin to flow spontaneously, following the Feeling.

When your spirit can vitalize the movements without specific mental intention or imagery, you will realize that Taiji Quan is moving you; you are completely “empty,” yet aware. As the ancient verse says, “Without form, without shape, entire body thoroughly empty.”

How to USE the "Four F's"

The “Four F’s” can have tremendous ramifications in every area of your practice.

First, the Four F’s come about naturally in your initial process of learning Taiji Quan. Once you have learned the Solo Form, then you can strategically use the Four F’s in your daily practice.

On a day when you are scattered and unfocused, you can emphasize Form in your practice. That will keep you grounded and centered.

Emphasizing Function will give your Solo Form a greater aliveness and intensity on a day you feel lazy or lethargic.

Focusing on Feeling lets you concentrate on the flow of energy with a sensation of ease and contemplative awareness. This is good for a time when you are stressed out.

And Forgetting comes as a gift when you have so completely integrated all the other F’s that your Solo form seems to do itself.

Master Liang used to call this stage of practice, as “going to Heaven without spending one dime.”

5)             The Five Hearts:
    Two soles of feet,
    Two centers of the palms

And The heart itself

All are important centers of energy and must act in coordination and harmony and be joined by subtle flows of energy.

6) The Six Harmonies:
Three Outer Harmonies –
shoulders align with hips;

elbows with knees;

hands with feet.
Three Inner Harmonies –
The mind harmonizes with the Intention (the mental focus which directs each movement); Intention harmonizes with qi; qi harmonizes with strength.

During practice it is especially important to be aware of these Six Harmonies at all times.

7) The Seven “Rounded Places” of the upper body (especially in such movements as the Yang Style “Ward Off” Form, or the “Holding the One” mentioned above).
1)From spine to shoulder blade must be gently rounded;
2) tip of shoulder rounded;
3) elbow rounded:

4) wrist rounded
5-7) first, second, and third phalange joints of the hand and fingers all rounded for unimpeded energy flow. No stiff or angular joints.

8) The Eight Directions and Eight Basic movements of the Taiji Quan Solo Form:
                     Ward Off
                     Rollback
                     Press
                     Push
                     Pull
                     Split
                     Elbow Strike
                     Shoulder Strike
And knowing their energetic patterns and relations to the Eight Trigrams.

9) The “Nine Zigzag Paths,” through which the energy is mobilized:
1-3)     From Bubbling Well points (first point of Kidney Meridian on sole of the foot) through the ankles, knees, and hip joints;
4-6)    Then through the lower tip of the spine, mid back, and Jade Pillow at the base of the neck;
7-9)     Then through the shoulders, elbows, and wrists.

Only when all of these paths are fully opened can true technique be expressed from the fingers or the palms. As the “Taiji Quan Classic” says, “Form is expressed in the fingers.”

After going through all of these “Numbers” the student may well feel it’s time to practice “Forgetting!” Yet once examined and thought about, these images will occur to the mind before and during practice and will help correct deficiencies in posture or qi flow. They are also in a loose order of progression from the more basic to the more subtle. Once the student has achieved unbroken threading of intrinsic energy through the “pearl with nine winding paths,” she or he can dispense with the numbers and return to the One.

The Late B.P. Chan 1922-2002

Send mail to with questions or comments about this web site. to alltaiji@aol.com Copyright © 2008 Total T'ai Chi Last modified: April 15, 2008

Send mail to with questions or comments about this web site. to alltaiji@aol.com
Copyright © 2008 Total T'ai Chi
Last modified: April 15, 2008