Taoist Tai Chi
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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.
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[edit] 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. Conversley, 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.
[edit] 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.
- "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.
- "Tor Yu" (spine turning) Sometimes called "windmills", this a stationary spine exercise in which the arms rotate in a circular fashion.
- A basic wrist rotation.
- A rotation of the arms in front of the body.
- An full upper body stretch in which the arms rotate outward from the center and then back.
- An upward reaching exercise for the arms, chest and spine.
- A repetition of the posture "Snake Creeps Low", in which the practitioner comes to a full standing position in between left and right sides of the posture.
[edit] Taoist Tai Chi form list
The 108 movements of the Taoist Tai Chi set are:
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