I took part in a class on the push-hand exercise, a pairwise version of Taijiquan. I expected an intensive training, but it mainly consisted of simple exercises and explanations of principles. The lecturer mostly talked about Wu style Taijiquan, whose characteristics lie in developing one’s inner forces. Most interesting among many was his explanation on three stages Taijuquan. According to the theory, the practitioner begins his exercise by smoothing his movement. The stage is termed 招熟 or learning, where the attention is solely paid to the forms of movements. Having mastered those characteristic movements, he is then required to follow the flow of vital energy within. The second stage is termed 憧勁 or listening, where the attention is directed inwards. The final stage is termed 神明 or allowing, where his body and mind are interweave with each other. The lecturer encouraged us to reach the second stage. His instruction was quite practical. He showed us an illustration that depicts the way we should balance our body while walking. The method is completely different from the one we are usually taught, but sounds reasonable given his explanation. Similar explanations can be found both in Japanese (「陳式太極拳」理論) and English (Living Resiliently with Hakomi and Tai Chi). I found Wu style Taijiquan (呉式) interesting when we had finished the class.

An illustration of walking