Date: Fri, 21 Oct 94 14:44:16 -0700
From: tec@slate.alta.com (Tim Cushing)
Subject: beginner list of key points

OK--here's a starter list of issues, concerns, things to
practice, principles to incorporate, fundamentals, or
whatever you might want to call them. This is sort of a
beginner's list, in that I've omitted discussions of
spirit/shen, "stillness in motion" concepts, etc.

Speaking of categories, I've roughly split them according
to what I see as "fundamentals" vs. "teaching aids". The
words are few (well, for me:) so you'll have to interpret
these denotative statements within the connotation of
tai chi (kibitzing and even flaming warmly;) accepted).
These are also in no way the sum total of everything, so
additions would be good (I should probably re-read the
classics to look for relevant details I've omitted)... 

[Acknowledgements: My teachers, Marjorie Jackson and
 Toni DeMoulin, have provided most of these in class
 and as handouts]

((Oh, and this is from slow forms point of view))

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Fundamentals

- start practice by relaxing/stilling (sung) the mind, body, etc. and
  becoming aware of your self, root, surroundings and the directions

- the mind leads (everything); without removing the mind from the body,
  etc., focus the mind in the direction of movement as that changes

- the body follows the mind in its "natural order": mind, eyes, head,
  "shoulders"(waist)/arms/hand, weight, foot work (martially, within
  each movement there is an opponent, and the "hand" leads the body
  as first contact to your opponent)

- movement continues to flow without stopping in a slow and even tempo,
  but each movement flows to completion (don't smear one into the next)
  and within the tempo there are tides of slow & very slow (or you could
  say that there is no one *point* of reference for everything moving)

- all movements, transitions, etc. are "circular"; the continuous flow
  forms smooth curves of yin and yang (every up has a down, every
  forward has a back, every move has counter balancing); the change from
  yin to yang and vvs. occurs at the apexes of the circles

- arms & legs must be relaxed but never "empty"; energy is directed into
  both the yang and the yin hands/etc. ("in movement they separate")

- arms & legs must be "round", the back must be "straight", the hips
  must be "under" the shoulders (in terms of the energy flow; need some
  more words here, I think)

- keep the postures low and at an even height (notwithstanding exceptions)
  but do not sacrifice correct alignment for a low posture; the hips move
  laterally, staying in one plane

- the leading foot points the direction of movement; the knees always
  point/move in line with the toe of the foot

- the length of your stride is dependent on the strength, balance and height
  of the supporting leg; step no further than you can immediately reverse
  your movement and pick up your foot without pushing off or hopping


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Teaching Aids
- "do not look down, except briefly to step; when the eyes are looking
   downward, the entire spirit goes down and the alignment of the body
   cannot be optimal"
 
- "to sink does not mean get a lower stance; you sink by putting a sense
   of heaviness into the lower abdomen (tan t'ien) which usually lowers
   the pelvis slightly but does not make the stance, the legs, go lower;
   you can sink into the tan t'ien even while standing up almost straight"
 
- "to turn the waist is to turn both shoulders simultaneously, the waist
   and the shoulders are connected and one cannot turn without the other"
   [Toni says: Most beginners cannot distinguish their waists from their
   hips. I have found that when I say, "turn your shoulders and leave
   your hips stationary", that the concept of "waist" is learned much
   sooner and more distinctly.]

- "imagine your waist as an axle and arms as spokes of a wheel; any time
   there is horizontal movement in the upper arms, look for a waist turn"

- "when circling the hand, begin by first turning, curling the fingertips
   toward the direction of movement in the circle; the palm will follow
   the fingers and the arm will become round and full as it follows in
   its natural order" [Toni says: Many people begin the movement of a
   circle with the heel of the palm, causing the arms to become straight
   during the movement even though full and round at the end.]

- "focus your mind energy through your arms and out the contact point of
   the hand/arm; try to extend this energy as though you were shooting
   "laser beams" beyond and through an opponent" [Toni says: Most people
   know where their yang had is; try to direct equal intensity, equal
   energy, through the yin hand.]
 
- "relax the fingers and concentrate energy on the correct part of the
   hand for the specific movement; when you bend your wrist, don't bring
   up the fingers--bring the heel of the palm forward while relaxing the
   fingers (opens the pathways in the shoulders and elbows)"

- "use the hand to move or lift the arm, not the arm to move or lift the
   hand; use just enough mind energy to lift the hand, the arm will follow
   the hand without effort (elbows are are lower than the wrists when the
   hands are above the waist)"
 
- "keep arms in front of and away from the body; if your back was against
   a wall, at no time would the arms need to go thru the wall (if the arm
   needs to go back further, you must turn the waist to get the arm there)"
 
- "drop and relax the shoulders, do not raise and lower them; drop the
   elbows, this will help to drop and relax the shoulders"

- "if it is difficult keeping the back foot flat, try putting the "baby"
   toe on the ground. If the "baby" toe is flat, then the entire foot
   will be flat and the knee will be in proper alignment without directing
   too much energy into keeping the foot flat"

- "the back foot points approximately sixty-five degrees away from the
   direction of the leading foot (less than ninety degrees and more than
   forty-five degrees)"

- "when stepping forward, step in a "channel", except all half steps are
   at the instep of the other foot"

- "relax the abdomen and allow a heavy feeling, a sinking feeling, to
   drop the body onto and trough the supporting foot and into the ground"

- "step forward with the heel first, then slowly unbend the ankle until
   the foot is flat; only after the foot is completely flat should any
   weight be transferred to that foot/leg; to raise the foot, lift the
   knee, the foot will follow without effort"

- "to move forward, bend the front knee to the end of the toes, no
   further and no less; do not "push off" with the back foot"

- "to step backward, step with the toe first; to move ("sit") backward,
   unbend the front knee until all the weight is on the back leg"
 
- "push down with the front foot to move back, push down with the back
   foot to move forward; push down by pushing the knee straight thru the
   ankle (not just the heel) along the line of the leg bones (push down
   *into* the earth--don't push off *from* the earth)"
  
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