From October 1980

Tai Ji is not for fighting, it is for health and well-being, but it is still a martial art ... with the emphasis on art. That is to say, there are principles in the movements which derive from practical principles of self defence. For example, a straight or "broken" arm is a weak point as it would allow your opponent to press your whole arm against your body and take the initiative; whereas a slightly bent arm is more solid and springy. Similarly with the legs, any inward bending of the knees creates a weak point which would collapse if your body was pushed; whereas if both the knees are pointing outwards in the same direction as the toes there is more strength and resilience in the legs.

Let the form become a bit "tighter", by brushing the upper arms against the body so as to start each movement from the centre. However, in bringing the elbows closer to the centre, watch out that this does not raise the shoulders. So think of kai-he as bringing the elbows into the centre and twisting them in.

Let the qi flow out to the ends of the fingers from the palm, so hold your hand loosely curved and open, rather than with the fingers contracted inwards. Then three types of hand/wrist are still possible. Bent backwards, so that the wrist is more or less upright: used in Ba Gua especially, and also in some forms of Tai Ji. Very soft and slightly drooping: as in Zheng Manqing's Tai Chi style. Relaxed but more level, alive and connected: the Rose Li style of Tai Ji.

Miss Li said that as she watches us she sees less our form than our muscles and how they are moving, and in seeing the muscles she sympathizes and feels as if she is doing Tai Ji with us. In this way she can feel how we are doing it and how we are breathing. This is the "secret" of Pushing Hands: by looking and touching you can see how the other person is moving and breathing. She said she would show us more Pushing Hands in the future, but basically we should regard it as the dessert after the meal, whereas the solo form is the main course and that's why you go to a particular restaurant. Though after your main course it's natural to want a dessert!

In going down for the Low Stretch pay attention to the head direction: from Single Whip the head looks forward to the left, then as you pull back you look back over your right upper arm, and as you go down your head goes down and round in a circle to looking left again.

Miss Li said that the teacher only works to remove barriers to the development of a good physical form ... what will then come forth from the mind, who knows? You have to be very careful in talking about the "mental" aspect, because too much talk about inner experiences will lead to expectation and frustration, or to incomprehension and confusion. What she would say though, is that in this temperate climate you will feel heat in your body beginning to develop, and that after you have finished the form you can feel it some distance away: try holding one hand a few feet away from the other and see if you can feel the heat. She also remarked that the hands will become supple, soft and sensitive like a child's. Instead of being stiff and bony, the structure will soften and become more flexible and malleable, while the skin will also stay soft and the touch become increasingly sensitive ("scholar's hands").

Once again she emphasised the practice of low sitting which we should be developing. This will lead to an increased folding at the hips, so that as we sink lower our torso does not tip forward, but stays upright.

She also emphasised the opening and closing of the armpits: generally closing on the inbreath, then one or both opening on the outbreath. The closing of the armpits on the inbreath helps to activate the elbows and to bring the arms in to the centre, for all movements outwards should originate from the centre. For example, in Forward Brush Knee we may begin by learning the form as a large arm-circling movement at the side of the body, with stiff shoulder and elbow joints, and a marked twisting of the hips; but as we develop, the hips and knees hold more firmly in the centre and the arms move in a smaller circle directly in front of the torso, from which they can then expand outwards to complete the form. Miss Li said that she had been reading many authors stressing that all movement should begin from the centre in Tai Ji, and on thinking about it had decided that they were right in this sense. But the centre should not be interpreted too rigidly or literally: not to be measured in inches! but discovered through movement.

She said that we should be careful not to move so slowly that the flowing quality of our Tai Ji is disturbed. Such artifical slowness will produce a sort of juddering in the arms, a jerkiness, and if this happens go a bit faster until you develop a natural slowness.

As we were standing waiting at the beginning, she said "can anybody tell me what they think about when standing quietly at the start?". Someone said "nothing", which she scorned a bit and said, of course your mind has to be attached to something, and added that she has noticed that what she does is to think of her "tail" and her neck.

She stressed that Tai Ji shoulders should be down and back, in which they are slightly different from Ba Gua shoulders, which come a little bit up and forward, to round towards the front.