December 1982

Miss Li said she had taught us in a 'democratic' way. She contrasted the freedom we have here in the West with the totalitarianism and repression in China: there her relatives have plenty of savings but cannot buy commodities without special tickets. Here in the West people may abuse their freedom by becoming criminals: in China it is impossible to organise criminal groups.

So in our Tai Ji she has not dictated all the specific movements we should make, rather she has left it to us to gradually discover it for ourselves; and at the the more advanced levels individuals should get more and more similar. This is a slower route, and a more difficult one, but possibly more rewarding. 'Our Tai Ji is not too bad; at least it is interesting to many people'.

1. The feet should be accurate to allow the correct positioning of the torso. Thus in Brush Knee Corner Direction, beginners sometimes cannot get their left foot round far enough: so instead of facing towards the right-hand corner they face forwards. Though ultimately we should face the right-hand corner, this is only possible if we can get our left foot round far enough to allow the torso to turn without disturbing the left foot and knee. So Brush Knees should be with the feet at 45 degreees, the knees and toes aligned with each other, and the body facing directly over the front foot. When moving the feet through small adjustments with the heel remaining on the ground, we should still lift the rest of the foot, rather than just sliding it across the ground.

2. There should be life in the arms, moving down from the shoulder to the elbow to the fingers, so that it feels as if our fingers are pushing against something. Thus in moving the hands round through 180 degrees in the Weaver, the arms should not just be still. Although the torso does impart most of the movement to the arms, they should not just be inert but alive. 'Though we are quiet, we are not dead.' Miss Li also remarked that women's arms tend to come alive sooner than men's: because where we are strong, we are normally also tense ... in Tai Ji, though, we talk of 'softness' rather than 'weakness'.