TAI CHI NOTEBOOK:
Study Topics en route to a Black Sash
Long Moving Form: the Yang 108
Nei Kung: ten postures
Medical Chi Gong (Too funny: Chi Gong Rap on YouTube)
Five Life Skills
Ten Important Points
Flute Form
Sabre Form
Push Hands
Applications of the Form
Eight Energies
Here's a video that captured my imagination as I was just setting out to learn Tai Chi: Tai Chi 24 form (opens in a new window). The style differs somewhat from what I am learning, but all of the movements are familiar. This 24-movement form was developed in Beijing by the Chinese Sports Committee in 1956 for widespread use as physical conditioning. I think it is quite beautiful.
I am studying with Master Instructor Thomas Gohring. A black sash in Tai Chi normally takes about three years to achieve, and although it is primarily something learned by doing, there is a good bit of material to be learned by rote, studied and internalized. This is part of Tai Chi's appeal: it has a rich intellectual and meditative component.
I am using this section of Pommelhouse to compile study notes, practice guides, and above all links to videos for everything I will need to know to get my black sash. As I am only about halfway there, the notebook will be under construction for a while yet. [Disclaimer]
The Sashes
Beginning level (first year): white, gold, orange. Beginners learn the first section of the Yang-style long moving form (the Yang 108), as well as Nei Kung and Medical Chi Gong. This last has only been added to the beginning curriculum at our school in the last year, so I haven't learned it yet.
Intermediate level (second year): green, blue, purple. In the second year we learn the intermediate and advanced sections of the Yang 108, plus the flute and saber forms.
Advanced level (third year): red, brown, brown/black. Everything is learned multiple times in this course of study. You simply cannot learn it well enough or deeply enough in one time through. In the third year, we revisit every aspect of the training in preparation for the rigorous testing that is required for the black sash.
The Yang-style Long Moving Form:
The long moving form, the most substantial part of what we learn to get a black sash, is a sequence of 108 intricate movements which flow from one to the next with meditative grace. I once asked Master Gohring how long it would take to perform the 108 at the correct speed, and he said 23-28 minutes. Slower is better. He tells me that the goal should be to perform it as slowly as possible without ever pausing; movement should be continuous. This is more difficult than you might imagine.
In class, we do move a bit faster, just in order to get enough repetitions and enough instruction to learn the 108 movements, which are listed here: Traditional Yang Style Tai Chi 108. Here is an alternative listing of the movements from Tai Chi Healthways
Additional notes:
Other Requirements for the Black Sash
Medical Qi Gong
Disclaimer
I am not an instructor! I am a student at Master Gohring's excellent kung fu and tai chi black sash academy in Austin, and most of my links to videos go to Master Gohring's YouTube. To learn Tai Chi, go to Master Gohring or a master instructor near you. This notebook exists for my own daily use and convenience. Tai Chi curricula vary hugely; this is the curriculum I am studying.
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