OVERVIEW OF BEST PRACTICES IN TAIJI

This article was taken from the famous taiji master Yang Yang of Chen Taiji. His biography can be seen here at: http://www.chentaiji.com/about/yangyangbio.html
Here is the article in verbatim form:

A definition of “best practices” is a beginning point for this topic. I would define “best practices” as “those exercises which allow one to realize the maximum possible results in the shortest amount of time.” According to this definition, “efficient” is essentially synonymous with “best.” Throughout this paper I will therefore use the term “efficient” in place of “best.”

To design the most efficient route, one must also, of course, know the desired destination. The most efficient Taiji practices are intelligible only in terms of the desired goals of Taiji practice. We must first begin, then, with an understanding and recognition of the purpose or benefits of Taiji practice.

Potential Benefits of Taiji Practice

Table 1 summarizes some of the potential benefits of Taiji practice. I have divided the benefits into primary, secondary, and holistic categories. Although these categories are certainly not mutually exclusive, Taiji was created as a martial art, and so specific benefits that yield improvements in self-defense skill are listed as primary, while other specific therapeutic benefits are listed as secondary and broader benefits as holistic. By no means is this categorization intended to lessen the importance of any potential benefit—it is only to emphasize why the core exercises that constitute Taiji practice were initially created. The primary benefits of Taiji training are the skill variables that the Taiji training system was designed to enhance. Postural control and balance, flexibility, coordination, agility, strength and power, sensitivity and awareness, reaction time, and confidence—these are the gong, or essential foundational skills, developed through Taiji practice. They are the support and foundation for technique and therefore indispensable for martial skill—hence the many famous sayings in the internal martial arts tradition emphasizing the priority of gong, or foundation practice (as directly opposed to martial technique or trickery). At the same time, these benefits are fundamentally health issues, and understanding the primary
purpose of Taiji practice serves to dispel any confusion or differentiation as to whether Taiji is a martial art or health exercise.

Certainly if you begin Taiji practice hoping to improve or cure a specific medical condition, then that benefit is primary, not secondary, to you. Indeed, throughout Chinese martial arts history, many of the most famous practitioners were initially motivated to practice because of poor health. The holistic category lists benefits that are perhaps the least expected and most difficult to quantify, but sometimes recognized as the most significant in people’s lives.

Table 1

Select Potential Benefits of Taiji Practice

Primary
• Postural control/balance
• Flexibility
• Coordination
• Agility
• Strength/power
• Sensitivity/awareness
• Reaction time
• Confidence

(Skill-Related) Secondary
• Digestion/bowel function
• Cardio-respiratory function
• Immune system function
• Prevention or treatment of arthritis
• Cognitive function (e.g., attention, concentration, learning, memory)
• Prevention of osteoporosis

(Other Therapeutic) Holistic
• Physical improvements in multiple sclerosis patients
• Quality of sleep
• Avoidance or repair of stress related injuries/illness
• Social interaction/sense
of community
• Spiritual development (calmness/peace/tranquility)

The most efficient Taiji curriculum is that which will effectively and quickly yield improvements in these variables. At the same time, no program is broadly effective unless it is attractive to and adhered by the participants. The duration, frequency, and overall level of intensity and complexity of practice, and perceived improvement by each participant, are all variables affecting the rate of adherence. In short, any intervention or exercise must be enjoyed, and the participants must recognize the benefits.

Essential Curriculum

While the slow movement that is most commonly recognized as Taiji is certainly a cornerstone of Taijiquan training, it is only one aspect of the art. Paradoxically, one purpose of the slow movement is to increase both speed and accuracy. Chinese philosophy states that yin and yang are mutually dependent and evolve into one another. If you want one, you should start with its opposite—extreme hardness is born from extreme softness, extreme quickness comes from slowness. Of course, slow movement by itself is not so complete that it can efficiently yield all the benefits of the internal martial arts. Through the centuries, three pillars of Taiji practice have evolved to form an efficient curriculum:

- Qigong—Principally wuji sitting and standing meditation
- Taiji form—Mainly slow movement practice
- Push-hands—Two-person balance, strength, and reaction training

It is important to know that these exercises are interrelated and synergistic—each exercise builds upon skills developed from the others, and the combined effects of correct practice of all exercises are greater than practice of individual exercises.