Sun Style Tai Chi Chuan Advice

Grandmaster Madame Sun Jian Yun (1913-2003) gave us the following advice about the practice of Sun Style Tai Chi Chuan:
1. The head should be upright but do not use force. Let the spirit be full.
2. The mouth should be gently closed with the tongue at the upper palate. Breath gently through the nose. (Note: Personally, I prefer to have my mouth loosely open).
3. Both shoulders should be loose and dropped. Be careful that they are not raised: raised shoulders cause the chi to float.
4. Both elbows should be pressed down. When the elbows and shoulders are dropped, chi can be sunk at the dan tian. When the elbows are pressed down, the arms can be bent, with stored energy ready to be released.
5. The fingers should be open and loose. The wrist should be flexible.
6. The chest should be held in, not extended. An extended chest causes chi to float, resulting in top heaviness.
7. The waist must be flexible, as it is the commander of all the whole body's movements.
8. The legs should be bent: 'apparent' and 'solid' must be differentiated, otherwise agility is lost.
9. 'Chi sunk at dan tian' means deep breathing. Deep breathing is very important in Tai Chi Chuan, but it must not be forced.
10. Meditation is seeking movement in stillness; Tai Chi Chuan is seeking stillness in movement. During practice, the heart must be calm and the mind must be focused; only then can the physical movements be smooth and agile.
11. A special feature of Tai Chi Chuan is 'use will-power, don't use strength.' The aim is to achieve force that is alive, with extreme softness yet extreme hardness, extreme heaviness yet extreme agility. When will-power arrives, power arrives. If mechanical strength is used, it becomes sluggish and clumsy, floating externally, out of place in external arts."

- Translated by Wong Kiew Kit. Found in "The Complete Book of Tai Chi Chuan" by Wong Kiew Kit, 1996, p. 262.