Taijiquan Movement Skills

"Thre are eight forms in Taijiquan. They are divided into four.

The first are the eight forms of the basic Zhuang Xing (stances), which refers to a fixed pose strived by the practitioner: Bow form, Taiji form, Empty form, Horse form, Half Bow and Horse form, One Leg Standing form, Sitting form, and Low Squatting form.

The second is the basic footwork, which refers to the actions between two forms when they are changing. The are: Interlinked Step, Mandarin Duck Step, Thrusting Step, Dragon Walking Step, Cat Stepping, Driving Out Backward Step and Toe-In Step.

The third refers to the eight kicking skills: Chi (separating the wings), Deng (stepping on), Qi (Jumping up), Bai (swinging), Jie (meetin), Tao (rounding), Chen (kicking back), and Cai (Obligue kick). Chi refers to separating the feet; Deng refers to kicks with the heel; Qi refers to jumping slap kicks; Bai refers to sweeping leg breadth-wise; Jie refers to meet the opponent leg with the front sole; Tao refers to round the kick from the opponent, kicking from the upper to the lower; Chen refers to kick back to the inside between the two legs of the opponent; and Cai refers to the kick breadth-wise and downward.

The fourth is Eight Jin in hand techniques, e.g., Peng (warding off), Lu (deflecting), Ji (pushing), An (pressing), Cai (pulling down), Lie (slipping), Zhou (elbowing), and Kao (shouldering)."

- "Jiang Yukun's Notes on Taijiquan," Tai Chi: The International Magazine of T'ai Chi Chuan: Vol. 30, No. 3, June 2006, p. 22. Jiang Yukun died in 1986.