Without long practice one cannot suddenly understand taijiquan.
Fundamentally, it is giving up yourself to follow others.
Most people mistakenly give up the near to seek the far.
It is said, "Missing it by a little will lead many miles astray."

The practitioner must carefully study.

(Wang Tsung-yueh)

Wu treatise

The mind mobilizes the qi.

Make the qi sink calmly;
then the qi gathers and permeates the bones.

The qi mobilizes the body.
Make it move smoothly, so that it may easily follows the mind.

The intention and qi must interchange agilely,
then there is an excellence of roundness and smoothness.

This is called "the interplay of insubstantial and substantial."

The mind is the commander, the qi the flag, and the waist the banner.

The waist is like the axle and the qi is like the wheel.

The qi is always nurtured without harm.

Let the qi move as in a pearl with nine passages without breaks so that there is no part it cannot reach.

In moving the qi sticks to the back and permeates the spine.

It is said "first in the mind, then in the body."

The abdomen relaxes, then the qi sinks into the bones.

The shen is relaxed and the body calm.

The shen is always in the mind.

Being able to breathe properly leads to agility.

The softest will then become the strongest.

When the shen is raised, there is no fault of stagnancy and heaviness.
This is called suspending the headtop.

Inwardly make the shen firm, and outwardly exhibit calmness and peace.

Throughout the body, the intention relies on the shen, not on the qi.
If it relied on the qi, it would become stagnant.

If there is qi, there is no external strength.

The jing is sung, but not sung; it is capable of great extension, but is not extended.

The jing is broken, but the intention is not.

The jing is stored by means of the curved.

The energy is released by the back, and the steps follow the changes of the body.

The mobilization of the jing is like refining steel a hundred times over.
There is nothing hard it cannot destroy.

Store up the jing like drawing a bow.

Mobilize the jing like drawing silk from a cocoon.

Release the jing like releasing the arrow.

To fa jing, sink, relax completely, and aim in one direction!

In the curve seek the straight, store, then release.

Be still as a mountain, move like a great river.

The upright body must be stable and comfortable to be able to sustain an attack from any of the eight directions.

Walk like a cat.

Remember, when moving, there is no place that does not move.
When still, there is no place that is not still.

First seek extension, then contraction; then it can be fine and subtle.

It is said; “If the opponent does not move, then I do not move. At the opponent's slightest move, I move first."

To withdraw is then to release, to release it is necessary to withdraw.

In discontinuity there is still continuity.

In advancing and returning there must be folding.

Going forward and back there must be changes.

The form is like that of a falcon about to seize a rabbit, and the shen is like that of a cat about to catch a rat.

 

(Wu Yu-hsiang)


Wang treatise

Tai chi comes from emptiness and is the mother of yin and yang.
In motion tai chi separates; in stillness yin and yang fuse and return to emptiness.

It is not excessive or deficient; it follows a bending, adheres to an extension.

When the opponent is hard and I am soft, it is called yielding.

When I follow the opponent and he becomes backed up, it is called adhering.

If the opponent's movement is quick, then quickly respond; if his movement is slow, then follow slowly.

Although there are innumerable variations, the principle that pervades them remains the same.

From familiarity with the correct touch, one gradually comprehends jing (internal power); from the comprehension of jing one can reach wisdom.

Without long practice one cannot suddenly understand tai chi.

Effortlessly the jing reaches the headtop.

Let the qi sink to the tan tien.

Don't lean in any direction; suddenly appear, suddenly disappear.

Empty the left wherever a pressure appears, and similarly the right.

If the opponent raises up, I seem taller; if he sinks down, then I seem lower;
advancing, he finds the distance seems incredibly long; retreating, the distance seems exasperatingly short.

A feather cannot be placed, and a fly cannot alight on any part of the body.

The opponent does not know me; I alone know him.

To become a peerless boxer results from this.

There are many boxing arts.

Although they use different forms, for the most part they don't go beyond
the strong dominating the weak, and the slow resigning to the swift.

The strong defeating the weak and the slow hands ceding to the swift hands
are all the results of natural abilities and not of well-trained techniques.

From the sentence "A force of four ounces deflects a thousand pounds"
we know that the technique is not accomplished with strength.

The spectacle of an old person defeating a group of young people, how can it be due to swiftness?

Stand like a perfectly balanced scale and move like a turning wheel.

Sinking to one side allows movement to flow; being double-weighted is sluggish.

Anyone who has spent years of practice and still cannot neutralize,
and is always controlled by his opponent, has not apprehended the fault of double-weightedness.

To avoid this fault one must distinguish yin from yang.

To adhere means to yield.
To yield means to adhere.

Within yin there is yang.
Within yang there is yin.

Yin and yang mutually aid and change each other.

Understanding this you can say you understand jing.
After you understand jing, the more you practice, the more skill.

Silently treasure knowledge and turn it over in the mind.
Gradually you can do as you like.

Fundamentally, it is giving up yourself to follow others.
Most people mistakenly give up the near to seek the far.
It is said, "Missing it by a little will lead many miles astray."

The practitioner must carefully study.

This is the treatise.

 

(Wang Tsung-yueh)


Chang treatise

In motion the whole body should be light and agile,
with all parts of the body linked as if threaded together.

The qi should be excited; the shen should be internally gathered.

The postures should be without defect,
without hollows or projections from the proper alignment;
in motion the form should not become disconnected.

The jing should be rooted in the feet, generated from the legs,
controlled by the waist, and manifested through the fingers.

If correct timing and position are not achieved, the body will become disordered
and will not move as an integrated whole; the correction for this defect
must be sought in the legs and waist.

The principle of adjusting the legs and waist applies for moving in all directions;
upward or downward, advancing or withdrawing, left or right.

All movements are motivated by mind, not external form.

If there is up, there is down; when advancing, have regard for withdrawing;
when striking left, pay attention to the right.

If the mind wants to move upward, it must simultaneously have intent downward.

Alternating the force of pulling and pushing severs an opponent's root
so that he can be defeated quickly and certainly.

Insubstantial and substantial should be clearly differentiated.
At any place where there is insubstantiality, there must be substantiality;
Every place has both insubstantiality and substantiality.

The whole body should be threaded together through every joint
without the slightest break.

Tai chi is like a great river rolling on unceasingly.

Wardoff, rollback, push, squeeze, pluck, split, elbow, shoulder are equated to the Eight Trigrams.
The first four are the cardinal directions; the second four are the four corners.

Advance, withdraw, look right, look left and central equilibrium are equated to the five elements: metal, wood, fire, water and earth.
All together these are termed the Thirteen Postures. 

 

(Chang San-feng)