Step?

In order to get closer to something, we step. This is a fundamental human skill, yet so many people reach beyond their natural range instead of stepping. Why is this?

Laziness? Poor body awareness? Naivety? If you reach rather than step closer, you sacrifice your balance, and with it your strength.

It is absurd to think you are going to get anywhere by giving only an hour a week to your practice or that you can regularly skip classes. Martial arts is not like a bridge club, where you drop in when you have nothing better to do. Martial arts will always make greater demands on your time than would most hobbies or avocations.

(Dave Lowry) 

Some people in this culture believe that the “consumer” is entitled to good service and if they feel wronged are entitled to take their custom elsewhere. This may or may not be a useful strategy with plumbers, electricians etc but foolish in the extreme in relation to tai chi.

(Peter Hobson)

The Chen form derived from battlefield military movements, where people wore medieval body armour that had to be compensated for. The Chen-style stances were specifically designed to achieve these compensations and obtain a workable position from which to realistically throw an armoured opponent.

By the time Yang had reached Beijing, times had changed. With the advent of firearms, battlefield armour became obsolete; hence, the need for techniques to deal with armoured foes had passed.

Yang and his students had to deal with situations encountered by bodyguards, not armies opposing each other.

(Bruce Frantzis)

An inch

There is a point where something is weak, then it becomes strong, only to become weak again. Like a 'bell curve'... The human lifespan is like this: a baby, to adulthood, to decrepitude and death.

Seek to do only what is necessary to find that optimal point of strength. Sometimes it requires just an inch of movement.

Just enough?

It is so tempting to stretch, to extend, to reach. To force, to push.

Don't do this. Just do what you need to do to accomplish the result and nothing more.

Aim for this ratio: minimal effort achieves maximum results.

A different way?

Tai chi advocates moderation in all things. e.g. over-training is as bad as under-training. If you do not train enough, there will be very little fitness benefit and no martial development.

If you train too much, the body will become tired and there is an increased risk of injury.