The Five Aspects of Tai Chi Chuan The Hand Form Pushing Hands Self-Defence Weapons Forms Internal Strength The Character of the Forms The Five Aspects of Tai Chi Chuan Five Winds Tai Chi Chuan is composed of five distinct elements: The Solo Hand Form The Eight Pushing Hands Exercises The Self-Defence Applications The Solo Weapons Forms Nei Kung Internal Strength Exercises Each of these elements is important to a complete understanding of Tai Chi Chuan. The hand form trains movement; pushing hands trains sensitivity to an opponent's movements; the weapons forms help train spirit and intent; and Nei Kung strengthens the body and trains power. All of these components are essential for the self-defence applications to be successful. The sections below give a brief description of each of the components. The Hand Form The hand form is what most people think of when they think of Tai Chi; it is composed of a flowing sequence of movements that gently exercise the joints and muscles. In Five Winds Tai Chi there are two hand forms. Both forms are essentially the same sequence of movements, and the real difference between them is the style in which the movements are performed. The first form, called the Square Form, is taught to beginners. All of the movements in this form are performed to a fixed count which helps beginners remember the movements and keep in time during group practice. The second form is the Round Form. This is taught after the square form has been learnt. The movements are smoother, more flowing and do not rely on a fixed count. When you are taught to write, you first learn the shapes of the individual letters, and the style of writing is akin to printing. Only once that has been mastered, do you move on to "joined-up" writing. This parallels the square and round forms. Sifu Cameron's article, Beginning The Handform, discusses the stages of practising the hand form, and pictures of Sifu Cameron performing postures from the hand form can be seen here. Pushing Hands Pushing hands is a two-person exercise designed to develop sensitivity to a partner's movements. The object is to learn to deal with being pushed without becoming tense or using strength, and to learn to deliver pushes to unbalance your partner, again without using muscular strength. To this end you must become very aware of your own and your partner's centre of gravity and direction of movement, and to cultivate this awareness you must learn to stay relaxed throughout the practise. There are eight styles of pushing hands in Five Winds Tai Chi. The simplest style involves one hand and no stepping, and the exercises become progressively more complex, introducing both hands and then various forms of footwork. The final form of pushing hands is free-style where, as the name suggests, there is no fixed form of movement.   Nine Palace Pushing Hands The sensitivity developed through pushing hands practice provides the basis for good self-defence applications. Self-Defence Each of the moves in the hand form has at least one self-defence application. Sometimes the name of the style itself tells you the intended application - an example of such a move is Step Up, Parry and Punch. But more often the names of the styles are poetic rather than informative - for example Parting the Wild Horse's Mane. In such cases it is important to have a teacher who understands the application of the moves and can demonstrate their practical use. Slap the Face   Tai Chi Chuan, as a form of self-defence, has been described as "the art of overcoming hardness with softness". This is a very difficult concept to grasp and master since, in many cases, it runs against our natural instincts. If someone pushes you, it is your natural reaction to resist the push. However, pushing hands practice shows us that if we do not resist, but instead move with the push, and absorb and redirect its energy, then we can defeat the aggressor with relatively little expenditure of energy. Sifu Cameron sometimes describes Tai Chi as "the art of letting your opponent have his own way", and it is through the continual practice of the applications from the form that we learn to overcome our own instincts and learn to apply the theory of Yin and Yang in self-defence. Softness can overcome hardness because, in remaining soft, you remain relaxed, and in remaining relaxed, you can respond more swiftly and can avoid futile trials of strength. We present some of the martial applications from the form here. Weapons Forms There are three weapons in the Five Winds style of Tai Chi. These are: Sabre (or Broad Sword) Spear (or Staff) Straight Sword Traditionally it is said that the practice of the sabre strengthens resolve, the practice of the spear increases wisdom, and the practice of the sword nourishes the chi. You might feel that weapons practice, with swords and spears, has no useful place in the modern world - but remember, as with the hand form, each move in the weapons forms has an application, and those applications translate readily to everyday objects such as walking sticks and umbrellas, should you need to defend yourself. Equally important is the fact that the weapons form provide methods of exercise that are quite different from the hand form. For example, the sabre form is much more vigourous than the hand form, and is usually done quickly, to help develop focus and power.   Picking a Star on the Left Internal Strength The Nei Kung, or internal strength exercises, are designed to develop your body and train power. In many ways it is the most important part of Tai Chi Chuan, both for health and self-defence. From the point of view of health, it is said that Nei Kung helps regulate breathing and improves the blood circulation. It also loosens and relaxes the joints. From the perspective of self-defence, you cannot hope to be involved in a fight without being hit. If your body is weak, you may be hurt and your attacks will lack sufficient power to injure your assailant. Thus, to hope to survive in a fight you must develop a strong physique. This is one of the goals of Nei Kung. There are two sets of internal strength exercises: a Yin set and a Yang set. The Yin exercises develop health and physique, whilst the Yang exercises concentrate more on developing power and strength. In addition, some of the exercises have self-defence applications. The Character of the Forms All of the components described above are interconnected. Without any one of them the system is not complete. Each complements the others. The following quote is from Tai Chi Sabre, Sword and Spear by Cheng Tin Hung. The Tai Chi Chuan expert practises the hand form in order to cultivate the mind; he practises the sword to nourish the chi; he practises the sabre to strengthen his resolve; he practises the spear to increase wisdom; he practises internal strength to develop jing (focused power). The hand form is the foundation for the effective usage of weapons. If the hand form is skilful then nothing will go wrong.