2010 T AIJIQUAN F ULL C URRICULUM I NTENSIVE

List of Drills/Skills 1. Zhan Zhuang Qigong (brief summary) * Begin sitting. Relax deeply through whole body (soles feet to top of head) * Three phase breathing, settles into abdominal breathing * Inner Smile: eyes, lower dantien, middle dantien, upper dantien, whole body, and space around you * Breathe into the legs, press into the earth to stand, continue as above * Include five element arm positions * ZZ offers an excellent place to begin a thorough cultivation of YCFs 10 Essential Points of Taijiquan and from there take it into form, etc. (see YCF handout) * Feel into your practice; intelligent, sensitive movement in stillness, stillness in movement. ! Key concept: Practice evolves from the simple to the progressively more complex. When the complex begins to feel simple, expand further. ! Key concept: Continually folding back. As new material is added we remember to continually fold back to prior material to keep it fresh, evolving, strong and relevant to new material. 2. Baduanjin Qigong (Eight Pieces of Brocade Self Cultivation) * The Baduanjin is an ancient qigong set that covers many key areas. It offers an excellent way to warm up prior to Taiji practice, is good as a general morning wake up routine, or to help re-energize through out the day. (See handout) * Work first to get comfortable with choreography and coordination. Next integrate a deeper use of breath. Finally sense the influence of your chi and raise your spirit of vitality. * Feel for the unique quality, even personality, of each exercise and let it nourish you on some level. Feel free to adapt the movement to suit you in the best way. ! Key Concept: Authenticity: Let your qigong (and other practices) be an authentic expression of yourself such that your practice strengthens you and raises your sense of well being on all levels. ! Key Concept: Song: Relax, loosen, unbind. While we want cultivate clear, wellaligned structure, we also want to cultivate a quality of loose, comfortable responsiveness in our body and mind that feels good and is appropriate to the moment. 3. Dao Yin Qigong * Beautiful, graceful and easy moves. This qigong set has a common thread move through it of twisting and raising the arms and unwinding them for relaxation. The legs get a good work out as well with a hip and waist study in several moves.

* Let your breath support the moves. * Move quite slowly and mindfully through this set. Enjoy your practice. 1. Commence 2. Push the boat down the river 3. Lift up the sun and the moon 4. Giant mythical bird spreads her wings 5. Picking up a rock with confidence 6. Slide the window to look at the moon 7. Wind blows in your face 8. Old monk strokes his long beard ! Key Concept: In any practice of self-cultivation, it is not uncommon for one to encounter internal resistance from time to time. Rather than dismissing your discipline during these times, see if you can find a way to soften and relax into it finding a flow at a deeper or different level. Working through resistance furthers your progress like nothing else can. 4. Hip Track/Waist Turning Qigong * Stand in horse stance, drive from left to right folding into the right kua. * Turn the waist to the right and keep hips stable. Waist releases back to neutral; turn waist to left then return back to neutral. Drive through center into left leg, fold into left kua, and continue likewise. Use breath placement to support and facilitate the movement. * Continue in bow stance with attention to precise placement and alignment. ! Key Concept: Understand, train, and integrate core body mechanics. ! Key Concept: Thoroughly enjoy your practice (and enjoy being thorough.) 5. Walking Qigong * Continuing with clear hip tracking and waist movement, step with increasingly better balance and rooting and coordination. * Can work with 5 element hand positions (very useful), brush knee, etc. * Add backward walking (repulse monkey), sideways walking (cloud hands) * Can create other walking exercises as derived from the long form as Taiji qigong 6. Taijiquan 108 Long Form * Practice first for choreography, next for deeper coordination and body mechanics, then for Taiji energies. * Be mindful of frame size: larger frame better for health and chi circulation, medium frame for general study and optimal body mechanics, small frame for specific martial applications * Sinking deeply into the legs with proper alignment allows the upper body to free up and relax more thoroughly.

* Can sometimes practice more loosely, almost sloppily, while not breaking structural principles, allows for a nice, easy, enjoyable change of pace then return to more precise movement. * 13 Families study (see handout) * Other ways of practicing form work: chunk practice for working posture, in sequence loops, out of sequence patterns, opposite side patterns, vary speed, vary frame size, complete free form. * Can also extract postures from the form for more masterful study. A prime example is the kicks: make a thorough, repetitive study of rising kick or parting kick for example such that it becomes a well trained tool. ! Key Concept: Three types of practice: Formal: regularly scheduled practice; Interval: short periods of practice interspersed into your day during moments of free time; Life style: applying principles or Taiji qualities of movement while doing everyday tasks such as driving, standing, working, etc. (off the mat) 7. Sticking and Adhering Drill * Study in rolling, pivoting, transferring, and exchanging * This practice provides an essential foundation for more advanced Taiji bare hand training as well as aspects of sword and spear sticking. * Train in horse stance, train in bow stance with weight shifting to facilitate movement. * Later can gently seek openings in your partners structure to afford them an opportunity to neutralize. Non-competitive. * Can use this drill to naturally transition into the 1-8s, etc. and then back again. ! Key Concept: Taiji is a study in relationships. It begins with a study of our relationship with our self and with gravity through qigong and formwork. In tuishou the study expands to include relationship with another person. With weapons, the study expands further still to include an external object as well as another person. 8. The 1-8 Preparatory Drills aka Eight Disc-framed Fixed-step Pushhands (Ba Pan Jia Zi Dingbu Tuishou) * The 8 Preparatory drills are studies in structure and clear energies, one of the most important being the ability to receive. * Give your partner clean, clear energies to work with. Receive well into your structure and use clean angles to neutralize, etc. * Look for the specific lessons each drill has to offer and if you find yourself struggling, take a moment to reset and resolve the problem. * Sometimes let the drill go to full expression on one side or the other so that can be explored. Then return to it as written. * When you have some expertise with the drills on both left and right sides, explore variations such as speed, opposite leg forward (but same arm), changing angles, taking a step, etc. Remember to stay on your own side.

! Key Concept: From one perspective, Taiji is a study in conflict and its resolution. We see this clearly in the 1-8 preparatory drills. ! Key Concept: Neutralizing is a * by-product * of correct form, connection, and movement. Receiving is akin to supporting. 9. The Thirteen Powers (Shisan Shi) * While not a drill, included here as part of fundamental study * Eight Gates Energies: Ward off (peng), Roll back (lu), Press (ji), Push (an), Pluck (tsai), Rend (lie), Elbow (zhou), Lean (kao) * Five Phases of Stance: Advance-step (jin bu), Retreat-step (tui bu), Left-side gaze (zuo gu), Right-side look (you pan), Central Settle (zhong ding) 9. Four Hands (Si Zheng Tuishou) Forward Timing * Forward timing four hands is a clear study of the square energies of peng, lu, ji, and an. * As with the 1-8, make sure that you are clear with your intent, receive well, and use good core principles. * Note importance of a clear spiral position/energy here, particularly on the closed side. * Can practice with light or heavy energy so long as it is clear. Stay relaxed and on your own side. 10. The Three Old Techniques * Borrowed from Chen Style, this is largely a study of elbow, roll back, push (and spiral). * This is a particularly good exercise to study the spiral in preparation for reverse timing four hands. * Note different leg position. If your right leg is forward, your partners left leg is forward and vice versa. This puts us in position to study elbow range more easily. 11. Four Hands (Si Zheng Tuishou) Reverse Timing * Whereas in forward timing, the square energies are all expressed, in reverse timing, only the push is fully expressed. The other energies exist more as potential but can manifest at will. * From the three old techniques, one person changes legs and the orientation squares up creating the four hands pattern. * Reverse timing allows us to explore sticking in a dynamic new way. * 9 Changes: (1) hinder cross hand, (2) spiral reversal, (3) rolling reversal, (4) sitting wrist return, (5) hinder spiral lower (6) lower hand reversal (7) chop (8) palm to palm (9) universal change * Make the changes real rather than just touching at them.

* Can also explore how the changes can be used as martial applications. 12. Moving Step Tuishou * Single Step begins the study by advancing and retreating in response to real dynamics. * Double Step continues the study with two steps forward and two steps back. Hips dont have to make a complete adjustment. * Follow Step (3-3): Both partners begin with same leg forward and match steps in this simple pattern. : Practice changing lead leg by hindering at the second step in either direction or by causing an extra step in either direction. * Cover Step (3-2): Partners begin with opposite legs forward and take turns stepping to the inside of the others lead leg as the patterns theme. : Practice changing lead leg by hindering at the second step in either direction or by causing an extra step in either direction. * 3-3 to 3-2 Changes: Change from 3-3 to 3-2 by taking an extra large second step back and third step steps inside partners lead leg or change by shuffle stepping. : Change from 3-2 to 3-3 by hindering partners second step in as you continue with your own step back then both step into the new 3-3 pattern or by adjusting with a shuffle step. * Become quite clear with signaling, enticing, and sealing in these drills. * Continue on with the addition of reverse timing four hands and changes. ! Key Concept: Advancing involves entering into and controlling space where as retreating involves maintaining or creating space for oneself. 13. Da Lu (Large Roll back) * While four hands is the study of the square energies in tuishou, Da Lu is the study of the corners or what happens when the square is not maintained. * Be quite clear on the proper angles with your partner. Often you will be oriented at right angles. Likewise, use clear energies and true responses. * (1) Seal and step around version, (2) Chop version, (3) Press version, (4) Bend backward version, (5) Da da lu version 14. Exchange Stepping * Just legs: Each person steps for positional advantage using 3 or less steps. Each person has a turn after which the other responds. * Full exchange: Each person gets a turn to enter for advantage causing a challenge for his or her partner. The partner then gets to figure out the puzzle by respecting their own structure, staying connected, and going with the grain of the movement. * Over time, slowly begin to take out the gaps between turns making this into a more fluid, connected exchange.

* Can also emphasize the skill of getting behind the other person; this becomes a kind of circle walking. 15. The 88 Partner Set (San Shou) * The 88 is a type of choreographed exchange step type exercise. In it we get to explore applications and responses at varying tempos and intensities. There are many lessons to be learned from this excellent practice. * Give it a try on the opposite side! ;) 16. Free Play Tuishou * Free play can be approached in many ways. A few examples include: fixed step for balance; moving step for balance; moving step for consistent connection; large or small frame shapes, including or not including strikes, kicks, joint locks, sweeps; very specific kinds of focus such as just neutralizing, entering into available spaces, or certain qualities such as roll back, press, etc. * When practicing free style with your partner, its advisable to have a basic agreement as to your practice together. This provides for a more productive, safe, and satisfying experience. ! Key Concept: Notice how weapons (and other aspects of the curriculum) further inform your bare hand qualities. Take this into your free play. ! Key Concept: Fitness, fitness, fitness! There is no substitute for some form of grosser overall exercise such as brisk walking, biking, rebounding, etc. Such exercise makes the more subtle Taiji training much more effective and enjoyable and you can continue with less need for rest. 17. Taiji Saber (Dao) Walking Drills * There are many types of saber walking drills beginning with the simple open and close cuts as you advance and retreat. Add diagonal cuts and thrusts. Create walking drills from the solo form. * One major advantage is a rapid increase in weapon familiarity and coordination. * Free solo play with the saber is great also 18. Taiji Saber Basic Cuts and Defenses * 10 angles of attack: diagonal top right to bottom left, diagonal top left to bottom right, diagonal bottom right to top left, diagonal bottom left to top right, horizontal right to left, horizontal left to right, central thrust, angled thrust from right to center, angled thrust from left to center, vertical top to bottom. * Practice these cuts both in the air and on a post. There is no substitute for some good ole fashioned post cuttin!

* Practice simple defenses to these cuts with a partner. Go slow and use good form. Later add multiple cuts and defenses. Recommend wooden sabers for this. 19. Taiji Saber Solo Form * Saber is the first weapon trained in Taiji as it is closest to bare hand. It offers us a clear introduction into simple weapon concepts and coordination. * Saber is also a wonderful study in the deeper use of dan tien and core muscles. * Support your saber well and balance using an open hand. * Historically, saber is a battlefield weapon. Explore some free play with your saber into various directions and at various speeds. 20. Taiji Saber Two Person Form * Pay particular attention to correct timing with this form. Dont get ahead of your partner. ! Key Concept: As with all weapons, Safety First! 21. Taiji Sword (Jian) Walking Drills * Extract movements from the solo form for use in simple line drills or create new ones. 22. Taiji Sword 54 Movement Solo Form * Sword is far more sophisticated than saber. Pay close attention to details and nuances in this form, how the sword follows the body and how sometimes the body follows the sword. * Sword is thought of as being primarily a dueling weapon. * Note that the way the sword is held in the hand is often changing so as to provide the best position for the technique. * Balance and support the sword with the secret sword hand, which has many other uses as well. * Also good to take movements from the form for practice on one or more posts. 23. Taiji Sword Two Person Sticking Drills * Practice pivoting, rolling, transferring, and folding with the sword. There is no exchange with sword practice. * These are great drills that warrant close attention and practice. * Practice simple thrust / parry with your partner both an inside and outside parry. * Practice low cuts and parries in both directions. * Practice high cuts and parries in both directions. * Practice moving smoothly between these three drills, then add some freer

footwork to the mix. 24. Taiji Sword Diamond Stepping * This is another sticking drill that involves four movements: Two for attacking, two for defending. The attacks both occur when the feet are crossed, the defenses when uncrossed. * Maintain a clear orientation to your partner. 25. Taiji Sword Exchange Step Practice * As with the bare hand exchange step, each person gets to have their turn at a sword technique after which the partner responds and counters. Get this stage clear and effective. Take your time. Often the response will involve a step back to make space. * Next begin to slowly take out the gaps in this exchange creating a kind of slow motion sparring. The idea is not to get your partner but to create an opportunity to explore attack and defend. Give your partner time enough to respond and study the interaction. * As skills improve, gradually increase the speed. Safety first! 26. Taiji Spear (Qiang) Solo Drills * It seems likely that portions of Taiji spear have been lost over time so our practice is comprised of solo and partner drills. Much room is available here for further exploration and development. * Spear familiarity drills: horizontal sweeps, vertical sweeps, all manner of controlled play with the spear. * Basic thrust practice: Pay particular attention to the hip track, full extension, control of the tip to your target, and not moving beyond your center. * Solo thrust and high parry (inside and outside); solo thrust and low parry (inside and outside) 27. Taiji Spear Partner Drills * High thrust and inside parry * High thrust and outside parry (and disconnect to back and forth) * Low thrust and inside parry * Low thrust and outside parry (and disconnect to back and forth) * Change between high and low thrust and parry * Spear Circle Walking * Stomach, shoulder, foot, face pattern spear sticking between the last two * Two-person spear free play ! Key Note: Continue to fold back everything to the beginning and through out. Let each part of the curriculum inform the whole and then take it off the mat. "