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It's great to see how you observe these things, and explain and demonstrate more about it. A couple of years ago, I came across a book by Robert Tangora called 'The Internal Structure of Cloud Hands". Scott Meredith has also given me some good tips from his books and videos. These insights made me reevaluate my approach to Cloud Hands, and likewise the opening posture. However, in recent years, and with face-to-face teachers, I've also been taught different aspects to focus on, which then became part of my form practice.

Very important detail. Thank you!

The article on fasting (the link above) is the most detailed and thorough information on the subject that I’ve read from a single source. Thank you sir.

thank you i appreciate.

What about an online Taji School/Academy...I would love your advice as to how I may benefit more,Since I'm a student of an online Taji School/Academy, in the art of Wu Dang Taji..Don't get me wrong I've been into the internal arts for a while ,namely Xing-I and Bagua as a closed door student...But Taiji because I suffered from anxiety and depression so much so , that my former styles couldn't penetrate was advised by my teachers to add Taiji/Chi. Of which I have been a student for 4 years, and now entering my 5th.My Tai Chi School is in Wu Dang Mountains .I live in London,My teacher for me is great because he doesn't just teach on Tai Chi but also Daoism as a way of life/philosophy as well as chi gong..and to embrace spirit/life through Wu Wei/empty/embrace life through spirit...Something that I connect with and is essentially a part, naturally of the persona I've always had. Though didn't fully understand or know truly until practising Tai Chi. I must add my teachers in the other arts also exhibit and taught this principally..How can I improve my art further until I am able enough to visit Wu Dang itself.And from your years of experience how can I benefit more intrinsically as a student..Would be grateful for your wisdom and advice..Video if from TH-cam/social media your right serves no purpose but to copy and paste.Yet their are also masters who share their videos through DVD's be it form's styles where they explain principally step by step the nature of their art conceptually..Where do you classify these? Because from my understanding, this is how a lot of martial arts styles were learnt/taught though not by DVD'S. but through manual scripts with the principals and concepts outlined, In drawings and writings traditionally....That is also part of tradition in the evolution of Chinese Martial arts.Please as said your point of view would be gratefully received..Thank you for sharing this video because in this modern world these classifications must be pointed out analysed ,and explained..In order to pass on the right methods and ways to and for future generations..Much love sir..Thank You for sharing.Always..🙏

A wealth of knowledge here on how to treat one’s body kindly thank you

Thank You very much for this video and all that you do. Very, very helpful for my needs and wishes. All the best to you.

Thanks for sharing the video. At about 2:52 I like your explanation of how your lower leg swings back when you lift your knee. I had not thought of that detail before.

Very helpful explanations of "washing" and of "stretching" in the sense of stretching the fascia, much more subtle and wellness enhancing than the contractive tearing of muscle fibers so they'll "build back" longer. Thank you!

Excellent Robert, thank you as always for your time and informative explanations.

Thank you, Robert!

Fascinating method, the detail of the vertebrae pushing up versus being pulled up, is a big deal!

Your explanations are precise and your metaphors are very helpful! Is there a branch of study within your knowledge base for healing self and others?

As someone who used to work in a gym and a martial arts centre it was always amazing how many punters were adamant about adhering to one set of principles to the exclusion of all others. It was as though we were always seeking a singular theory/ regime/ diet/ ideology to explain everything and provide all answers. Truth is often more nuanced. Core strength - something my early teachers warned against, now proves so important as we age, in regards to posture, balance and coordination and I’d add not to forget the benefits of eccentric movements as well as the usual concentric movements that everyone knows. Eg. Going down steps rather than up, extending the arm rather than focusing just on the contraction etc. Anyway, lots of research out there to find on this. 🙏

Thank you 🙏🏽

I think stance work as well as holding the ball posture, palms facing inwards is the use of the contractive.contractural strength we tai chi/internal arts students need to utilise or use more to develop physical strength.Not many students focus on Stance work today especially as traditionally taught.10-15 minutes a day is enough for them,When the ancient Masters and our teachers in the past stood for hours..Growing up my first art was Wing Chun I also learnt or should I say dabbled in .lol. (through self taught means) 7 star mantis From Sifu Lee Kam Wings "famous book" on the Seven Star Mantis system.Still as some one who was always health conscious in the physical sense I always worried about my Ab's My Chest and Muscular strength. today I know longer.I'm fortunate to have an athletic body and even more fortunate to have been involved in sports since childhood,Soccer wise. So barring ego or physical vanity notions I no longer do reps of sit-ups or pushups.I found even in Wing Chun An art not being classified as internal though there is the internal nei gong sequence within the Sil Lum Tao Form.I was becoming stiff..Too stiff..Luckily today we have those electro magnetic pulse things we can use to build our abs/arms, one which I use when ever I feel I'm losing my 6 pack.Funny enough never for my arms or chest.Because the benefit of tai chi for me in the sense that even being the Wu Dang System, I practice my forms really slowly, and as well as being a student of Xing-I and Bagua. I build physical strength natural through my San Ti Shi and Bagua circle walking stake exercise which also have stance incorporated to build physical strength/muscular definition in the chest and arms.Much more naturally and pliably than doing push ups which also aid mobility and agility martially/flexibly.Fun fact that I've noticed etc.I'm not some one that enjoys stretching.I've always been lazy regarding this but had to force myself because of Wu Dang Tai Chi to add stretching into my daily practice schedule.Funny thing is Practising Bagua keeps me so flexible, Much more in terms versatility then manually going through stretching routines.Some thing I'm fast knowing/ learning in my practice.A great Video Sir thank you for sharing.Especially for us here who also like the analytical approach to our arts.Much Love🙏

Well said - I have always done some strength exercises and recently I have gone back to doing work with kettlebells - start slow and light and build up gradually.

Robert, you can still do some resistance training, even in your 80s, and we should

I think you are making a very important and oft overlooked point here Robert. Apart from the regular solo form; push hands and application of movements, we also had something called ‘Extra-training’ which involved strengthening and conditioning of upper and lower limbs. Push ups on both hands; one hand; two fists; one fist; fingers of both hand and single hand (to strengthen fingers for vital point attacks). Transitioning from lying on ones back to standing without using hands/arms as props. Sit-ups to strengthen abdominal, waist and back muscles. The ‘Five Tibetans’. Protracted standing in high and low ma-bu and jade belt stance. Standing like a stork on one leg bent at knee. It is often related that the origins of many martial arts was the close-up observation of animals in combat. In the snake we see how it coils its body before releasing it energy to strike. Just so, in Ba-gua the practitioner coils his body like a spring before releasing the stored energy to strike and or counter. In order for a strike using fajin or internal energy to have any effectiveness, it must have more than simply momentum. It is like a bullet projecting from a gun. The energy is provided by the charge and condensed in the barrel. So the barrel not only gives direction to the bullet , but amplifies the energy delivered by the charge. The muscle fibres produce a byproduct in activity, namely lactic acid, which, if you do not exercise regularly creates stiffness in the muscle. There are other factors also such as salt loss through sweating which can cause electrolyte imbalance in the nerves and thereby cramping. Lactic acid is a bit like the consistency of honey, a sticky material which stops the muscle fibres moving over each other freely. Regular exercise helps keep the muscles in good condition: strong yet supple.

This stamp is not from china. It’s issued by Taiwan post office. I can recognize those words.

Wisdom! Thank you, elder brother. I believed this was so when I started and I received so many lectures by elder practitioners who claimed to know more than I did. But I maintained that Daoism’s tenets were meant to instill a since of “right action” not “do as little as you can” and that maintaining the health of the body was honoring nature.

Very valuable insights, but I can't take my attention off those shorts. A pair of pants might just be better for instructional purposes.

Excellent, much appreciate your videos taking movements apart analytically and then we see it unfold.

Your videos are little nuggets of insights that bring much needed light to some of the areas of the Taiji form practice. "Fair lady weaves the shuttle" has a few variations, even just within the community of ZMQ practitioners. Also, as well as feet positioning, I've recently done some workshops with a Huang system based approach. They emphasise getting a feel for the central axis as it displaces through the transitions and even relate it to the fire element. It can be difficult for people to do and there is risk of knee injury if done incorrectly by twisting a knee when loaded, or even partially loaded For it to be done more safely, comfortably and smoothly, the waist (Yao) needs to be loose and the hips (Kua) must be able to open and close freely through as complete a range of movement as possible without any strain. Other teachers may refer to this as "sitting in the pocket" of the hip joints or openning and closing the inguinal creases to provide mobility with stability and maintain a root in the weighted leg. Until that looseness and openness is developed, through practising the form and other exercises, then one should avoid forcing the movement. With patience and practice it will gradually improve. What I've been doing the last couple of years is to pivot on the heal to T-step as you show here, but then before lifting the other leg I pivot on the ball of the of unweighted foot to take up more of the angle before turning and stepping. Then I can "sit in the pocket" which allows easy, smooth rotation that is not such a large range of movement to place the unweighted leg in its forward position to the new corner. I suppose it's a bit of a work around for me, as I don't have enough hip flexibility to open up without taking my knees out of alignment. So, it's back to training and keep at it. I'm now 65, so the regular training is a key part to maintaining health and managing any injuries that may happen. Maybe some Bagua circle walking and palm changes could help with training these type of transitions. What do you think?

Continuity breaks can occur for these reasons too: Changes in speed - there shouldn't be sudden accelerations, pauses or stops during the form practice. Changes in height also break continuity - once the height is chosen at the beginning, keep it constant during form practice. Some people refute these two things, saying that in combat it's necessary to change speed and height. However, the Taiji Form is a training method, not combat. It's slow and continuous for reasons of principles. The analogy of pulling the thread of silk without it going slack or breaking is to help understand the principle of continuity. It requires relaxed concentration and letting go. I'm not there yet, but I have moments when it all comes together. My teacher tells me to stop thinking about it and let everything follow the waist - but sometimes my mind goes to my arms instead of staying with the dan tian, that's when I lose the continuity.

Thank you Sifu.❤

Thank you Robert ,for these little nuggets of gold you so generously give out .

Thank you for the Chang Man Ching’s method 🎯☯️♥️

Beautiful and pertinent. Great depth of understanding, shared so wisely. Infinite love and gratitude.

I recently suggested this to an OG in Philly. Maybe coming from you it will have more weight.

Be sure when opening the kua not to twist the weighted leg especially the knee. Practice the opening of the kua as a warmup.

It also may be useful for increasing feeling/expansion/ting jin in between the shoulders. Thanks

Since I began applying your insights concerning dong dang and nei jin to my form, I've been progressively amending my way of performing all of the actions of the short form, including Cloud Hands. It is encouraging to hear your explanation of the way you now practice this action as the changes I've recently made are clearly bringing my own way much closer to yours. For some time now, I've been applying "qi down/qi up" hydraulics in this movement so that the downward motion of one hand feels that it drives the upward motion of the other.II've also become more aware of how the elasticity involved in the horizontal wind-up and release of the kwa while turning to the side and returning to centre also provides propulsive motion to the rising arm. The way you're describing here feels fully compatible with and complementary to the "hydraulic"/fluid dynamic approach I was applying before I began to study your methods. This all feels to me like the way forward to a wu wei taiji practice that's more flowing and powerful than anything I've felt before during my past 4 decades of practice. Thanks again for all that you share.

Thank you, we Shall Om

I agree completely with your focus on movement coming from the lower dantien and want to add some comments on it. For me it has lead to the greatest discovery about the true meaning of tai chi. One first discovers ,as you and Cheng Man Ching have ,that all movement is managed by the lower dantien, The limbs just come along for the ride, but they are not limp since one’s awareness fills them. This gives them a subtle tension, but they report to the lower dantien. Once one is immersed in this process the microscopic orbit engages, where the chi travels from the lower dantien, down to the perineum, up the back, thru the upper palate, down the front and again thru the lower dantien. After some practice the macroscopic orbit starts which builds branches on the microscopic orbit. The energy branches in two places, first down the front of legs, into the earth, returning sharply up the back of legs, and joining the microscopic obit. The second branch is from between the shoulder blades to the heart chakra, and then joining the flow down to the lower dantien once again. This branching into the earth and into the heart represents the full realization of the form and gives the practitioner access to the unlimited energy of the earth and opens up the heart to love and compassion. Do you agree with these ideas and have any sense they are right? I really enjoy your deep understanding of tai chi. Thank you.

Very good Robert. I have trained with Zhai Wei Chuan who is China’s representative for Wu/Hao Taiji. His teachers teacher wrote the classic you a discussing - colloquially they coin the term: 一开无不开，一合无不合。Here the key characters are "kai" and "he" - open and close. To get the body to move together and be still “together,” requires the knowledge and understanding of what kai and he mean and specially how you kai and he in the body. This idea is the root concept, related to yin and yang from which Taiji both developed and evolved, and what makes it truly unique as a form of physical movement.

If you have developed the qi over the whole body so that it is interconnected, the idea of the whole body moving as a unit is obvious. It is an academic discussion to someone who has not developed the qi covering the body and who doesn't move the qi with the dantian.

Beautiful teachings. Infinite love and gratitude. Such deep understanding and wisdom.

I thought Empty force was generated by the Internal fascia?

The mote I train the more importantnce the reaction to the "flinch response" seems to become. Interoceptively and exteroceptively. Thanks

Again thanks for your teaching.

I have been wishing I could find a tai chi teacher who teaches this Yang 37. And suddenly he appeared.

Nice transition shifting the energy I see it 👀☯️✔️

Love it Robert, the demo of elasticity and how the energy ripples through the body causing strethcing, lymph to flow, fascia effects, etc. Spiraling does too. Keep up the good teaching!!! Pete

Excellent presentation. I've been exploring repulse monkeys since I first read your thoughts on elasticity. It makes an enormous difference to the feeling and the expression of energy in both arms. Thank you.

Thank you Robert. You focus on things that I know that are in the tai chi from my own learning, but you really manage to isolate them out in an interesting and constructive way.

Crikey!

Thank you for the videos you are doing great work!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this Robert. I was wondering what your ideas were on the teaching of these moves. I’ve often wondered why steps 1 and 3 are not taught together, followed by 2 and 4 - perhaps as drills before bringing them into the Form. All my teachers taught them in the traditional sequence, forsaking (in my opinion) simplicity of learning over Posture sequence and order. What do you think about learning postures as drills or patterns and then bringing them into the form as students gain confidence in stepping and coordination etc. BTW - stunning shorts!

Thank you for this video. Interesting that in northern Wu style one can see both approaches depending on teacher, lineage (southern kept more modern way). The older one (not just "four corners" stepping, but even more basic thing - "square step") like in Cheng Manching method (and very similar in Chen shi taichi) and the newer like in modern Yang shi taichi. According to my own experience, the older way gives the harder training, for beginners it is less comfortable, but it allow to open Yao and Kua more effectively, this is the main reason I like it more, and even practicing pieces of Wu shi, I like the older way of stepping.