Having trouble with your tai chi?  Are you frustrated over the lack of improvement? Then this article may be the perfect medicine for your internal ailments.

How can I improve my tai chi? this question is often asked by my students.  It is also a question I have grappled with as long as I can remember.  I remember I posed the same question to my teacher once, the late grandmaster Yang Sau Chung, and he tersely replied, By practicing the form correctly! But How? you may ask.  A good teacher helps, but he can’t be there correcting you all the time.

Wu tu-Nan, a well-known tai chi master from China, proposed that there are four kinds of tai chi skills (kung) and if one practices the form (or push hands or weapons, for that matter) with these skills in mind, then the form will be correctly performed and you will gradually improve your tai chi.

• The skill of function Tai chi is a martial art.  Each movement has a practical function.  For example, when one executes the movement “step up, deflect downward, parry and punch”, do we understand how these moves could be used in a self-defense situation?  How to step forward, how to deflect downward, how to parry, how to punch?  Not only do we need to visualise our movement, but also the distance and the posture of the opponent when performing the form.  Understanding the practical use of a move will help you correctly execute that move.  The direction of the body, the coordination of the limbs, the breathing and the qi flow are related to the use.  The more you practice visualising the actual defence use and imaging yourself boxing with an invisible opponent, the better you will be in executing the form.  The function corrects the move because it has a job to do; you will gradually remove all superfluous and useless “bad habits” and reach the stage of proper tai chi.

• The skill of relaxation A distinction must be made here between being relaxed and being floppy and sluggish.  A relaxed body is one without friction in the joints or tension in the muscles.   The mind is alert and the body sunk (with a low centre of gravity).  A floppy body is in negative tension.  It is equally as detrimental to your progress as a tensed body.  Being floppy or being tense makes you sluggish.  It blocks the flow of the qi and we lose the resilient, springy, sensitive quality associated with soft and relaxed muscles.
  
  Correct posture also helps relaxation.  The body is held vertical at all times while performing the form.  The muscles designed to keep our body upright are functioning properly.

• The skill of jin What is jin?  Although the source of jin lies in strength, it is not the same as strength.  Strength is a static force, jin is dynamic.  When the body is relaxed and sunk, the jin is gathered and concentrated by the mind and can be released at will in various forms to a particular part of the body.  Jin can be fast or slow, hard or soft, tight or loose, stiff or springy, delayed or explosive.  The powerhouse of jin lies in the dan tien, released through the waist.  Its energy is permeated throughout the body by the free flow of the qi. Hence the jin is intimately related to the breath and qi flow. 
    
  As a dynamic force, jin is governed by the laws of Newtonian physics.  Take the equation F = md/t, for example.  Jin as a dynamic force can be increased by a corresponding increase in the mass, distance and the speed of delivery.  Although the weight of your body is finite, the mass can be concentrated by lowering the centre of gravity at the point of execution.  Distance can be increased without pulling back by executing your movement in a circular and/or screw action.  Also, speed can be increased by proper means of breathing and muscle relaxation and tension at the appropriate time with correct posture.
  
  Tai chi is composed of eight basic movements: peng (ward off), lu (roll back), ji (press), an (push), cai (grab), lei (break or control elbow), zhou (elbow) and kao (shoulder).  Each move has a particular jin associated with it.  Chen style tai chi has special emphasis on “screw action” jin and “cannon” jin.  Along with push hands, four main jins are also involved.  They are: “listening jin”, “understanding jin”, “neutralising jin” and “expressing (explosive) jin

• The skill of qi Tai chi is a form of moving qigong (breathing exercise).  The Classics made numerous references to qi. Basically, there are two main types of qi skill in tai chi:  qi circulation and qi utilisation.  The amount of qi in a person at a given movement is determined by his hereditary background, which is finite and unchangeable; and one’s diet and environment (including methods used to maximize the intake of oxygen and exhalation of carbon dioxide), which is infinite and changeable.
  
  Circulation begins with the dan tien where qi is stored.  Qi is activated by the mind and flows along the meridian channels to their ends at the extremity of our limbs and then returns to the dan tien.   Proper qi circulation is important to your health.  This is where the benefits of tai chi chuan really shine.
  
  Qi utilisation refers to the control and use of the ‘vital energy’ in one’s body.  The internal qi cultivated and circulated in our body can be expressed through the mind and applied externally to another person through correct postures and breathing.

The four tai chi skills discussed here are interrelated and essential to all tai chi exercises - from push hands and da lu to san sou and weapons.  The secret of success in tai chi lies in understanding these four skills and then correctly practicing them with patience and perseverance.

About the Author: Howard Choy is Principal of Sydney Tai Chi & Qigong Centre. He has been practicing kung fu, qigong and tai chi for more than 20 years under various masters in Australia and Asia, including Master Yang Sau Chung (the last keeper of the style of Yang style tai chi chuan), Master Chen Xiaowang (the current keeper of Chen style tai chi chuan) and Master Chen Yong-Fa (the current keeper of the style of Choy Lee Fut Kung Fu). He teaches in Sydney Australia and conducts regular workshops in Europe and America.