Without these contents, a fast form will be nothing more than a monkey boxing form or slow form performed faster.
A good working knowledge of all the applications is essential for learning Tai Chi Yong Jia. Grandmaster Wu Tu Nan placed great emphasis on all those postures that are repeated times and again in the form. He advised us to combine complete form practice with individual posture practice and to carefully study the subtle changes in the use of various Jin (Tai Chi power) while integrating relaxation and Gong into each application. In practicing Yong Jia, there is stringent requirement for postures, route of Jin, Yi (mind-intent) and Qi (or Chi), and breathing which are all different from Lian Jia (Practice Form). The learner should start off slow before speeding up with progress to strive for a crisp and sharp look.
With persistent practice, changes in applications will automatically evolve into changes in Jin, Yi (mind-intent) and Qi. This is the process of ‘gradually coming to understand Jin through learning all the applications first’ (由着熟而渐悟懂劲) ）as described in the Tai Chi Chuan Ching. Only then can the learner leave applications behind to give way to the use of Jin and Qi until he eventually achieve the stage of ‘following one’s inclinations in response to situations and achieving clarity and transparency inside-out’.
I was fortunate enough to be taught Yong Jia by Grandmaster Wu Tu Nan in the late 1960’s when he was already an 85 -years -old man with silver hair and beard. Yet I witnessed the Grandmaster performing the form with such agility, flexibility, sharpness, integrity,  power and prowess. To quote Wu Tu Nan’s own words, he demonstrated ‘nothing but lightness and agility, nothing but firmness, nothing but rootedness, nothing but smoothness inside-out’ （无一处不轻灵，无一处不坚韧，无一处不沉着，无一处不顺遂）.                          
The training process for Yong Jia can be compared to climbing a mountain where the climber has to follow all the steps one at a time. There is no question of taking a short-cut. As Wu Tu Nan put it, ‘the key lies in practice and practice’.  Yang Shao Hou found his training so hard to bear that he jumped into a well in an attempt to kill himself. But after a severe scolding from his family once rescued, Shao Hou was endeavoured to train hard until one day he took over the family tradition. In his turn, Wu Tu Nan suffered a great deal of hardships when he was training with Shao Hou. He was made to do his Gong practice under a big dining table until his boots were soaked with sweat. In push-hands practice, he often got beaten so hard that he was all covered in bruises.  However, he stood up to the challenge and never stopped practicing until he became a Tai Chi guru. To draw on the experiences of all his predecessors and of himself, Grandmaster Wu Tu Nan concluded that a Tai Chi practitioner must be equipped with indomitable tenacity and courage, and a spirit to thoroughly transform his body and mind.  [End]
 [Back to previous page]
[Back to Home]

 Watch Master Li Lian demonstrating this form: