Overview

Cheng Style Tai Chi, or Traditional Taoist Tai Chi, was developed by Cheng Man Ching and came to be known as “Simplified Tai Chi Chuan”. It was developed from the 128 forms of Yang Style Tai Chi but although it is so-called simplified, it is far from simple. There are 37 sets of movements, based on only 13 techniques and it is a combination of Yang Style, Zuo Style and Confucian and Taoist wisdom. With respect for his teachers, Cheng never mentioned his 37 Forms nor that he had combined each style, and people misunderstood simplified Tai Chi as just another form of martial art and were unaware of its actual excellence.

Simplified Yang Style Tai Chi

Many things are passed down incorrectly in the world of martial arts. Cheng used to say “a person who sells melons will naturally say the melons are sweet.” But Cheng never mentioned his 37 forms in his Tai Chi Classics.

Cheng Man Ching adapted the Yang style in the following ways:

In the Beginning form, six changes of the wrist were added. This relates to the Boxing Classics “seek the straight amidst the bent” (曲中求直), and “store to issue later” (蓄而後發).
The feet in ‘Monkey Steps Backward and Repulses’ are changed to be parallel to make the Qi move easier, keep the tailbone straight and the Shen rise to the top of the head.
The gentle wrist of ‘Fair Lady’s Hand’ not only helps Qi move the body (以氣運身) but also helps the spirit relax. Tai Chi requires the whole body to be relaxed and the wrist is the first point on the body to be relaxed.
Some of the repetitive movements were deleted such as ‘Brush Knee and Twist’, ‘Lifting the Hands’, ‘Single Whip’ etc.
“In Tai Chi the hand does not move. If the hand moves it is not Tai Chi.” Apart from this principle, the elbow cannot be dropped down such as in ‘Turn to Double Temple Punch’, ‘High Pat on Horse’, ‘Turn and Strike With Fist’, and ‘Fan Through Back’ etc, which were completely eliminated.
Deleted or reduced similar movements like ‘Diagonal Flying’ and ‘Parting the Wild Horse's Mane’, ‘Advance and Strike Low’ and ‘Needle to the Bottom of the Sea’, ‘Bend the Bow and Shoot the Tiger’ and ‘Strike Tiger at Left and Right’ etc.

Simplified Tai Chi Chuan is not so simple

Tai Chi Chuan is a kung fu for Taoist techniques and development. Taoist arts are a kung fu of introspection. A practitioner of Tai Chi can “ overcome hardness with softness”, this is Tai Chi’s highest principle. Tai Chi can build the body and bring longevity. Before “softness” comes “relaxation”. No matter if practicing Tai Chi or in everyday life, one must ask oneself, "am I relaxed?" "Is “softness” at the centre of my thinking?" After training for some years, one might think you are “relaxed”. One test is when someone surprises you and presses your arm. If it naturally drops as the person contacts you, then you are “relaxed”, if not then you need to ask yourself why not.
Are you able to distinguish between “empty” (虛) and “substantial”(full)(實)? At any stage when you move, does your “substantial” leg below the knee move at all? If someone tests you by hooking your “empty” leg with their foot, your foot will rise lightly without your other leg moving.
The forms should be done correctly with a light-headedness as if you couldn’t break cotton thread (綿綿不斷), from beginning to end. Except for certain forms that move down, there should otherwise be no up and down movement of the body. If there is, it is like taking a knife and cutting the Jin (勁 tenacious energy) bit by bit. You can check in the mirror or have a fellow student watch.
Centering is difficult to do. In the Tai Chi Classics and the principles of the Eight Trigrams and Five Elements, the centre is Earth. Whether practicing Tai Chi, moving, sitting, standing, eating or writing, one should ask is my spine upright? In Tai Chi from the Yong Quan point (湧泉穴) under the foot to Bai Hui (百會穴) at the top of the head should be vertical. If not, it is because your weight is not centred on your substantial leg, but distributed on both feet.
“The root is in the foot, issuing from the leg, controlled by the waist, forming in the hands”. Most people will find their root is not in their feet because their weight is on their knees or thighs. In fact Tai Chi kung fu means working hard, improving, then working hard again until the “seeds” are deep in the ground. If you plant them in midair, you can train for 50 years without effect. Only by “sinking to the ground and growing roots” can you develop your skill or else fail. Cheng Man Ching told us how to use your energy (Jin). From the foot, to the leg, to the waist then to the fingers, not the reverse which many people do and then say that Tai Chi is only for developing strength in old people!
In Tai Chi the hands do not move, if the hands move then it is not Tai Chi. This is enough to tell us that we should not waste time concentrating our efforts on the hands. It is enough to know that the hands follow the waist, and steps follow the changes in the body. Tai Chi is formless, there are no set techniques. Yet many study Tai Chi by looking at hand forms, techniques, analysing techniques and striking correctly. One should ask how much effort is placed on the waist and leg movements. If you can achieve the following principles when practicing Tai Chi :
- be relaxed, hands light to the touch,
- distinguishing between the empty and substantial legs so that with every movement the substantial leg does not move below the knee,
- moving parallel to the ground, without up and down movement,
- being centred, each form is done maintaining a line from the top of the head to the centre of the foot,
- being rooted at the foot, sinking the root (here meaning Qi) into the ground,
- all happens as one, the hand does not move but follows the waist, the feet move according to the body.

If 60% of the above can be achieved, then practicing the forms at least twice is a must and if you still believe Simplified Tai Chi is simple then you are lying to yourself and others.

Why only have right-hand forms and not left-hand forms?

If a person wishes health and longevity, then they must adhere to the laws of nature - “Man governs Earth, Earth governs Heaven, Heaven governs Tao, Tao governs Nature” . Tai Chi should be naturally comfortable, relaxed, if not then you must be training incorrectly. People are the spirit of a myriad of things, from ancient times, it is natural to use just one hand. Since childhood to adulthood, whether eating, using chopsticks, writing, grabbing things, people naturally use one hand. This is instinctive, naturally comfortable, so it is strange to ask someone to use a left hand when they usually use the right. The same goes for Tai Chi.

In human physiology, the heart is on the left and it is important for people to protect its strength. The Classics talk of the wonder of the Dividing of Yin and Yang Qi and this refers to protecting the heart. It is most evident in the form called Single Whip, the body is forward from the waist down, the feet separate into empty and substantial, the left hand is in Fair Lady’s Hand posture, the right is a Hook Hand, stretching backwards with the whole body twisted.

References:Excerpts translated from Wu Kuo Chung’s book Tai Chi Chuan Tao Chi (太極拳道幾).

Introduction