There is a story about Sun Lutang, the developer of Sun Style Tajiquan. Sun had gone to learn Xing Yi Quan from a famous martial artist, Li Kui Yuan. For the first year, Sun was only allowed to practice the standing posture. After about six months, Sun Lutang began to feel “as though his chest and stomach were full and his feet had roots.” At the end of a year his teacher, wishing to test Sun Lutang, came up behind him and struck him with a palm strike. His posture was unaffected, as if he had not received a powerful blow at all. Seeing this, the teacher agreed to teach Sun Lutang the fighting form of Xing Yi Quan.
How do we begin? With a single step, the old adage would have us believe. But that notion is indicative of Western culture: always in a hurry to get somewhere. No, the longest journey begins, not with a single step, but with standing still. In some instruction books, those written by the great masters such as Fu Zhongwen, the first posture is called “Preparatory.”
Fu describes this posture as standing, legs comfortably apart with the feet spaced approximately at the width of the shoulders and with the toes pointing forward. The arms hang loosely at the sides, the shoulders themselves are relaxed and drooping, the wrist loose. The spine is straight but not rigid, the head is held high as if suspended by a thread, and the eyes gaze forward. He references the treatise by Yang Chengfu on “The Ten Essentials of Taijiquan Theory.”
1. An intangible and lively energy lifts the crown of the head.
2. Contain the chest and raise the back.
3. Relax the waist.
4. Distinguish insubstantial and substantial. (be aware of where the weight of the body is placed.)
5. Sink the shoulders and drop the elbows.
6. Use consciousness, not strength.
7.Upper and lower follow one another. (ie., “it is rooted in the feet, issued by the legs, governed by the waist, and expressed in the fingers.”)
8. Internal and external are united.
9. Linked without breaks. (“move the energy as though drawing silk from a cocoon.”)
10. Seek stillness in motion.
For the beginning student of any of the Tai Chi forms, this first posture, standing still, may be overlooked as an essential and important part of the form. It is not just standing around waiting to start¾it is the beginning, and, since the form is a continuous circular flow of energy, it is also the ending.
From The Tai Chi Classics we learn:
The abdomen is completely relaxed, enabling the ch’I to penetrate the bones; the spirit of vitality is at rest and the body is tranquil, permitting you to heed the intent of your mind. ¾The Mental Elucidation of the Thirteen Postures, Wang Chung Yueh, Ming Dynasty, trans: T. T. Liang
From The Song of the Substance and Function of the Thirteen Postures (trans: T. T. Liang):
Pay special attention to your waist at all times. When the abdomen is completely relaxed, the ch’I will soar up (and circulate through the entire body).
When the lowest vertebrae are plumb erect, the spirit of vitality reaches to the top of the head. When the top of the head is held as if suspended from above, the whole body feels light and agile.
How do you start to start? Many versions of the Form begin by standing with the feet together. There is a slight turn towards the right and the body’s weight is put unto the right foot. The left foot is now at an “empty stance,” and is lifted slightly and moved out to the left, the toe touching down first. Then, he heel goes down and with a slight turn back toward a centered position, the body’s weight is again equally distributed between both feet. This allows you the find the proper spacing of the feet and to “distinguish the insubstantial from the substantial.”
A good technique when standing still is to breath slowly, deeply and fully, to start with the top of head, relaxing the neck and shoulders, then mentally work down the body, relaxing it until you reach the feet. Try to imagine that your feet are “rooted” in the ground and that your head is suspended from above and virtually weightless. The weight of your body is evenly distributed between your two legs (double weighted). This is one of the very few times during the form that this will be true.
More advanced students may wish to investigate W. C. C. Chen’s writings on what he calls “the three nails.” This refers to, on each foot, the big toe, the big toe “knuckle,” and the heel. These three “nails” are the means by which you root yourself to the ground. You can become aware of the function of the three nails as you move throughout the form, shifting your weight back and forth and taking the Form’s characteristic stances.
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