So we were talking about the Yang 8 Form of Tai chi 

 Yang 8 was developed as an introduction for beginners who would later transition to the Yang 24 Form. The 8 movements are repeated, doing them to the left and to the right of the beginning position, which gives a nice foil to the right-handed/left-handed syndrome that often prejudices us in the weight we give to any given movement. 

 List of movements for the Tai Chi 8 Form: 

Commencing. 

Reverse reeling forearms. 

Brush knee push. 

Part the wild horse's mane. 

Wave hands like clouds. 

Rooster stands on one leg. 

Kick with Heel. 

Grasp the peacock's Tail. 

Cross Hands. Ending. 

Commencing is pretty standard in all Tai Chi forms so we'll skip over that for now. The "Reverse reeling forearms" can be found in the 24 form's Repulse Monkey, except one does not move backward in Yang 8. Here is a nice diagram of Repulse Monkey I stole from the blog, "Sekedar Blog Just another WordPress.com weblog" at https://nikitompil.wordpress.com/:

 Long Absence from the form. What's my excuse. An easy beginners' form, Yang 8

Hard to believe it's been so long since I added to this blog! I've had two different fights with cancer, the first a diagnosis of prostate cancer, and the second cancer of the parotid gland, the large salivary gland in one's cheek (the same cancer that Roger Ebert had). Both episodes involved 8 weeks of daily radiation treatments, the parotid having been removed surgically (including the major facial nerve, leaving my face partially parallelized). So don't let anyone tell you that Tai Chi prevents or cures cancer. Sorry, but it doesn't.

After the  surgery there was a long recovery time, mostly because they removed material from my thigh to stuff into the hole that was left in my face. The leg put me in a wheel chair, then a walker, then a cane. And yes, I did go through as much of my Tai Chi Yang form as I could, and yes, it helped me recover. So don't stop doing it.

I had been teaching the Yang 24 form at a local health center...Rocky's Gym. That lasted one month as people disappeared one by one until only two were left. It was the most productive time for me as I practiced one heck of a lot in those days. But the big C had other ideas for me.

I had not been to a class for several years and had not been going through the Yang Long Form as usual. I'd get through the first section and stop. Maybe not do it at all. I forgot more than I knew. I was in Spain for an art seminar and tour when the leader and I talked about Tai Chi. We must do some, she said. (this was before the second cancer). We were at a villa in Catalonia and went to a nice spot. She knew the Short Form which I had studied but had mostly forgotten. I tried to follow her and was extremely embarrassed at my performance. This should have, but did not inspire me to resume taking classes.

This week I did began again. From the beginning. One of my former teachers, Ron Pfeiffer (www.TaiChiRon.com) has been giving lessons for beginners  in nearby Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, about 20 minutes from my house in Delavan. He uses, as an introduction, the Yang 8 form which is easy to learn and based on the traditional Yang form. Here is a link to a demonstration of Yang 8. It is nicely symmetrical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBv7m2_wpcI