Tai Chi Chuan Treatise

by Chan San-Feng

• Once in motion, every part of the body is light and agile and must be threaded together.
• Chi should be full and stimulated. Shen (Spirit) should be retained internally.
• No part should be defective, no part should be deficient or excessive, no part should be disconnected.
• The root is at the feet,(Jing is) generated from the legs, controlled by the waist, and expressed by the fingers. From the feet to the legs to the waist must be integrated, and one unified Chi. When moving forward or backward, you can then catch the opportunity and gain the superior position.
• If you fail to catch the opportunity and gain the superior position, your mind is scattered and your body is disordered. To solve this problem, you must look to the waist and legs.
• Up and down, forward and backward, left and right, it's all the same. All of this is done with the Yi (mind), not externally.
• If there is a top, there is a bottom; if there is a front, there is a back; if there is a left, there is a right.
• If Yi (mind) wants to go upward, this implies considering downward. (This means) if (you) want to lift and defeat an opponent, you must first consider his root. When the opponent's root is broken, he will inevitably be defeated quickly and certainly.
• Substantial and insubstantial must be clearly distinguished. Every part (of the body) has a substantial and an insubstantial aspect. The entire body and all the joints should be threaded together without the slightest break.