Last summer I read Real Americans by Rachel Khong*. I read the book in German, and one paragraph stayed with me. It went something like this: “That’s impossible.” Ping sounded annoyed. “Dà hǎi lāo zhēn.” Like fishing a needle out of the sea. (German edition, page 391)* Uups, I thought, is that a Chinese saying? […]
When I started Tai Chi in 2004, I learned the long Yang form. My teacher called it the 108 form. Later, I discovered that the Yang family counts 103 moves. I found that confusing. I wondered: is there a difference between Tai Chi 103 form vs. 108 form? Quick answer: no, the 103 form and […]
Lately, I’ve been thinking about the move “Repulse Monkey”. Because my current teacher does it differently from my previous teacher. I asked questions, I researched, I thought about it, and I think one of the reasons for Tai Chi move variations is simply this: choose your battle. Let me explain with an example from the […]
One of the most-known forms is probably the Yang style Tai Chi 108 form. And to make it confusing for us pracitioners, it has many names: Tai Chi 108 form, 105 form, 103 form, 85 form, 150 form 94 form, 88 form or just: Tai Chi long form. The number actually depends on how you […]
According to my Taijiquan styles survey, the Cheng Manching 37 form is one of the most practiced forms. I guess that is because Cheng Manching (also Zheng Manqing, 鄭曼青, 1902-1975) was one of the first to bring Taijiquan to the West. And many of his students are still active, teaching, and writing books.
