The Tai Chi Chuan Classic

Wu Yu Xiang (student of Yang Lu Chan)

Once in motion, the entire body should be light and agile, and even more importantly, must be threaded together. The chi should be roused and made vibrant. The spirit should be collected within. Do not allow there to be any protuberances or hollows. Do not allow there to be any intermittence. It is rooted in the feet, issued by the legs, governed by the waist, and expressed in the fingers. From the feet, to the legs, then to the waist, always there must be complete integration into one chi. In advancing forward and retreating back, you will then be able to seize opportunity and the strategic advantage, your body will become scattered and confused. The flaw in this case must certainly be sought in the waist and legs. This is so whether up or down, forward or backward, left or right. These cases are all of mind intentand do not refer to the external. Whjen there is up, then there is down. When there is forward, then there is backward. When there is left, then there is right. If the intent is to go upward, then direct the mind intent downward, just as, if one is going to lift an object, then one in addition applies to it the force of a downward push. Thus, its root will be severed, and it will be collapsed quickly and decisively. Insubstantial and substantial must be clearly distinguished. Each point has its point of insubstantial/substantial. Everywhere there is always this one insubstantial/substantial. The entire body is threaded together joint by joint. Do not allow the slightest interruption.

Translated by Louis Swaim, in Fu Zhongwen: Mastering Yang Style Taijiquan
(North Atlantic Books, 1999) Used by permission.