Tai Chi Chuan, Yang Short Form
Tai Chi Chuan is one of many old and venerable forms of martial arts "practiced
for both its defense training and its health benefits." I have personally
been trying to learn the form of tai chi chuan developed by Cheng
Man-ch'ing and taught by the St.
Louis Tai Chi Association. I started studying in 1973, and didn't complete
learning the Yang Short Form (as developed by Chen Man-ch'ing) until a few
years ago, around 2003. Since then I have tried to complete this 37
step form called Chen Man-ch'ing's sequence at least once a day. It takes about seven minutes.
I am still struggling with a couple of the steps, notably, turn body and
kick with heel, and also just with flow and balance.
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