Yang Style Long Form

108 Movements. This is the style of Tai Chi Chuan as practiced by more people than any other.

Most of the popular forms today evolved from the Yang.  Tai Chi started out with 13 basic movements and kept expanding until it reached 108 movements.  All these movements are actually only variations on the basic 13.  There are now many shortened versions of this long form, in fact not that many people teach and practice this long form, so why do I?

The main reason is the length of time for practice.  The long form takes 20 minutes to go through, so when you start, you are committed to 20 minutes of concentrative exercise.  If you don’t have that much time for some reason, the form is divided into three sections that can be practiced in 5 or 10 minutes.

I also like the fact that with all this variety, you exercise more muscles and joints and are called on to make more connections between various parts of the body.  That means there is more practice of mind/body coordination which helps in all aspects of daily life.

The form is taught in three parts.  The beginning class works on basic Tai Chi principles, conditioning the body, relaxation, and the first section of the form (movements1-19).  The intermediate class continues with the form up to movement 57, and more time is spent with breathing, conditioning, and partner exercises.  The advanced class finishes the form with more emphasis on applications, push hands, breathing, and meditation.

A student could stop at the end of any of the classes and have a complete form to practice, as well as an understanding of basic Tai Chi principles that can be applied to the rest of their lives.

The sequence is as follows: