10/11/2025
"The entire body relaxed and open, the upper and lower integrated: these are necessary conditions of Tai Chi.
In my experience, I have found that only if the entire body is relaxed and open can the qi spontaneously descend.
Then, after a period of practice, inner jin will be spontaneously produced, and the legs will become heavy and stable.
This inner jin will not be spontaneously produced if the movements are not integrated; or if they are integrated but not relaxed;
or if only the shoulders are relaxed but not the lower back, abdomen, kua and upper back;
or if the elbow, wrist and fingers are not relaxed;
or if, after practicing, the palms do not feel swollen and distended."
Selections from Master Li Yaxuan’s Tai Chi Notebooks
Edited by Chen Longxiang
Translated Chinese by Matthew Miller
Li Yaxuan was a prominent disciple of Master Yang Cheng Fu.
