Tai Chi practice methods are mainly divided into hand form, Taichi exercises, pushing hands, Sanshou (sparring) and the use of weapon.
Tai Chi Hand Form
Taichi hard form is the most well known way of practicing among most people. It is mainly composed of a series of many different moves. Traditional hand form usually requires a longer form with more repeating movements. Therefore, some new styles have appeared. Re-arrange the sequence of the hand form from traditional routines, such as 24 form, 18 form, 10 form, etc., in order to promote Taichi to busy urbanites. The purpose of Taichi hand form is to achieve physical and mental comfort, relieve tension, and relax the muscles and joints of the whole body.
Taichi Exercises (Skill training)
As the saying goes, "Practicing the moves without skill training, there would be nothing left in the old age." Therefore, practicing Taichi exercises is a very important part of Taichi. The purpose of the exercise is to make the body strong, vigorous, agile and flexible, so that the movements can be agile. Taichi exercises include stance (standing meditation), breathing exercises, footwork, the core activation etc., which help to increase body sensitivity, the grounding, building the internal strength and improve the body coordination and flexibility, last but not least to prevent diseases and prolong life.
Taichi Pushing Hands
Taichi pushing hands is generally a workout in pairs, mainly through the contact of the hands to feel the opponent's force coming and make corresponding changes and reactions, and maintain one's center of gravity. The purpose of pushing hands is to become more self-aware, increase flexibility and response, and enhance each other's skills. In addition, pushing hands is also used to correct the improper or incorrect postures of the practitioners when learning Taichi hand form. In summary, push hands are divided into single push hands (single hand), double push hands (both hands), fixed-step push hands and moving steps push hands. Beginners usually start with the "fixed-step single push hand". After mastering the fixed-step single push hand, they can practice other more advanced push hands, such as four positions push hands, nine palace steps, seven star steps, and then progress to free style push hands.
Taichi Sanshou (sparring)
Sanshou is to take out specific move in the Taichi to practice with the opponent. When the opponent attacks, we use the method in the hand form to transform the opponent's attack and make a counterattack. As the saying goes, "Thousand unskilled moves are not as good as one skilled move." Therefore, the purpose of Sanshou is to make the movements like a second nature after repeated practice, so that they can be used very naturally when encountering an enemy.
Taichi weapon
Taichi weapon is to understand the use of some ancient weapons. There are also handform (routine exercises) and counter-attack exercises. Taichi weapons includes sabres, swords, long sticks and spears.