Excellent early video of a variety of Taijiquan training exercises (and a few unusual ones too).

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 Excellent early video of a variety of Taijiquan training exercises (and a few unusual ones too).



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The Daoyin Tu

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The Daoyin Tu (Guiding and Stretching Chart). Between 1972-74, during exacavations at the Mawangdui (King Ma's Mound) Tombs in Changsha, Hunan Province, a silk painting now known as the Daoyin Tu was discovered. The painting was found in the tomb of Xin Zhui (Tomb 1), the wife of Chancellor Li Cang who was also buried at the site in Tomb 2. Dated to the end of the 3rd century BCE, the Daoyin Tu is believed to be one of the earliest depictions of 'health movements' - ancestors of modern qigong - and shows around 40 postures, animal movements, and gymnastic movements aimed at treating pain and improving health. In addition to the Daoyin Tu, a wealth of other silk documents were found in the third tomb at the site. This tomb contained the burial of the son of Xin Zhui and Li Cang and included very early versions of the Dao De Jing, I Ching, and Zhan Guo Ce. [Credit: Daoyin tu - chart for leading and guiding people in exercise for improving health and treatment of pain, contain...
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One must distinguish the teacher from the taught.

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 "One must distinguish the teacher from the taught. ...And the fact that some of Zheng's students do postures one way does not mean Zheng taught them that way. Isn't it just possible that Zheng's teachings involved no changes, but instead simply reflects that he was superb at not changing Yang's system, teaching it as he had learned it? Zheng stressed accuracy first and last. When he learned the rudiments under Yang, he had to master each posture before moving to the next, there was no breezy form class followed by a corrections class. With time, his own form became less energetic and more internalized - compare his 1960 Taiwan film with his 1973 film - but his teaching remained pretty much the same." 'Zheng Manqing and Taijiquan: A Clarification of Role' by Robert W. Smith, Journal of Asian Martial Arts, Vol. 4 No. 1 (1995). [Image: Cheng Man-ching]
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