Taijiquan Tutelage of Palo Alto - Posture list of the traditional Yang Style slow form

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Posture List of the
Traditional Yang Style Slow Form

Included within this list of posture names for this series, are the subpostures. This will help with comparisons with other listings of the slow form that you may see or hear about. Since a "short" form was not taught traditionally, there was no such classification as a "long" form, the traditional taijiquan form as taught by Yang Cheng-fu, should contain the following postures that you see here regardless of how they are counted. One of the ways of counting the postures could be to include particular subpostures, which would lead to a higher total number of postures for the same form. Although other schools may teach the same "form", not all schools (and teachers) are the same. The best way to judge the quality is to come and observe a typical class at the Taijiquan Tutelage of Palo Alto.

Posture #
1	Preparatory posture
2	Taijiquan commencing
3	Stroke peacock's tail
		Ward (right, left, front)
		Divert and draw
		Squeeze
		Press
4	Single whip
5	Close arms and lift
6	White crane exposes wings
7	Brush left thigh and press forth right palm
8	Play the guitar
9	Brush thigh and press forth palm
		Brush left thigh and press forth right palm
		Brush right thigh and press forth left palm
		Brush left thigh and press forth right palm
10	Play the guitar
11	Brush left thigh and press forth right palm
12	Circle foot and carry the hammer forward
13	Serpent slides back and seal with both palms
14	Cross wrists (end of part 1)

15	Tiger returns to mountain cave
16	Stroke peacock's tail, diagonal
		Ward
		Divert and draw
		Squeeze
		Press
17	Circle palms and hammer under elbow
18	Step back and repulse monkey
		Repulse monkey, left
		Repulse monkey, right
		Repulse monkey, left
		Repulse monkey, right
		Repulse monkey, left
19	Fly slantingly
20	Close arms and lift
21	White crane exposes wings
22	Brush left thigh and press forth right palm
23	Needles toward sea bottom
24	Arms like fan, joined through the back
25	Turn with hammer
		Turn, hammer at belly
		Step forth and extend left palm
26	Circle foot and carry the hammer forward
27	Step forth to stroke peacock's tail
		Ward
		Divert and draw
		Squeeze
		Press
28	Single whip
29	Circle hands like clouds
		Cloud hands #1
		Cloud hands #2
		Cloud hands #3
		Cloud hands #4
		Cloud hands #5
30	Single whip
31	High pat on horse
32	Separate foot, right and left
		Separate right foot
		Separate left foot
33	Turn and kick with left sole
34	Brush thigh and press forth palm
		Brush left thigh and press forth right palm
		Brush right thigh and press forth left palm
35	Step forth to plant hammer
36	Turn with hammer
		Turn, hammer at belly
		Step forth and extend left palm
37	Circle foot and carry the hammer forward
38	Turn and kick with right sole
39	Conquer the tiger
		Conquer the tiger, left
		Conquer the tiger, right
40	Turn and kick with right sole
41	Twin mountain peaks smash the ears
42	Kick with left sole
43	Turn and kick with right sole
44	Carry the hammer forward
45	Serpent slides back and seal with both palms
46	Cross wrists (end of part 2)

47	Tiger returns to mountain cave
48	Stroke peacock's tail, diagonal
		Ward
		Divert and draw
		Squeeze
		Press
49	Single whip, diagonal
50	Wild horse parts its mane
		Wild horse parts its mane, right
		Wild horse parts its mane, left
		Wild horse parts its mane, right
		Wild horse parts its mane, left
		Wild horse parts its mane, right
51	Stroke peacock's tail
		Ward (left, front)
		Divert and draw
		Squeeze
		Press
52	Single whip
53	Fair lady shuttles (toward four corners)
		Fair lady shuttles (corner #1)
		Fair lady shuttles (corner #2)
		Fair lady shuttles (corner #3)
		Fair lady shuttles (corner #4)
54	Stroke peacock's tail
		Ward (left,front)
		Divert and draw
		Squeeze
		Press
55	Single whip
56	Circle hands like clouds
		Cloud hands #1
		Cloud hands #2
		Cloud hands #3
		Cloud hands #4
		Cloud hands #5
57	Single whip low form
		Single whip
		Low position (serpent creeps down)
58	Golden cock stands on one leg
		Golden cock stands on one leg, left
		Golden cock stands on one leg, right
59	Step back and Repulse monkey
		Repulse monkey, left
		Repulse monkey, right
		Repulse monkey, left
		Repulse monkey, right
		Repulse monkey, left
60	Fly slantingly
61	Close arms and lift
62	White crane exposes wings
63	Brush left thigh and press forth right palm
64	Needles toward sea bottom
65	Arms like fan, joined through the back
66	White serpent flickers tongue
		Turn, palm at belly
		Step forth and extend left palm
67	Circle foot and carry the hammer forward
68	Step forth to stroke peacock's tail
		Ward
		Divert and draw
		Squeeze
		Press
69	Single whip
70	Circle hands like clouds
		Cloud hands #1
		Cloud hands #2
		Cloud hands #3
		Cloud hands #4
		Cloud hands #5
71	Single whip
72	High pat on horse
73	Weave palms
74	Turn and kick with right sole
75	Brush left thigh and hammer pointing toward lower abdomen
76	Step forth to stroke peacock's tail, progressive steps
		Ward
		Divert and draw
		Squeeze
		Press
77	Single whip low form
		Single whip
		Low position (serpent creeps down)
78	Step forth with seven-star
79	Retreat to ride tiger
80	Turn and swing lotus
81	Draw bow to shoot tiger
82	Circle foot and carry the hammer forward
83	Serpent slides back and seal with both palms
84	Cross wrists (end of part 3)
85	Taijiquan concluding (end of the series)

List of Postures on a 1 page pdf file.

Pictures comparing the postures of Yang Cheng-fu and Tung Ying-chieh
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

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Revised: 5/25/13
mjchan@ttopa.com