Tai Chi - Lau Sui School

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Translator - Barbara Davis, 2004

1	Whenever one moves, the entire body must be light and lively, and must above all be connected throughout.
2	The qi should be excited; the spirit should be gathered within.
3	Let there be no hollows or projections; let there be no stops and starts.
4	Its root is in the feet, it issuing from the legs, its control from the yao, and its shaping in the fingers. From the feet, to the legs, and then the yao; there must always be completely one qi. Only then, in moving forward and backward, can the opportunity and position be gained.
5	Where the opportunity and position have not been gained, the body is scattered and disordered. This error must be sought in the yao and the legs.
6	Upward, downward, forward, backward, left and right are all thus. In all of these cases, it is yi, and not from extremities.
7	There is up, and therefore there is down, there is forward, and therefore there is backward; there is left, and therefore there is right. If one intends to move upward, then send the yi downward. If one wants to lift something up, then a 'break' must be added. In this way, the opponent will sever his own root, ruining him quickly; no doubt about it.
8	Empty and full should be divided clearly. Each point (in your body) in this way has empty and full. Every point always is empty and full. The whole body, in every joint, is strung together; do not let it be even the slightest bit broken.
9	Long Boxing is like the Long River and the Great Sea, an unceasing torrent.