{"id":7075426,"date":"2026-10-04T08:33:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T08:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426"},"modified":"2026-10-04T08:33:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T08:33:27","slug":"do-you-really-know-the-tai-chi-form-5-ways-to-find-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426","title":{"rendered":"Do you really know the Tai Chi form? 5 ways to find out"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>Do you remember the first time you tried to do the Taijiquan form by yourself? In class, following along with the teacher, it was easy. But alone at home in your living room, suddenly the next move was not clear anymore. With practice, though, you managed to do the form on your own.<\/p>\n<p>Once you can do the form on your own, there comes the next level: do you REALLY know the form? How comfortable are you with the order of the form, the directions, the body moves?<\/p>\n<p>I think for a more experienced Taijiquan practitioner, there are five ways of testing whether you truly know the form.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Run the form really slowly<\/h2>\n<p>To be honest, I think the term \u201crunning the form\u201d is a bit misleading. Especially when you want to find out if you really know the form. So try it the other way around: do the form realllllly slowwwww. So slow that it feels uncomfortable for your mind.<\/p>\n<p>Practising slowly, you constantly need to remember where in the form you are. Especially with moves that happen several times during the form, like Cloud Hands or Brush Knee. It\u2019s easy to suddenly continue at a different part of the form.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s interesting to practise like that, because it shows that the form is not only about the external moves. It\u2019s also about what happens inside. Taijiquan is an internal martial art, after all.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Speed up the form<\/h2>\n<p>Instead of going really slowly, try the opposite: speed it up. Get really into it and fly through it. Again, it will show you which parts of the form are not yet secure in your body and mind.<\/p>\n<p>For me, this very fast way of practising shows specifically how well I know the transitions between the moves. Try it, it\u2019s fun!<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Change directions<\/h2>\n<p>Here you have two options. The first one is to simply change your position. If you usually start facing the window, start facing the wall instead. That alone is already quite confusing!<\/p>\n<p>But there is an additional way, which is also very confusing: mirror the form. So if you usually open to the right, start to the left. Change which arm moves up first, which leg moves first, and so on.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-medium\"><a href=\"https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1-300x300.png\" alt=\"5 ways to know if you really know your form\" class=\"wp-image-3219\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1.png 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>This way of doing the Taijiquan form shows very clearly which moves I\u2019m not sure about yet, because I really need to think about which body part goes where. It helps to remember the Yin and Yang of the moves. For me, it\u2019s one of the hardest ways to do the form. Very challenging, and I haven\u2019t mastered it myself yet.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Practise in your head<\/h2>\n<p>As you sit right now, try this: close your eyes and start doing the Taijiquan form in your head. It\u2019s easiest if you imagine being in the room where you practise most. Just see how far you get\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2026 I\u2019ll wait, just try it now!<\/p>\n<p>\u2026<\/p>\n<p>So how did that go? It\u2019s a wonderful way to practise while you wait at the doctor\u2019s or for public transport. And moving in your mind is what a lot of athletes do. It\u2019s easy on your body too. For example, if you are in pain during the form, practising in your mind can help you without using your body.<\/p>\n<p>Or, if that is too hard, try making an audio of your form. I have <a href=\"https:\/\/insig.ht\/1TZMwfJiL4b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recorded the Cheng Man-ching 37 form<\/a>, if you want to try that.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Start teaching<\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019m not teaching at the moment, but I did teach Taijiquan many years ago. And I found that it really helped my own practice. Not only because I was leading the form, and obviously, when all eyes are on you, you give your best.<\/p>\n<p>The questions from students were helpful too. They can ask things I have never thought about. Or a question reminds me of something my own teacher used to say.<\/p>\n<p>I think explaining something to someone else is a good way to figure out if I understand it myself. Obviously, teaching is not for everyone, but I wanted to mention it. And thinking about it, maybe I\u2019ll teach again one day. I always enjoyed the interactions.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Never really done<\/h2>\n<p>So these are my five ways to figure out if I know the form.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, with Taijiquan, one is never \u201cdone\u201d. There is always more to learn, more to figure out, and more body parts slowly changing over time that make the form different (crackling knees, anyone?). I recently <a href=\"https:\/\/qialance.com\/book-review-taichi-the-story-of-a-chinese-master-in-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">read this in a book<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">\u201cUncle used to intone that it took two lifetimes to learn Taichi.\u201d <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/link.amazon\/B00pZ9157\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored noopener\">Marc Meyer, Taichi: The Story of a Chinese Master in America<\/a>*<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>There is always something to improve. But at least there is a point in the Taijiquan journey when you feel comfortable with the form.<\/p>\n<p>Do you have anything to add? How do you test if you really know the form?<\/p>\n<p><!-- VG WORT Tracking code START --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"metis-img-pixel\" src=\"https:\/\/vg08.met.vgwort.de\/na\/d0e1cb5e3b1e4f40bf07e427f959523e\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" alt=\"\"\/><!-- VG WORT Tracking code END --><\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you remember the first time you tried to do the Taijiquan form by yourself? In class, following along with the teacher, it was easy. But alone at home in your living room, suddenly the next move was not clear anymore. With practice, though, you managed to do the form on your own. Once you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11764],"tags":[],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7075426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alternative-medicine"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Do you really know the Tai Chi form? 5 ways to find out - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do you really know the Tai Chi form? 5 ways to find out - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you remember the first time you tried to do the Taijiquan form by yourself? In class, following along with the teacher, it was easy. But alone at home in your living room, suddenly the next move was not clear anymore. With practice, though, you managed to do the form on your own. Once you [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-04T08:33:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Do you really know the Tai Chi form? 5 ways to find out\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-04T08:33:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426\"},\"wordCount\":837,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1-300x300.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Alternative Medicine\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426\",\"name\":\"Do you really know the Tai Chi form? 5 ways to find out - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1-300x300.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-04T08:33:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1-300x300.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1-300x300.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Do you really know the Tai Chi form? 5 ways to find out\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Do you really know the Tai Chi form? 5 ways to find out - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Do you really know the Tai Chi form? 5 ways to find out - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Do you remember the first time you tried to do the Taijiquan form by yourself? In class, following along with the teacher, it was easy. But alone at home in your living room, suddenly the next move was not clear anymore. With practice, though, you managed to do the form on your own. Once you [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2026-10-04T08:33:27+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Do you really know the Tai Chi form? 5 ways to find out","datePublished":"2026-10-04T08:33:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426"},"wordCount":837,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1-300x300.png","articleSection":["Alternative Medicine"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426","name":"Do you really know the Tai Chi form? 5 ways to find out - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1-300x300.png","datePublished":"2026-10-04T08:33:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1-300x300.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/qialance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/round-square-Qialance-1-300x300.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075426#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Do you really know the Tai Chi form? 5 ways to find out"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7075426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7075426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7075426\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7075426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7075426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7075426"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=7075426"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=7075426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}