The Li family learned their t’ai chi from Wang Lan Ting. Wang is the source of the martial training in this lineage of t’ai chi, teaching the monk who taught qi min Xuan, who then to cheng tin Hung.
Their approach to training in the documents written in 1881 very much parallel the approach taken within the practical t’ai chi approach.
Li Family’s early Taijiquan curriculum, as recorded by its founder, Li Ruidong, who inherited the teachings of the Yang lineage.
According to Li Ruidong’s 1881 manual, the Li family emphasizes a strict progression from isolated, static postures to linked forms, and ultimately to dynamic combat. Their approach fundamentally warns against relying on preset routines.
1. Foundational Isolation Before Forms Instead of learning a long, continuous form right away, the curriculum’s foundation was built on mastering the “eight doors” (fundamental energies) and “five steps” (spatial directions).
- The Beginner Procedure (chulian): A student learns just one movement at a time, performing it alone repeatedly. After many repetitions, the movement is then held as a standing meditation practice before the student is allowed to move on to a new set.
- Linking: Only after mastering these individual components through isolation and standing practice are the movements finally linked together to create the 13 postures and the 64 forms.
2. The Four Points of Solo Practice (danlian) When training alone, practitioners are taught not to just mindlessly run through the forms, but to follow four distinct stages of development:
- Learning Appearance: Practicing just one or two exercises to become physically familiar with the movements.
- Learning Breath: Performing three to five exercises continuously without rest.
- Learning the Law: Selecting a few simple moves and practicing them freely at will.
- Learning the Secret Wisdom: Practicing movements spontaneously according to one’s imagination.
3. The Intermediary Phase Before progressing to partner work, there is a transitional phase where the student receives oral instructions on the “five secrets” directly from the teacher, along with practical “adjustment of hands and eyes”.
4. Partner Practice (shuanglian) and Avoiding the “Dead System” The Li family holds a very strict view on partner training, strongly warning against preset two-person forms or overly cooperative drills.
- Rejecting Preset Routines: Li Ruidong warned that following a preset partner form creates an empty, theatrical “dead system.” He stated that practitioners who train this way “abandon their hearts and rush with their spirit,” resulting in movements that look nice for an audience but have no real martial value or accomplishment.
- Dynamic Attack and Defense: True partner practice requires one person to actively attack while the other defends. This allows the practitioners to train proper distance and practically investigate the principles of change within each other’s movements.
- Full-Force Application: Partners then select their favorite techniques and apply them full-force to truly learn martial applications and timing.
