Yang-style 10-Form Taiji Quan
Form VIII: Grasping the Bird’s Tail Moving the hands back and forth, like stroking a bird’s tail.
1. Place your left foot on the ground, and shift your weight onto the left leg. Draw your right foot to the side of the left one, with the tips of your toes on the ground, and turn your torso slightly to the right. At the same time, move your left hand rightward in a horizontal curve, and bend the left elbow, palm down, to the front of the chest. Move your right hand in a downward-inward curve, palm up, to the front of the left ribs, so that the hands are in the position for holding a ball. Look at your left hand. 2. Turn your torso to the right, and step forward with your right foot, stretching the left leg naturally to form a right bow stance. At the same time, move your right arm to the right and upward, and bend the arm into a horizontal arc at shoulder height, palms facing inward. Lower your left hand leftward and downward to your left hip, palm down and fingers pointing forward. Look at your right arm.
3. Turn your body slightly to the right, and push your right palm forward and turn it down. Turn the left palm up, and move that hand upward and forward to the front of the abdomen and under the right arm. Turn your torso to the left, shifting your weight to the left leg. At the same time, lower both hands in a curve past the abdomen until the left palm is facing up and at shoulder height. Look at the left hand.
4. Turn your body slightly to the right, bend your left arm and draw it back until the left hand is inside the right wrist, and continue to turn the torso to the right. Transfer the weight onto the left leg while adopting a right bow stance. At the same time, push both hands slightly forward, with the right palm inward and the left one forward, and the right arm in front and semi-circular. Look at the right wrist.
5. Turn your right palm up, palm down, raise your left hand by the right wrist forward and leftward, to your right hand height, palm down. Separate your hands to shoulder width apart, bend your left knee and shift your weight onto the left leg, with the toes of the right foot raised. At the same time, bend the elbows and draw the hands back to the front of your abdomen, palms facing obliquely downward. Look straight ahead.
6. From the position of the last movement, shift your weight slightly to a right bow stance. At the same time, press the hands forward and upward, with the palms facing forward and the fingers pointing upward. Look straight ahead.
7. Bend your left knee slightly, and shift the weight onto the left leg, with the toes of the right foot pointing upward. Turn the torso to the left, and turn the toes of your right foot inward, shifting the weight back to the right leg. Turn the left foot to the left, moving with the torso, and draw it to the left side of the right foot, toes on the ground. At the same time, move your right hand to the front left part of the chest. Move your left hand to the left side in a curve, and then in a downward and rightward curve to the front part of the ribs, so that the palms are in a holding-a-ball posture. Look at your right hand.
8. Repeat the movements in Number 2, reversing “right” and “left.”
9. Repeat the movements in Number 3, reversing “right” and “left.”
10. Repeat the movements in Number 4, reversing “right” and “left.”
11. Repeat the movements in Number 5, reversing “right” and “left.”
12. Repeat the movements in Number 6, reversing “right” and “left.” CA