Tai Chi Rank · Green Sash, 4 Stripes
Green SashWith Four Stripes
The final rank of our Wu style Tai Chi Chuan curriculum. Green sash, four stripes is awarded to students who have completed the full curriculum but do not want to teach, so there is no new material and no new video here.
About this level
This rank marks completion. Everything in the curriculum is behind you: the Wu style slow form and fast form, the Buddha Sabre, the Seven Star Sword, the Cloudy Fan, and the partner work from stationary push hands through Da Lu, walking push hands and the Two-Person Form. There is nothing new to learn here.
Green sash, four stripes is for students who have finished the curriculum and want to keep training without teaching. The Sifu path is a separate rank, taken only by students who want to instruct. Practising what you already know, with attention rather than effort, is the work at this stage.
- The final rank of the Wu style Tai Chi Chuan curriculum.
- The full slow form, the fast form, the Buddha Sabre, the Seven Star Sword and the fan form.
- Partner work: stationary push hands, Da Lu, walking push hands and the Two-Person Form.
- No new material and no new training videos at this rank: it is recognition, not instruction.
- The teaching path is separate: Sifu rank is for students who want to instruct.
Train it with us
Tai Chi classes run at our Windsor Heights school alongside the Kung Fu program. Practice at home with the video below, then bring your questions to class.
Curriculum complete
What this rank means
There are no new videos at this rank. Green sash, four stripes recognises a student who has completed the full Wu style Tai Chi Chuan curriculum and does not want to teach. The material below is what you have already covered, and every one of those videos stays in the member library.
Empty-hand forms
The Wu style slow form, Gah Gee, across the white sash ranks, and the Wu style fast form, Goon Chuen, at yellow sash.
Second style
The Yang 24 Form, introduced at yellow sash, three stripes and refined from there.
Weapons
Tai Gek Yun Yun Do (Buddha Sabre), Tai Gek Tshut Sing Gim (Seven Star Sword) and Wan Sin (Cloudy Fan).
Partner work
Stationary push hands, Da Lu, walking push hands and the Two-Person Form, Tai Gek Yi Fan.
Students who do want to teach continue to Sifu rank, where the focus shifts from practising the curriculum to passing it on.
For every level
The 10 Tai Chi Principles
These ten principles apply to the whole Tai Chi Chuan curriculum, from the first white sash class onward. They are what the form is training, so come back to them at every rank rather than treating them as a beginner lesson.
Straightening the head
Stand straight, relax your neck and suspend the head naturally erect from the crown point without strain or tension. The image to model is "hanging by a string from the top of one's head", so the head and neck align by the force of gravity alone.
Correct position of chest and back
The chest is kept slightly depressed inward, which helps the breath sink to the lower belly. The upper back is slightly bowed outward while the pelvis is tucked under.
Remain relaxed with no tension
Relax and loosen all the joints, particularly the shoulders and elbows, and sink them so they are flexible, connected and able to integrate into proper structure. Relaxed does not mean limp. Proper structure is held with a minimum of muscular exertion, with gravity providing the downward stacking and power from the root into the ground. Tai Chi transfers energy as a vibration, much like a whip that has no tension. When the muscles and joints are relaxed, aligned and connected, the wave or pulse of the movement is conducted through them with no retained tension.
All movement comes from the center
The waist is the ruler. All movement comes from the waist, whether it is a hand movement or a step, so make the waist cause each movement. The waist as the ruler must be relaxed, initiating, controlling, guiding and distributing the direction and amount of energy transmitted.
Harmonize the upper and lower parts of the body
The vibration of any Tai Chi movement roots at the feet, releases from the legs, is controlled by the waist, moves through the back and arms, and is finally expressed by the fingers. To achieve this path the feet stay firmly attached to the ground like the big roots of a tree, and the knees stay slightly flexed. Upper and lower body then move together, strung together without the slightest break.
The entire body moves as a single unit
The entire body moves as one complete unit, not just a hand, leg or arm. Once one part moves, every other part is in motion; when you are still, everything is in stillness. Be still as a mountain, move like a great river.
All movements are smooth, even and continuous
Tai Chi movements are performed smoothly and evenly, with no interruptions. Nothing speeds up or slows down, except for the Wu style fast form which does change speed, and there is never a detectable start and finish from one move to the next. The common image is reeling silk thread from a cocoon: too fast or too sudden breaks the silk, too slow or in the wrong direction tangles it.
Keep a clear distinction between substantial and insubstantial
When the weight is on the right leg, that leg is substantial and the left leg is insubstantial, and vice versa. One leg is always heavy and one leg is light. This principle of weight movement applies in all directions and to all parts of the body, governed by the waist, and the constant change is understood through the phasing of yin and yang.
Breathe deeply from the lower belly, in harmony with the movement
The breath is deep and full, filling from the Tan tien, two to three inches below the navel. Each movement links precisely with the breath: as the body expands there is an exhale, and as it contracts there is an inhale. Because the breath is linked to very slow movement, the breathing is very slow too.
The mind leads the body
In Tai Chi, attention goes to the mind rather than to force, so use the mind to direct the movement and let the body follow. Keep the mind fully conscious, aware and intent on each tiny point along the path of the movement and on each point of the body. The mind and breath are king and queen, and the bones and muscles are the court.