Tai Chi Rank · Yellow Sash, 4 Stripes
Yellow SashWith Four Stripes
The fourth stripe on the yellow sash in our Wu style Tai Chi Chuan curriculum. The last stripe before the green sash, and the level where weapon work begins with Tai Gek Yun Yun Do, the Buddha Sabre.
About this level
At yellow sash, four stripes you add the first weapon form. The empty-hand form stays in your practice, because everything the saber asks for comes from it: the same small, core-centred movement, the same structural alignment, the same relaxed power.
At Shadow Fist, this level is taught in class under your instructor’s guidance and supported by the training video below. Practise the weapon slowly at first, and keep sessions short and relaxed rather than long and hard.
- Tai Gek Yun Yun Do, the Buddha Sabre, the first weapon form in the Tai Chi curriculum.
- Translating empty-hand relaxation, balance and footwork into armed movement.
- Keeping the small, core-centred Wu style frame while the blade is in motion.
- Short, relaxed repetitions rather than long, hard sessions.
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.
Weapon form
Tai Gek Yun Yun Do, the Buddha Sabre
This training video features Tai Gek Yun Yun Do, also known as the Buddha Sabre or Tai Gek Yun Yun Gim / Dao. It is a traditional saber (broadsword) form taught within Master Leung Shum’s and related lineages of Wu-style Tai Chi Chuan.
What it is
A traditional saber form that blends the flowing, internal principles of Wu-style Tai Chi with specialized blade techniques.
Wu style context
Wu-style Tai Chi, as taught by teachers such as Grandmaster Leung Shum and Master Zhang Yun, works with small, core-centred movement, internal subtlety, structural alignment through the coccyx and the kua, and conserving power.
Why weapons
Forms like this one translate empty-hand internal energy, balance, footwork and mental focus into armed movement, bridging health cultivation with traditional martial application.
Treat the saber as a test of the form rather than a separate skill. If the body stays relaxed, the waist leads, and the feet stay rooted, the blade will follow. If the arm takes over, it shows immediately.
Training Videos
Practice with the video
The yellow sash, four stripes training video walks through the material for this level. It is available to current Shadow Fist students.
Student access only
Log in with your My Account username and password, then come back to watch the training video.
Rank 10 of 16Yellow Sash, 4 StripesNext: Green Sash
Tai Chi ranks
- 1. White Sash
- 2. White Sash, 1 Stripe
- 3. White Sash, 2 Stripes
- 4. White Sash, 3 Stripes
- 5. White Sash, 4 Stripes
- 6. Yellow Sash
- 7. Yellow Sash, 1 Stripe
- 8. Yellow Sash, 2 Stripes
- 9. Yellow Sash, 3 Stripes
- 10. Yellow Sash, 4 Stripes
- 11. Green Sash
- 12. Green Sash, 1 Stripe
- 13. Green Sash, 2 Stripes
- 14. Green Sash, 3 Stripes
- 15. Green Sash, 4 Stripes
- 16. Tai Chi Sifu White Sash
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.