The first form is the most important part of the Chen Taijiquan training system. I would like to let you know a bit about its history, its roots, the names of the movements and so on so you get a general overview.
We don't call it old frame (laojia) nor new frame (xinjia), but Chenshi Taijiquan Gongfujia Yilu
The first road of Chen Family Taijiquan (or 一路 yilu) is probably the most traditional form of Taijiquan (Tai-Chi), from which the other family styles Yang, Wú / Hao, Wu and Sun developed. All the widely practised, modern short forms, such as the 9 movments form, the 18 movements form, the 19 movements form and so on all originate from this first road.
Though there is nothing wrong about short forms in general we don't teach any of these as we don't think they are of too much help to learn Taijiquan. That's more a matter of didactics than of anything else. The traditional first form creates the physical-mental basis for the correct practice and contains most of the relevant methods of Taijiquan so we rather teach the original road - segmented into different sections - than additional short forms for beginners. With our method of teaching one can practice certain sections basically like short forms, but the advantage is you can just move on from section to section if you want to continue and you don't have to learn a completely new choreography.
Outside of the close family of Chen Fake, Chen Zhaokui and Chen Yu and their students and disciples in Beijing the form is often referred to as 新架 xinjia, the new frame. I personally don't care too much, but in our family line this is a misnomer, and not used by any of the family members who preserved this method and their direct lineage. For us, it is basically only a name used by outsiders who do not practise it according to our methodology.
How many movements are in the first road?
We practice a form with 83 movement sequences that was only passed on within the close family until the 1970s. Chen Yu added six names (not movements!) to this choreography in order to more clearly distinguish certain movement transitions. The sequence of the form basically follows the sequence which was written down in the old manuals. At the time of Chen Changxing the first road probably had 63 movements. There is a note saying: "Taijiquan is also called the main boxing form or the 'thirteen
dynamics', which is namely the 'thirteen bends' or the 'thirteen foldings'."
The movement names were originally recorded in a kind of verse form so that students could remember the movements. Oftentimes the movements consisted of four characters and thus four syllables. Most martial artists in the 18th and 19th centuries were illiterate and could not read or write well so this method enabled them to memorise the names, but also sometimes led to confusions about certain characters which could mean several different things or which were pronounced in a very similar way, as Chinese contains a lot of homonyms.
What contents and methods do you train in the first form?
In contrast to the second road of Chen-Style Taijiquan, the first road is usually trained in a rather calm way. This calmness sometimes hides the actual intensity of the training, the physical exertion plus the awareness needed to fill all the movements and the requirements all movements should display. Every movement also has the potential of a controlled explosive movement (发 劲 fajin).
This first road develops basic building blocks for our practice: the three external connections (外 三合 waisanhe), the internal ones (内 三合 neisanhe), expansive force (棚 力 pengli), spiral force (缠绕 chanrao or 缠 丝 chansi), the forces of peng lü, ji, an, cai, lie, zhou, kao, internal and external connect, etc. All the relevant methods are practically ground into the movement sequences and are taught by the teacher while the student learns the external form. That is, the teacher does so if he has been taught these methods himself.
Gongfu (Kungfu) and internal strength!
In Chinese martial arts circles it was quite common to not necessarily to convey the ideas (意 yi) and concepts of internal strength (内劲 neijin) of the individual movements to all students. Sometimes only their external shape would be taught. Actually, however, every movement, no matter how small, contains an idea that fills the whole movement so that gongfu - a high level of skill after appropriate training - can be developed. If the form is taught in this way and every movement is "full". Then we can speak about the so-called gongfujia, the "kungfu" frame. That is the main idea of our training. The focus is not on the choreography, but on the contents and ultimately the gongfu to be developed from the practice. Running a form slowly can take about 50-60 minutes. Of course you can also practise it faster, then it might be less strenuous, but it will also have certain effects.
The origin of the movement names
The choreographies and movement sequences are usually called "taolu", "lu" or "jia", in English we can translate these as "forms", "roads" or "frames". These are further subdivided into individual positions, which are usually called "shi" (either 势 or 式) in Chinese. Each position owes its name to a certain "corner point" or "end point", or a special technique which is deemed as a dominant movement in the whole sequence. Normally, however, not only these characteristic corner points, but the entire respective sequence of movements, that is from the previous position to the following position, is being referred to as "shi".
One can assume that the corner points have changed a bit over the course of time. And the names also changed from time to time and from teacher to teacher. Please remember: very few martial artists were able to write and read back then. Rather, you had to remember all positions and names. Sound shifts and mix-ups (especially in the Chinese language, which uses so many identical syllables) were almost inevitable. In the translation we can only approximate the original meaning, since many terms are so old that even Chinese people without knowledge of "kung-fu" can hardly understand them today. We drafted this translation after many fruitful discussions, trying to consider cultural-historical perspectices and also movement-related issues, plus heeding some translations we have become used to in the Western world since our exposure to Chen Taijiquan.
Names of the Chen Taijiquan 83 form (89 form)
1. 預備式 Yu bei shi
Preparation
2. 起式 Qi shì
Commencing move
3. 金刚捣碓 Jingang dao dui
Buddha’s warrior pounds mortar
4. 懒扎衣 Lan zha yi
Lazily tying coat
5. 六封四闭 Liu feng si bi
Six times sealed, four times closed
6. 单鞭 Dan bian
Single whip
7. 第二个金刚捣碓 Di er ge jingang dao dui
Buddha’s warrior pounds mortar (end of section 1)
8. 白鹤亮翅 Bai he liang chi
White crane reveals its wings
9. 斜行 Xie xing
Oblique walking
10. 初收 Chu shou
First gathering
11. 前膛拗步 Qian tang ao bu
Wade forward and twist step
12. 第二个斜行 Di er ge xie xing
Second oblique walking
13. 再收 Zai shou
Second gathering
14. 第二前膛拗步 Di er ge qian tang ao bu
Wade forward and twist step, second time
15. 掩手肱捶 Yan shou gong chui
Cover with your hand and strike with your upper arm (hidden punch)
16. 十字手 Shizi shou
Cross hands
17. 第三个金刚捣碓 Di san ge jingang dao dui
Buddha’s warrior pounds mortar (end of section 2)
18. 庇身捶 （背折靠） Bi shen chui (Bei zhe kao)
Cover the body and strike (the back folds and strikes)
19. 青龙出水 Qing long chu shui
The blue-green dragon shoots out of the water
20. 双推掌 Shuang tui zhang
Double palm push
21. 三换掌 San huan zhang
Three palm changes
22. 肘底捶 Zhou di chui
Punch under the elbow
23. 倒卷肱 Dao juan gong
Turn around and roll in upper arms
24. 退步压肘 Tui bu ya zhou
Step back and press down with your elbow
25. 中盘 Zhong pan
Middle winding
26. 白鹤亮翅 Bai he liang chi
White crane reveals its wings
27. 斜行拗步 Xie xing ao bu
Oblique walking
28. 闪通背 Shan tong bei
Dodge through the back
29. 掩手肱捶 Yan shou gong chui
Cover with your hand and strike with your upper arm
30. 大六封四闭 Da liu feng si bi
Six times sealed, four times closed (big)
31. 单鞭 Dan bian
Single whip
32. 运手 Yun shou
Circling hands
33. 高探马 Gao tanma
Mounted scout (end of section 3)
34. 右擦脚 You ca jiao
Wipe the right foot
35. 左擦脚 Zuo ca jiao
Wipe the left foot
36. 转身左蹬脚 Zhuan shen zuo deng jiao
Turn and kick with the left heel
37. 前膛拗步 Qian tang ao bu
Wade forward and twist step
38. 击地锤 Ji di chui
Punch down
39. 翻身二起脚 (神仙一把抓) Fan shen er qi jiao (Shenxian yi ba zhua )
Turn body and kick with both feet (the immortal takes hold)
40. 护心锤 Hu xin chui
Protect the heart and strike
41. 旋风脚 Xuan feng jiao
Tornado kick
42. 右蹬一根 You deng yi gen
Right heel kick
43. 海底翻花 Hai di fan hua
Turn the flower on the seabed
44. 掩手肱锤 Yan shou gong chui
Cover with your hand and strike with your upper arm (end of section 4)
45. 小擒打 Xiao qin da
Small capture and punch
46. 抱头推山 (金丝缠腕) Bao tou tui shan (Jin si chan wan)
Hold head and push mountain (wrap the golden silk around the wrist)
47. 三换掌 San huan zhang
Three palm changes
48. 六封四闭 Liu feng si bi
Six times sealed, four times closed
49. 单鞭 Dan bian
Single whip
50. 前招 Qian zhao
Forward maneuver (lure forward)
51. 后招 Hou zhao
Backward maneuver (lure backward)
52. 右野马分鬃 You yema fen zong
Part the wild horse’s mane right
53. 左野马分鬃 Zuo yema fen zong
Part the wild horse’s mane left
54. 大六封四闭 Da liu feng si bi
Six times sealed, four times closed
55. 单鞭 Dan bian
Single whip
56. 双震脚 Shuang zhen jiao
Stamp with both feet
57. 玉女穿梭 Yunü chuansuo
The jade maiden works the shuttle
58. 懒扎衣 Lan zha yi
Lazily tying coat
59. 六封四闭 Liu feng si bi
Six times sealed, four times closed
60. 单鞭 Dan bian
Single whip
61. 运手 Yun shou
Circling hands
62. 双摆莲 Shuang bai lian
Double lotus kick
63. 跌叉 Die cha
Fall and split
64. 右金鸡独立 You jinji duli
The golden rooster stands on one leg, right
65. 左金鸡独立 Zuo jinji duli
The golden rooster stands on one leg, left (end of section 5)
66. 倒卷肱 Dao juan gong
Turn around and roll in your upper arms
67. 退步压肘 Tui bu ya zhou
Step back and press down with your elbow
68. 中盘 Zhong pan
Middle winding
69. 白鹤亮翅 Bai he liang chi
White crane reveals its wings
70. 斜行拗步 Xie xing ao bu
Oblique walking
71. 闪通背 Shan tong bei
Dodge through the back
72. 掩手肱锤 Yan shou gong chui
Cover with your hand and strike with your upper arm
73. 大六封四闭 Da liu feng si bi
Six times sealed, four times closed (big)
74. 单鞭 Dan bian
Single whip
75. 运手 Yun shou
Circling hands
76. 高探马 Gao tan ma
Mounted scout (end of section 6)
77. 十字单摆莲 Shizi dan bai lian
Cross hands, single lotus kick
78. 海底翻花 Hai di fan hua
Turn the flower on the seabed
79. 指裆锤 Zhi dang chui
Striking the crotch
80. 白猿献果 Bai yuan xian guo
White ape presents fruit
81. 小六封四闭 Xiao liu feng si bi
Six times sealed, four times closed (small)
82. 单鞭 Dan bian
Single whip
83. 雀地龙 Que di long
The dragon sinks to the ground
84. 上步骑麟 (上步七星) Shang bu qilin (Shang bu qi xing)
Step forward and ride the unicorn (seven stars posture)
85. 下步跨虎 Xia bu kua hu
Step back and mount the tiger
86. 转身双摆莲 Zhuan shen shuang bai lian
Turn around, double lotus kick
87. 当头炮 Dang tou pao
Hitting the head
88. 金刚捣碓 Jingang dao dui
Buddha’s warrior pounds mortar
89. 收势 Shou shì
Finish form (end of section 7)
© 2019 Daniel Barth, Peter Loughlin, Nabil Ranné and the Chen-Style Taijiquan Netzwork Germany (CTND)