William CC Chen’s “60 Movements”
Starting with the most valuable and important to a new student:
The Bible: “Brain Aerobics of Tai Chi Chuan”
This title contains both a discussion of the “brain aerobics” Master Chen sees in tai chi chuan and, for the new student, a movement-by-movement, step-by-step, gesture-by-gesture breakdown of the exact sequence of Master Chen’s “Sixty Movements” short form. It is indispensible, because in the tai chi form, the details matter greatly.
If the details are not correct, it is not tai chi. Years after learning and excelling at 60 Movements, I took time to read the details, to answer a student question. (Master Chen says that teaching is good for us because student questions will take us interesting places.) What I found in this book revolutionized my form. Boy, do the details matter.
The book can be ordered from Amazon.
Free Alternative to “Brain Aerobics”
An on-line scan of CC Chen’s original book “Body Mechanics” is available free, with a free archive.org sign-up here. That has some background history and discussion, as well as the same* invaluable breakdown of CC Chen’s “Sixty Movements”.
For those who prefer paper books, we have found used copies in pristine condition on-line recently (mid-2025).
- One important difference: we see in the older book, throughout the form, that bow stances were then specified as 75% weight front, 25% back foot. “Brain Aerobics” codifies Master Chen’s preference of a taller stance: 80% front, 20% back foot.
We recommend “Body Mechanics” highly to any serious student of Master Chen and/or tai chi. It contains important discussion of why tai chi stands out as an exercise, much of which does not appear in “Brain Aerobics”.
Video Treasure
A large collection of videos featuring Master Chen can be found on Content Galaxy. The $40 fee for a year’s access is well worth the content for advanced students. This collection includes instruction in the long form and more, and older videos with tremendous content in the form of Master Chen’s narration.
Master Chen’s Teacher
Master Chen was himself a senior student and teacher under Professor Cheng Man-Ch’ing. Here is Professor Cheng doing his “37 Postures” short form, which he derived from the 108 movement long form.
Master Chen’s “60 Movements” is almost identical to Cheng’s “37 Postures. (They just count differently.)
Master Chen’s Students
Every successful teacher spawns students who carry on spreading tai chi chuan. These students often produce videos of themselves performing Master Chen’s “60 Movements”. Free videos of the full form can be found on a YouTube playlist of mine. A caveat, though:
In one interview you can find on the Content Galaxy offering, Master Chen mentions that every student of Professor Cheng does his “37 Postures” a little differently. He says Maggie Newman was the closest to Professor Cheng, and also Ben Lo.
If you explore the student playlist, you will see quite a variety. While at first I saw them as incorrect, I have grown to understand that we are just seeing a natural evolution of a complex process transmitted by serious students finding their own way.
Student Ken
Speaking of my own differences, I try hard to match Master Chen closely. Here is one video that my students like.
A tournament judge once told me I was the closest to Master Chen he had seen. That was quite a thrill. But I confess to one important difference, and a fundamental one: the height of the stance.
Here is Master Chen addressing how he deliberately differs on that:
“Compared to versions generally taught, my 60 Movements are slightly higher in stance and smaller in step. This difference is intentional. [The lower stance] may cause fatigue and exhaustion in the legs, which leads to unconscious upper body tension. Ultimately, this might affect the smooth inner qi energy flow and body coordination.
“My higher stance and smaller steps are designed to keep the body more relaxed…This contributes to the full commitment of the awareness brain to direct the movement of Qi.”
In my case, because I play a lot of sports, I like training that builds strength. And I happened to start with the NY School of Tai Chi, which was heavily committed to holding us beginners for minutes in a low stance, precisely to build our strength. I saw dramatic improvement in my time skating the loop in Central Park, and almost tripped running up steps because of unexpected power. So leg fatigue to me is great; it develops strength!
Having written this, and having complete faith in Master Chen, I think I will go with a higher stance for a while to see what rewards await me there. I certainly reached a new level when I decided to slow down my form to Master Chen’s speed, a full 25% slower! At the slower speed, I am discovering a wealth of nuances to explore and enhance, and the form is much richer and enjoyable for me. The faster speed masked all that. Perhaps the lower stance does the same.
Simplified Taijiquan
Developed in 1956 by the Chinese Sports Committee, this form was created to make Tai Chi more accessible to the general public. It is based on traditional Yang-style Tai Chi and consists of 24 movements designed to be easier to learn and practice. Also known as Beijing-24, 24-Form Taijiquan, Simplified 24-step Taijiquan, and Tai Chi 24-Form.
After just a quick intro, several Empty Step students have indicated a preference for Simplified Taijiquan. So they succeeded in its design! But it truly is an appetizer, not a full meal. One must repeat it twice to get the same duration as 60 Movements, and there is fun but uninteresting repetition many places.
This teacher’s conclusion: the kind of substantial practice needed to best benefit from tai chi quickly wears out the fun of the form, and stripping it of its martial core enervates the art.
Current thinking: teach Simplified, then teach 60 Movements.
Instruction videos
It is hard to retain all the details of even one movement from an hour’s class. Once we get home, these videos will remind us of the details and let us watch them flow together.
Dr. Paul Lam Detailed Instruction With Model
Here are four brilliant instructional videos from Dr. Paul Lam:
Dr. Lam is a CDC-recommended medical practitioner offering several tai chi programs aimed at specific health issues. These videos break down each movement of Tai Chi Chuan 24-form in meticulous, easy to follow detail.
Here is Dr. Lam performing the whole Simplified Taijiquan form uninterrupted, start to finish.
Master Yijiao Hong 24-Form With “Training Wheels”
Tai chi builds balance and leg strength over time. Great, but how do we practice before we have built those up? In this video, Master Hong performs the full form while injecting harmless variations that let the beginner enjoy the full form earlier. Many times it is just a toe touch mid-movement, other times a single step becomes two.
Once the balance and strength are there, the “training wheels” will come off naturally.
Demonstration videos
We begin actually with the reference video Melinda Applegate recommends. I also recommend it, and this has the advantage of preparing you for Melinda’s classes in Belmar, Long Branch, and elsewhere.
Melinda Applegate’s reference video
Master Amin Wu back view, annotated with movement names. Catchy background music and, again, the video Melinda recommends to new students.
Master Liu front view in nature
Beautiful front view by Master Liu, a little slower than usual.Master Leung Yim-ha 2018 champion performance
Leung Yim-Ha (performer in back)
I like this 3rd World Taijiquan Championship performance as an example of tournament level performance taijiquan. Small differences in stepping.
Master Zou Yunjian front view, to the official melody
I did not know there was an official melody! But AI confirms. It was composed specially for the Tai Chi 24-form. Anyway, a really beautiful performance.
Master Gao Jiamin
One of the best. More rising and falling than I like, but it actually just emphasizes the martial yin-yang, which should have been kept.
Peter Chen
Delightful narration of the form, back view with instruction.
Application videos
When mastering a tai chi movement, nothing helps more than knowing its application. We teach the details one by one, isolating them to zoom in on every gesture and position, but those details serve a larger purpose, a strike or block or change in direction — a so-called “application”. The application:
- reminds us of how to reassemble the isolated components;
- informs the timing of our yin-yang relaxation and power; and
- enlists our imagination to magnify the proprioceptive signal.
Can we learn the form and benefit from it without knowing its application? Sure, but we learn with more difficulty and benefit to a lesser degree.
As Lester Heath (see below) notes, there are no rigid definitions of the application of different movements. Different teachers can come up with different applications. The important thing is to settle on some application for our imagination to enjoy.
Lester Heath
Lester Heath covers applications in two videos:
Seated Tai Chi
I am also starting to explore seated tai chi for those who need to build up to standing tai chi. This is a new one for me, but I have found a great starter lesson on YouTube. Research on this will continue!
Just spotted this chair tai chi video! Review upcoming.