You might have heard the Greek story of Hedgehog and fox: the fox know many small things whereas the hedgehog knows one big thing. When I read this story, I was thinking about the names: a Taiji hedgehog or a taiji fox. It is an issue of depth vs width of your taiji practice. 

Due to the esoteric perception about Taiji and Qigong in this country, Taiji practitioners often equate the numbers of forms they know, or even the numbers styles they practice to the understanding or the level of Taiji. We end up having too many taiji foxes but not enough hedgehogs. Being a taiji fox will certainly generate certain benefits, but being a taiji hedgehog will definitely produce broader benefits at deeper levels. Being a hedgehog is more appealing than being a fox. Here are some tips to be a taiji hedgehog or switch from a fox to a hedgehog: 

Micro approach: Pick up one form (it does not matter which style you practice) and focus on the following key elements: 

• Energy: Are you doing it slow enough so even the repetition of this form is a process of Qi cultivation/accumulation;

• Imaging: Are you applying the image of water (not mud, it is heavy and generates tension), are you thinking about moving water during stillness and moving; 

• Posture: Are you having an up right posture? Are you having a biomechanically sound posture? Do you feel awkward or even pain in your knees, have you opened your kua?

• Foot work: Are your toes turning outward slightly when you are in a neutral standing posture? A stance with strictly parallel feet would cause pain in your ankles or knees;

• Core strength: Are you initiating all of your movements from your dantian: The core of your body? Are you having unlimited dantian initiation/movements in your form practice?

• Harmonious movement: Is your whole body moving together in harmony instead of moving toward different or even opposite directions?

• Silk reeling energy: Do you have constant silk reeling throughout your body when you move? If not, practice some basic silk reeling exercises and see if you can incorporate into your forms. 

• 13 postures of Taiji energy: Peng/ Liu/ Ji /An, Cai/Lie/Zhou/Kao, Jin/Tui/Gu/Pan/Ding.  Start with the first four energies: Peng: up; Liu: side and back; Ji: forward; and An: down; Actually, Taiji form generates unlimited possibilities of motor movements. 

• Pushands: Each single taiji form can have many, sometimes unlimited applications. Play with it, and see the improvement of each single component and how it will help you to enhance your pushhand practice. Pushhand is one of the best ways to test if you get the fundamental elements of a form. 

• Macro approach: After you work on the essential components of different forms, you can focus on one single element while you are doing the whole routine (the  EBT, Essential 48, Paocui, Yang 108 forms, or whole routine from other styles); Then you focus on the next element until you go through all major elements. 

The hedgehog concept basically means the same thing as one old Chinese saying: 不怕千招會, 就怕一招精.  Bù pà qiān zāo huì, jiù pà yī zhāo jīng.  I am not afraid of someone who knows a thousand forms (techniques); I am concerned with the person that does one form (technique) very well. 

Everything is an issue of degree. There is no pure fox, there is no pure hedgehog either. Actually, being a hedgehog with a little bit of fox is most desirable. 

There is no mystery in traditional practice, It is all common sense from ancient wisdom.

Master Yang Yang, Ph.D., Wa-Qi.com