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Taiji Quan: Laojia

The first form of Lao Jia (Laojia Yilu) – the first ‘old’ form – is the ‘parent’ form of all of the other basic styles of Tai chi chuan (such as for example the Yang style and the Wu-style). This form contains both fast and slow movements; a very important aspect of it is the silk reeling, which is also an extremely important practice in the Chen style Tai chi.

The first form of Lao Jia is used as an important training and teaching method in the Chen style Tai chi chuan this is why it is taught before all the other forms and sequences. In the training course taught at the Chenjiagou village (the native village of the Chen family), for example, the Lao Jia form is considered the basis for teaching Tai chi. Lao Jia has to be mastered to a certain level of perfection before the student can move on to learning new forms such as Xin Jia, for example.

Lao Jia is believed to have been created by (Chen Changxin) of the Chen family who used as a basis the already existing fighting sequences attributed to (Chen Wangting).

Chen style Tai chi is characterized by the diversity of the movements in forms and the depth of the energy work based on the universal laws of Nature. Chen style Tai chi contains simultaneously softness and brutality, roundness and squareness, slowness and acceleration, openness and closeness, lightness and fullness, twisting and untwisting.

The continuous movements of the forms, flowing from one into another, have been smoothed out in many aspects – physical, energy and alchemical – throughout the centuries. Practicing for hundreds of years and accumulating a unique experience the Tai chi chuan masters have managed to reveal the internal relations and the laws of motion through these forms.

As a whole it is believed that the Lao Jia movements are more expansive than the other Tai chi forms of the Chen family. One can also say that they are less complex. What is important when performing this form is to work well with the waist and ‘master’ the fixation of the final point of each movement before moving on to the next one. It is said that in the Ilu form the hands follow the movements of the body.

The movements are done in a very soft manner, the speed of movement sometimes slows down, then accelerates, so that fast and slow movements follow one another. The (fajin) technique (meaning «the energy emission») is activated in not more than 25% of the sequence.

Presently the Lao Jia form contains two single sequences - (Yi lu), «the first road» and (Er lu), «the second road», as well as many othe forms with weapons, the (tui shou) technique – which means «pushing hands», plus additional training exercises.

There are various classifications of the Lao Jia Yi Lu form. In the book written by (Chen Xin) «The Illustrated Canon of the Chen Family Taijiquan» the form is subdivided into 13 parts, and in this case the classifying principle is the aim of the movement.