A continuation of our series of workshops examining in depth the 10 Principles of Tai Chi Chuan as outlined by Yang Cheng Fu.

We will spend the day examining the concept of Sinking the Shoulder and Weighting Down the Elbow and how this applies to our Tai Chi Chuan practice. We will examine how this principle is directly related to Linking with your partner and the way in which it will benefit your practice, both private and partner work.

The following quote is taken from Grand master Ip's book, 'Tai Chi Revelations', 2001.

'Sinking the shoulder is to let the shoulder loosen up and drop downwards. If not, both shoulders will raise causing the Chi to rise with them. No strength can be exerted from the body if this happens. Weighting down the elbow is to let the elbow drop and hang loose. If the elbow is raised, the shoulders will have great difficulty in sinking, thus affecting the strength of your internal power, and you will not be able to throw the opponent away. This is similar to what is known as 'stifling the power' in external martial arts'.