The traditional routines (taolu套路) were compiled by earlier masters according to the training needs and transmission environment of their time. These routines include essential movements that serve as ‘vessels’ of core training methods as well as auxiliary movements designed for transitions. As times change and environment and needs evolve, some auxiliary movements might be simplified or integrated, a natural part of the evolution of transmission, but as long as the core principles and methods of practice are not lost, the essence of the art remains.
Many practitioners fall into the trap of prioritising form over essence. They equate routines as the entirety of the art, ignorant of the fact that without the support of proper training principles and methods, a routine is merely a sequence of superficial physical movements. It cannot produce the distinctive qualities that Taijiquan emphasises, such as sinking relaxation(松沉劲), silk-reeling energy (缠丝劲) or the principle of guiding the body with yi and qi (以意导气、以气驭形).
The core of Taijiquan has never been about the "number of routines" but the methods to generating power (jin劲), body mechanics (shenfa身法) and mental principles (xinfa 心法) that are hidden within the movements. The core of these methods is breaking down and extracting the most representative movements of Taijiquan, practising them repeatedly, and truly realising the pathways of internal power, rather than merely reenacting the long routines. The significance of training these representative movement is at the heart of Taijiquan inheritance and transmission.
Moreover, many classical routines that have been passed down are themselves collections of training methods. For example, in Chen-style Taijiquan's old frame routines, each movement corresponds to specific training methods: "Jin Gang Dao Dui 金刚搗碓” trains the whole-body integrated power and the transition between emptiness and solidity; "Lan Zha Yi懒扎衣" trains the opening and closing of the shoulders and hips and silk-reeling energy; "Liu Feng Si Bi六封四闭" trains the gathering of internal energy and the storage of power for release. Experienced practitioners often isolate key movements and practise them hundreds/thousands of times—precisely embodying the principle that training methods are the core.
The transmission of Taijiquan is about preserving the fundamental principles and the pathway of embodied realisation (体悟路径). The masters of the past created routines to help later generations enter the art more easily and systematically grasp its principles. But practitioners today need not be trapped by anxiety over the routines. Ultimately, routines are fluid vessels, while the fundamental principles are the unchanging core. It is better to calm the mind and begin with a single posture, a single principle, and truly capture the essence of Taijiquan.
