In recent years, taiji has been (in China because of the demonstration at the 2008 Olympic Games Opening ceremony) described as moving clouds and running water. 行云流水。
If you want to be pleasing to the eyes, yes, the taiji form should be performed to look like clouds and water. Those are pleasant qualities for the visual senses.
If you want to practice for health reasons, you need to add a lot more to your form such as stretching.
If you want to learn taiji as a martial art, it will be more complicated than just looking like clouds and water. Without getting into tedious details, taiji should not look “NORMAL”. That is why many masters have two forms, one for public demonstration and one for practice behind closed doors.
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Many, many thanks for the insights into taiji tradition !
Thanks for sharing. I think we should train to be “moving clouds and running water” inside while energy can flow very fluid and penetrative not the look outside .