The 13 postures, poses or gates are the foundation of Tai Chi Chuan. These thirteen movements include different stances, hand forms, body positions, body alignments, etc.
The first 8 postures and energies are associated with the eight trigrams (bagua) of the I Ching. The last 5 postures or steps are associated with the five elements (wuxing) of Taoist philosophy: wood, fire, earth, metal and water and together they are referred to as the “Thirteen Postures of Tai Chi”.
The 13 postures are:
- Ward off / Expand (掤; péng)
- Roll back / Deflect (捋; lǚ)
- Press (挤; jǐ)
- Push (按; àn)
- Pluck (採; cǎi)
- Split (挒; liè)
- Elbow strike (肘; zhǒu)
- Shoulder strike (靠; kào)
- Forward / Advance (进; jìn)
- Backward / Retreat (退; tuì)
- Left (頋; gù)
- Right (盼; pàn)
- Center (定; dìng)
