Maintaining central equilibrium at all times is a given.
Any form of leaning or over-commitment weakens your entire structure and diminishes power.

Central equilibrium ensures stability, root and strength.
If you sacrifice this in order to reach the target, you may find the strike or leverage to be lacking.

If your feet are too far away from your centre, you lose your vertical stability.

There are a few common combat ranges:

1. Out of reach
2. Kicking
3. Punching
4. Grappling

Each of these ranges offers certain dangers and opportunities, both for the attacker and the defender.
Recognising what an assailant can do at each range is important.
An attacker may be within reach, but their capacity to affect you may be limited by their understanding of what works at which range.

When you perform an application by thinking about the nature of the animal, rather than the posture, you find that the movement happens far more spontaneously.

You no longer plod through the movements. The application just emerges.

As the syllabus progresses you must cultivate 'sung', an advanced-level neigong.
Part of sung entails doing without doing, a tzu-jan quality of immediacy, whereby the outcome happens without any sense of feeling the body.

A student initially learns to coordinate the pattern.
Later, they focus upon the movement.
At sung level, the student just strikes. No thought, no feeling of anything. The strike lands without self consciousness.

Higher-level Instructors are less common in the UK.

To become a Tai Chi Expert the Instructor needs 15 years tai chi chuan study, 10 years teaching experience and 10,000 hours of tai chi practice.
They must possess extensive, versatile combat skills and more in-depth teaching skills.

The 16 treasures are all neigong; habitual skills that transcend consciousness. 
But they are very particular skills.

Clearly, your end product is not supposed to look like a David Attenborough documentary.

The 5 animals aspect of shen serves to help you see the possible origin and purpose of the movements, in addition to unlocking many of the potential, hidden applications.
Eventually, you must internalise this knowledge and express it in application.

Certain movements are clearly emulating one kind of animal, whereas others may be one or another, relative to how you want to express the jing.

There is scope for interpretation.

Society has not become more dangerous.
16th Century Asia was probably far worse then than it is now.

The arts of the 16th Century will work in modern culture... if we do them properly.
The faults that people discover in traditional combat systems lie often in themselves as students rather than the actual arts.

The 21st Century has different concerns to the 16th Century. We must allow for the realities of the modern urban environment.
A self defence practitioner needs to be upright, agile, adaptive and realistic. Your opponent will probably be armed and they will most likely have friends.
Things change. Time moves on. Your art needs to be a response to the needs of the present day.

The 6 balanced pairs neigong is relatively easy because it is purely physical.
By establishing a relationship between different parts of the body you can improve postural balance.
Paying attention to postural balance affects the energy within your body and this in turn results in a general trend of positive change.

The genius of ancient martial arts systems cannot be denied. They are tried are tested. They have endured.
Whether or not they are viable in modern times is down to the school, the instructor and the syllabus - rather than just the art itself.

A pragmatic self defence syllabus must take into account the century we are living in.

Tai chi was codified into a self defence system thousands of years ago.
People fought in muddy fields and wore body armour. Low stances were necessary for stability.

Tai chi is the 13 postures. 
All movements - whether form, drill or self defence - must be the 13 postures.
The 13 postures are the ways in which the energy is moved whilst performing tai chi.

Our students address this topic in the tai chi syllabus.

Think of what a tiger is like. They are massive creatures, incredibly strong and tenacious.

What characteristics does a tiger possess?

1. patient
2. calm
3. direct
4. ruthless
5. seizing
6. assertive
7. forceful
8. thrusting, lunging attack
9. immensely strong
10. unrelenting
11. overwhelming
12. teeth and claws

Think of what a snake is like. A cobra? A boa constrictor?

What characteristics does a snake possess?

1. undulating, wave-like action
2. patient
3. sly
4. quiet
5. slips around defences
6. determined
7. extremely fast
8. sudden, penetrating blow
9. open up defences, then strike
10. bite, body strength, poison 

Think of what a monkey is like. An orang-utan? Or a small, cheeky monkey?

What characteristics does a monkey possess?

1. indirect
2. misdirection, distraction, sneaky
3. appears to be weak in order to draw you in
4. fast
5. mischievous
6. provoking
7. vicious
8. elbows
9. hunched over and tight
10. yielding and withdrawing
11. sharp, stunning attacks, performed unexpectedly
12. claws and teeth

Think of what a bird is like. A bird of prey or a stork? A crow? A seagull?

What characteristics does a bird possess?

1. wings open and close
2. soars up and swoops down
3. grace, lightness and balance
4. splitting action
5. yielding and withdrawing
6. wings spread open, exaggerating size
7. nervous
8. decisive and surprising
9. striking as it splits
10. beak and claws

Think of what a polar bear is like. Or a grizzly. Not a teddy bear, though. A teddy bear somewhat misses the point.

What characteristics does a bear possess?

1. huge, strong and powerful
2. fearless
3. direct
4. determined
5. large, open stance
6. movements are sweeping
7. outward turning
8. no allowance for its prey
9. immense, whole-body strikes involving hips and spine
10. claws and teeth

We picked 5 animals to consider because the form movements can be considered in reference to these animals:

1. Bear
2. Bird
3. Monkey
4. Snake
5. Tiger

We are not interested in what type of bird, or which bear you imagine. Who cares?
Such talk misses the point.

The character of the form movements can be better understood by looking at these 5 animal