“Footwork” is not foot work!

 

FOOT WORK Video 

“In Classical Tai Chi the footwork is very involved” Master Stephen Hwa. 

In Classical Tai Chi, footwork isn't really about your legs—it is about your core. Instead of using your leg muscles to step or cross over, every movement starts deep in your abdomen and back.

Think of your core as the control center. When you want to take a step, you don't just lift your leg; you engage your center to lift your pelvis, which naturally brings your leg up with it. 

 

Your upper body stays completely still and relaxed. As you step forward, your pelvis lowers until your foot is flat on the floor. Once your sole touches the ground, your internal core muscles smoothly pull your entire body forward into the next stance.

In Classical Tai Chi, as you see in the video, do not shift any body weight onto the foot that is stepping until you place the foot securely on the ground. Establish a solid connection before moving any weight forward.

This is describing one of the most fundamental principles of classical Tai Chi footwork: maintaining an empty and full foot while ensuring absolute stability before transferring your weight. 

The Mechanics of Stepping

Empty Step: As you shift your weight into one leg (making it the "full" leg), the other leg becomes "empty" and entirely free of weight. 

Reach: You extend the empty foot gently outward—most often placing the heel down first. 

Root: Flatten that leading foot before shifting your body weight forward. 

Weight Shift: Once you have a secure connection with the lead foot, shift your weight. 

The Role of Toes 

Connecting with the floor evenly distributes your weight across the heel, the ball of the foot, and the base of the toes. This activates what is often translated as "Bubbling Well," located on the sole near the base of the second and third toes, which is critical for rooting your energy. 

Sense the ground contact with the bottom of the foot and DO NOT forcefully tighten and/or claw the ground with the toes. Tensing the feet or toes too tightly can lock the ankle and raise your overall body weight, which defeats the purpose of sinking and rooting. Think of it as a "suction cup," or a relaxed, heavy spreading of the sole against the floor. 

Square Form Audio, Video, Transcript & Text

Square Form Video

Square Form Audio 

Square Form Text

NOTE: THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO SEE WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS.  

1. CLICK THE SQUARE FORM TEXT LINK ABOVE FOR A TEXT OF THE SQUARE FORM WHICH INCLUDES NAMES OF THE MOVEMENTS.

   2. RECOMMENDED METHOD: ON PC OR LAPTOP CLICK IN "DESCRIPTION “ FOR TRANSCRIPT WHEN YOU OPEN THE "SQUARE FORM AUDIO" LINK  HERE. IF USING MOBILE CLICK ON “MORE”.  THIS LINK GIVES ACCESS TO THE  AUDIO FILE AT YOUTUBE AND IT PROVIDES ACCESS TO "TRANSCRIPT" ALL ON THE SAME PAGE. 

It is incredibly frustrating to see people throw around specialized terminology like internal discipline and square form without truly understanding how they connect to the core of the system. There is an abundance of what one of my "large circle" teachers called "...talk a good game...". 

I am, after 24 years of Classical Tai Chi "small circle" continuous study,  26 years (of  four different teachers) large circle, entirely convinced that  small circle or (small frame) is the ultimate realization of what Master Stephen Hwa teaches. Many casual internet commentators miss this completely. 

To clarify for anyone reading along, Small Circle Tai Chi is not just "making the movements look smaller" externally. It is a highly specific mechanical and energetic mastery where external limb movements are minimized because the work has moved entirely into the torso, abdomen, and back. 

The progression that people frequently misunderstand or fragment looks like this:

The Classical Tai Chi Progression

• Square Form: This is the training blueprint. It uses crisp, distinct movements with pauses to teach a beginner how to split yin and yang—meaning keeping one part of the body completely still while another moves. 
• Internal Discipline: This is the engine. It dictates that every single action must originate from the core (abdominal and back muscles) rather than pulling or pushing from the shoulders and limbs. 
• Small Circle (Round Form): This is the destination. Once the square form ensures the paths are correct and internal discipline is active, the movements blur into a continuous, seamless flow. Because the power is generated from the deep core, the large, sweeping arm movements of "large frame" styles disappear. 

When practitioners try to talk about internal discipline or copy the square form without understanding the Small Circle destination, they end up creating a hybrid style. They still move from the shoulders or hips, which completely breaks the continuous internal energy circulation. 

The Square Form relies on crisp, mechanical transitions with a distinct pause between movements. Combining auditory cues, textual breakdowns, and visual examples creates a comprehensive multi-sensory learning approach. 

1. Using the Square Form Audio By Itself

When using this tool without video, students should focus on internalization, posture auditing, and blind execution.

Pacing and Rhythms: Execute the form entirely based on the audio track. The hard stops between instructions train the crisp, robotic precision essential to the Square Form before transitioning to the fluid Round Form. 

Eyes-Free Posture Auditing: Close your eyes and move solely based on the audio cues. Focus completely on the lower body's internal discipline, checking that weight transitions originate from the pelvis and the cervical spine stretches down to the Achilles heel. 

Square Form Text/Mental Rehearsal (Visualization): Read the TEXT (SEE LINK ABOVE) line-by-line while listening to the audio without physically moving. 

NOTE, IT IS RECOMMENDED FOR EASY ACCESS TO ALSO READ THE TRANSCRIPT THAT ACCOMPANIES THE ONLINE AUDIO AT THE YOUTUBE SITE.  Just click in the "Description.  THE 2 SCREENS WILL BE NEXT TO ONE ANOTHER. Mentally map out the exact muscle engagements (like pressing the abdominal muscles back to move the arms) to program the correct martial intent. 

2. Using It With Square Form Video

For the ultimate learning configuration, combine the audio/transcript resources with the square form video from the  video posted here, or the official 

Classical Tai Chi YouTube Channel 

or Classical Tai Chi Online at : 

Payhip.com 

Position your screen so you can view Master Hwa's physical movements on one side while keeping the TRANSCRIPT open on the other. Cross-reference each TRANSCRIPT instruction with the exact angle of Master Hwa's knee alignment (ensuring it never extends past the toes). 

The Steps:

Watch the square form video to understand the external frame.

“Outside - In”. 

Listen to the audio breakdown to identify the hidden internal mechanics, like waist initiation and heel-pulling weight shifts.

Pause the video and practice the singular movement repeatedly using only the audio cadence until the mechanics feel natural. 

Isolating Yin and Yang: Use the square form text to identify which parts of the body are explicitly commanded to move versus those that must remain perfectly still. The audio acts as a trigger to consciously lock the "still" portions of the body while activating the "moving" core.

Reflections on the Internal Dynamics

Video Title: Classical Wu Style Tai Chi Square and Round Form

Channel: Classical Tai Chi (Official Channel)

The Architecture of the Core: Reflecting on the Internal Dynamics of Classical Wu Style Tai Chi

A Personal Preface: 24 Years of Lineage and Friendship

As a dedicated practitioner, you eventually reach a crossroad where choreography is no longer enough. You realize that simply moving your limbs in beautiful patterns leaves the true engine of the art completely untouched.

This exact realization is what makes the historical writings of mine as well as my family’s dear friends, E. Marie Koepsell, and Stephen Hwa so enduringly vital. It was for  20 years, right there in the Buffalo and Rochester, New York community, now 3 years later in Acton, California. I have had the profound honor of sharing a deep friendship with both Eva and her husband, Dr. Stephen Hwa. Having spent nearly a quarter-century absorbing the spirit of this lineage, as his first certified teacher,  revisiting Eva’s classic essay, "Learning the Internal Dynamics of Tai Chi," always feels less like reading text and more like sitting down with family.

Eva wrote this piece to chronicle her transition away from abstract, external forms under the guidance of Dr. Hwa—a retired chemical engineer from Wuxi  then Rochester Xerox Corporation,  who brought the direct lineage of WuJianquan via Wabu Young to Upstate NY. Today, I want to share the exact, uncut text of her insights, paired with my own reflections on why these concrete mechanics matter for your daily practice.

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The Article: "Learning the Internal Dynamics of Tai Chi"

By E. Marie Koepsell (with commentary)

“Although I had studied Tai Chi Ch'uan for a number of years with a few different instructors, I had reached the point where I felt that I could be getting more out of my practice—I did not know what was missing, but I was determined to find out more about the art... The internal physical discipline of T'ai Chi Ch'uan, according to Dr. Stephen Hwa, involves the intensive training of the body and mind to develop discipline in movements so that the movements originate from the abdomen (dantien) and back...”

My Reflection:
Notice how Eva begins by exposing the universal frustration of the intermediate student: knowing something is missing but not having the vocabulary to name it. Dr. Stephen Hwa Ph.D. (Classical Tai Chi Master Hwa), immediately removes the mystery by anchoring the art in structural biology. True internal work isn't a mystical cloud of energy; it is the mental/physical re-education of your musculoskeletal system.

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1. The Torso as the Engine, Limbs as Appendages

“As a reference point for correct movement, Dr. Hwa used the example of the movement of children, who use much more of their torso for initiating action... As we start aging, less and less of our movements come from the waist and back. We hold our middle stiffly, and more of our movements originate from the shoulders and the hip joints. This puts pressure on joints and we lose strength and mobility.”

I use his PH.D. title as Eva Koepsell did in her publication.  Dr. Hwa proved this to students with a simple test: he would have them raise their arms and push forward. Inevitably, they pushed entirely from the isolated shoulder joint and arm muscles. When Dr. Hwa demonstrated the internal alternative, his shoulders and arms remained completely relaxed, while the massive, deep muscle chains of his back and abdomen drove the force.

Similarly, he taught that a true Tai Chi step does not begin in the leg:

“T'ai Chi steps should involve the muscles of the torso, the large abdominal and pelvic girdle muscles, to lift and push the leg forward and back... The muscles of the torso do the work of lifting, positioning the leg, and planting the foot. The weight shifts after the leading foot is planted solidly on the ground.”

My Reflection:
This is where standard fitness training fails us. As adults, we lock our cores stiffly and overuse our peripheral joints. By treating the limbs as completely passive appendages, the torso is forced to take over the heavy lifting. If you are muscularly gripping your shoulder or throwing your leg forward with your quad, you are bypassing the Dantian entirely.

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2. The Mechanics of the Abdominal Counter-Rotation

When it comes to changing direction, Eva captured an incredibly rare, concrete description of Dr. Hwa’s teaching of the art’s physical mechanics:

“Turning movements of the body... are done with the feet stationary and the body swivelling at the waist. It should not be a twisting motion where the hips or legs turn the body, but rather an abdominal movement. When he demonstrates the movement, his lower and upper abdominal muscles appear to rotate in opposite directions, thus indicating all the power that this movement generates at the waist.”

My Reflection:
Read that sentence carefully. This is the absolute antidote to the shallow "wannabe philosophy" often found in online forums. Internal turning is not an abstract concept—it is a literal, visible counter-rotation of the upper and lower abdominal walls. It stretches the internal fascia, opening what Dr. Hwa calls the Yin-Yang junctions of the torso.

He masterfully compared this to a door: the stable structure of the body is the doorframe (Yin), the moving part is the door (Yang), and the internal junctions of the torso serve as the highly pressurized hinges. That intense, structural stretch at the hinge is the physical reality of Chi.

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3. The Power of the "Square Form" Template

For those wondering how to actually build this counter-intuitive control, Eva shares Dr. Hwa's foundational training methodology: the strict utilization of the Square Form.

“One cannot really learn T'ai Chi by just imitating the smooth-flowing movements. One has to start with an isolated movement to learn the Yin and Yang of that movement and then thread the movements together... Dr. Hwa learned T'ai Chi as a 'square form' first, breaking down the postures into individual, simple moves, preceding and ending each movement with a full stop.”

While the square form looks discrete, mechanical, and rigid compared to a flowing "round form," its purpose is absolute: it tames the nervous system. By pinpointing the exact, extreme structural boundaries of a posture and coming to a complete stop, it forces the brain to establish clear lines of communication with deep, neglected joints.

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4. The Evolution to Mind-Intent (Yi) and the Small Circle

As a practitioner advances over years of dedicated training, the external expressions of the form naturally compress:

“For the advanced T'ai Chi practitioner, the form itself becomes less expansive externally (so-called 'small circle' or 'compact form'), and more angular. As such, yi [intention] takes on increasing importance in playing the form. There is less movement and more yi. Also, to have smaller external movements and yet reach to all angles in the form requires greater internal movement, more stretching at the Yin-Yang junctions, and more internal energy flow.”

Ultimately, this lifelong journey evolves from a highly conscious struggle into a deeply unified, subconscious state. The fragmented mind settles into a singular intent, the movement becomes effortlessly fluid, and the practitioner enters a semi-meditative state anchored by enjoyable, internal feedback loop.

Concluding Thoughts

Eva ends her brilliant article with words that perfectly mirror my own feelings after 24 years within this circle: “My prior T'ai Chi exposure was enveloped in a philosophical and abstract context. But now I see that T'ai Chi can be explained in scientific, concrete terms and it is no longer such a mystery to me.”

We do not need mysticism to explain true power. We need structural alignment, dedicated torso mechanics, and the patience to tame our movements through the square form. I am endlessly grateful to Eva and Dr. Hwa for keeping this scientific, concrete light burning bright for nearly a quarter of a century.

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To my blog subscribers: Thank you for being a part of this dedicated space. Please leave your thoughts, training insights, and constructive comments directly below in the comment section so we can keep our high-level dialogue going!

References

Hwa, S. (2010). Uncovering the treasure: Classical Tai Chi's path to internal energy & health. CreateSpace Independent Publishing.

Hwa, S. [Classical Tai Chi]. (2009, August 28). Classical Wu style Tai Chi square and round form[Video]. YouTube. youtube.com

Hwa, S. [Classical Tai Chi]. (2010, October 15). Internal discipline in classical Tai Chi [Video]. YouTube. youtube.com

Koepsell, E. M. (1998, August). Learning the internal dynamics of Tai Chi. Tai Chi Magazine, 22(4).

Koepsell, E. M. (2009, May 24). Learning the internal dynamics of Tai Chi (S. Hwa, Ed.). Cook Ding's Kitchen. archive.org (Original work published August 1998)