42-form tai chi


The 42-posture tai chi form, also called the Taijiquan Competition Form is a series of movements standardized in 1989 for international wushu competition. It combines movements drawn from the Chen, Yang, Wu, and Sun styles of traditional tai chi, and has also become a popular exercise for the general public.
In 1976, Men Huifeng of Beijing Sport University and Li Deyin of People's University created a form combining postures from those four major styles for the official Chinese Sports Committee of China, as part of a post-Cultural Revolution initiative to rehabilitate martial arts as a modern sport. This resulted in the standardized 48-posture tai chi form.
In 1989, Men and Li shortened the combined form for the purposes of competition timing and scoring, resulting in the final 42-posture sequence. Today this is the international wushu standard tai chi competition form, and it has also become popular as an exercise to improve and maintain health.

In 1990, the 42-posture form made its debut on the world stage, when wushu was for the first time included in the 11th Asian Games.
The postures are as follows:
42-posture tai chi
  1. Commencing form
  2. Grasp the peacock's tail
  3. Single whip
  4. Raise hands
  5. White crane spreads its wings
  6. Brush knee and twist step on both sides
  7. Parry and punch
  8. Deflect and press on both sides
  9. Parry and push
  10. Apparent close
  11. Open and close hands
  12. Single whip
  13. Punch under elbow
  14. Turn body and push palm on both sides
  15. Fair lady works the shuttles on both sides
  16. Kick with heel on both sides
  17. Cover hands and punch
  18. Part the wild horse's mane on both sides
  19. Wave hands like clouds
  20. Step back and beat the tiger
  21. Separate legs
  22. Strike opponent's ears with both fists
  23. Separate legs
  24. Turn body and slap foot
  25. Step forward and punch downward
  26. Oblique flying
  27. Snake creeps to the right
  28. Golden rooster stands on one leg
  29. Step back and thrust palm
  30. Press palm in empty stance
  31. Hold palm up and stand on one leg
  32. Lean with body in horse stance
  33. Turn body for large roll back
  34. Grab and punch in resting step
  35. Thread palm and push down
  36. Step forward to seven-star posture
  37. Mount the tiger and stand on one leg
  38. Turn body with lotus kick
  39. Bend the bow to shoot the tiger
  40. Grasp the peacock's tail
  41. Cross hands
  42. Closing form