Mnemonic Principles of Taiji

Mnemonics are great tools to focus the mind on important fundamentals. In T'ai Chi Chuan (Taiji) a good set of "Five Basic Principles" can be represented, some say, with the acronym BURST:

• B: Beautiful Lady's Hand (straight and relaxed wrist)
• U: Upright Body (spine vertical and balanced)
• R: Relax (sink into the ground, soft and alert)
• S: Separate the Weight (keep the weight asymmetric, mostly on one foot — yin and yang, empty and full)
• T: Turn the Waist (rotate from the body's center of gravity)

That source's list includes a supplemental second set of concepts: Softness (Yielding), Momentum, Continuity, Breathing, Rooting, and "Swimming in Air". A slightly modified, and far more memorable, acronym thus suggests itself:

• Beautiful Lady's Hand
• Relax
• Erect Body
• Airy
• Separate the Weight
• Turn the Waist
• Soften

... the first letters of which spell ... <<blushes>> ...

(see [1] and [2] for other explanations of the same set of basic principles; cf. Come SAIL Away (2011-11-26), ...) - ^z - 2014-03-24