Originally Posted by
cjurakpt
actually, from a taoist internal alchemical perspective, which is what lies at the heart of tai chi practice even more so than it's supposed efficacy as a martial art, it matters a great deal; that is because the entire form is constructed very specifically based on Taoist cosmology, so the number of brush knees, single whips, etc. are very specific, as are the directions in which they are done (you have to imagine yourself doing the form ontop of a big I Ching hexagram pre-natal diagram; the "point" of it is essentially generation of the Elixir of Immortality (Golden Pill; the "dan", etc.) as the end result;
so for example, the first five brush knees (and this is a "family secret" so to speak) are each done slightly differently, because each one is representitive of one of the 5 phases / elements; doing all five, you are generating a specific "build up" of energies, which are then culminated and transformed at the end of the first chapter by the "downward parry punch" move (another reasn why what happens with the hands is of significane); likewise, the number of "dan bin" is important, because this movement is actually considered one of if not the most important in terms of internal alchemical practice (if, of course, you choose to believe in this sort of thing...;) ); in fact, the translation of "dan bin" as single whip is only one of several possible ones: "dan bin" can also be translated as "transforming the elixir" (literally, "cinnabar transformation" - cinnabar being a precursor to mercury, which, due to it's observed properties, the Taoists associated with immortality - of course, some took this literally, ingsted the stuff and ended up joining the ranks of immortals a bit more directly then pehaps they had wished for...), which is why its placement in the form is importan; actually, I believe that my teacher, Master Sat Hon, will ave an article discussing the "lost roots" of tai chi (it's alchemical transformative function) in an upcoming issue of Asian Journal of Martial Arts where he discusses all this in much greater detail
so anyway, yeah, the numbers do matter...or not...