Taijiquan

Shi San Shi (十三式) or Thirteen Postures does not mean thirteen different postures or movements steps but actually means thirteen basic skills. The 13 postures are also known as Bafa Wubu (八法五步) and Bamen Wubu (八门五步).

The hand skills of Taijiquan follow the principle of Bagua trigram. Bafa (八法) or Eight Method are eight hand skill methods of Jin force. All hand skills and techniques are generated from the Eight Method.

Eight Methods	Trigram Name	Direction	Attribute	Key Acupoint	Map to Five Element
Peng, 掤	Kuan	North	Water	Mingmen	Water
Lu, 履	Li	South	Fire	Xuanguan	Fire
Ji, 挤	Zhen	East	Thunder	Jiaji	Wood
An, 按	Dui	West	Marsh	Tanzhong	Metal
Cai, 采	Qian	Northwest	Sky	Xinggong	Metal
Lieh, 列	Kun	Southwest	Earth	Dantian	Earth
Zhou, 肘	Gen	Northeast	Mountain	Jianjing	Earth
Kou, 靠	Xun	Southeast	Wind	Yuzhen	Wood

The footwork of Taijiquan follows the philosophical concept of Wuxing (五行) or Five Elements. Wubu (五步) or Five Footwork are the five footwork skills. It is more about Shenfa or body movement skills because footwork and body movement have a very tight relationship.

Five Footwork	Attribute	Direction	Element	Acupoint
Jinbu, 进步	Step forward	North	Water	Huiyin
Tuibu, 退步	Step backward	South	Fire	Zuqiao
Zuogu, 右盼	Sideway step forward	East	Wood	Jiaji
Youpan, 左顾	Sideway step backward	West	Metal	Tanzhong
Zhongding, 中定	Central equilibrium	Center	Earth	Dantian

These 13 basic skills are the foundation of all Taijiquan skills. All other skills come from the different variation and combination of these basic skills.

The meaning of those 13 skills are as below:

1. Peng - ward off
2. Lu - roll back
3. Ji - press
4. An - push
5. Cai - pull down
6. Lieh - split
7. Zhou - elbow
8. Kou - shoulder
9. Jinpu - step forward
10. Tuipu - step backward
11. Zhougu - step to the left side
12. Youpan - step to the right side
13. Zhongding - central equlibrium