https://www.adamhsu.com/articles/BajiVsTaijiFinal01.pdf
. . . There was one thing beyond my expectation: Sifu Liu had been training me in baji on
technical skills. At the same time, he gave me homework: “The Book of Taiji Quan Theory. You have
to memorize it and then recite it in front of me!”
Later I discovered something even more shocking: Sifu Liu had memorized the Book of Taiji
Quan Theory really well when he was young. It happened in Huang county of Shandong province
(now rezoned to Longko City). When Sifu Liu was in his early twenties, he liked to test his skills and
discuss his knowledge with others everyday. No wonder when Sifu Liu scolded me with words of
wisdom, it sounded so familiar! How come what he said was always consistent with the ancient
book!
It is not weird to apply taiji theories to baji training. What’s strange is: There are so many
precious taiji theories, so why has taiji “quan” disappeared now!? Why does only taiji “exercise”
remain to improve our health!? Why do people foolishly believe in taiji “religion” and get so crazy for
it!?
How about baji? So many people trained in baji for their entire lives, but they never learned
how to be soft and therefore could never improve their skills… There are many branches of baji in
China. Many of them have separate forms called “hard baji” and “soft baji.”
Sifu Liu learned unique skills from grandmaster Li Xu-Wen at a later stage of his life. He did
not use “forms.” Instead, he studied “basics.” The training started from hard first and then soft; at
the end it reached the stage of “hard and soft mutually support each other (剛柔相濟).” This is the
ultimate achievement!