The meaning of the Tai Chi symbol   lies in the mutual production of yin and yang; the complementary exchange of hard and soft, this is the basis for Tai Chi Chuan. The Tai Chi Form is the embodiment of the Tai Chi symbol and  is the most known exercise in Tai Chi Chuan.

The training is focused to learn internal body structure, coordination and external application for martial arts.

The basics of Pushing Hands are The 13 Postures. It contains The 8 Gates or Energies and The 5 Steps or Directions.

The 8 Gates are:

a) the four sides of the square: peng, li, ji, an, (ward off, roll-back, press, push);

b) the four corners of the square: tsai, lieh,zhou, khao (pull down, split, elbow-stroke, shoulder-stroke).  

The 5 Steps are:

Step forward, yield back, look to the right, gaze to the left, central equilibrium.

For the advanced studens the most important exercise is the free-style pushing hands. There are two kinds of free-style pushing hands: fixed-step (ding bu tui shou) and moving step (hou bu tuis shou). Afer learning Push-Hands the student learn San-Shou wich is free hand sparring, how to punch or kick according to the Tai Chi principles.

The study of tai chi chuan primarily involves three aspects:

• Health: An unhealthy or otherwise uncomfortable person may find it difficult to meditate to a state of calmness or to use tai chi as a martial art. Tai chi's health training, therefore, concentrates on relieving the physical effects of stress on the body and mind. For those focused on tai chi's martial application, good physical fitness is an important step towards effective self-defense.

• Meditation: The focus and calmness cultivated by the meditative aspect of tai chi is seen as necessary in maintaining optimum health (in the sense of relieving stress and maintaining homeostasis) and in application of the form as a soft style martial art.

• Martial art: The ability to use tai chi as a form of self-defense in combat is the test of a student's understanding of the art. Tai chi chuan is the study of appropriate change in response to outside forces, the study of yielding and "sticking" to an incoming attack rather than attempting to meet it with opposing force. The use of tai chi as a martial art is quite challenging and requires a great deal of training.