Chen 18 Form Resources

Chen Tai Chi 18 Form

Chen 18 Form Resources

For my Chen Tai Chi students, here are a variety of Chen style 18 form videos from YouTube to help you practice at home between classes. The Chen 18 form was created by Grand Master Chen Zhenglei and is a condensed version of the Chen 74 form, known as the old frame first routine or Laojia Yilu. The Chen 18 form helps develop the following Tai Chi principles:

Standing practice principles. How to align the body.

Body method principles. How to align the body in movement & the qualities of how you hold yourself in movement.

Expansive, spiralling, rebounding quality in the body.

Aligning the spine to transfer weight to the ground with a lengthening quality.

Aligning the knees to train safely with whole body integration.

Sinking the body weight down and a fluid heaviness in the lower body.

Aligning the two plates in Tai Chi movements to integrate the structure.

The deep internal pelvis muscle that is involved with all Tai Chi movements.

A cultivated skill; releasing the muscles & loosening the joints.

Fostering the skill of a neutral pelvis in movement and stillness.

The signature of Chen style Tai Chi, the spiralling quality in the limbs and torso.


The following links for the Chen 18 form and the Chen 15 form, detail the movement names and more details about training the body method.


The following links are ways to learn the Chen 18 Form with Nicola from Earth Balance Tai Chi.


Here are YouTube videos to help support your home practice. All are taken from the lineage of Grand Master Chen Zhenglei. We are not affiliated with these videos, these are for student reference only.

Grand Master Chen Zhenglei

Grand Master Chen Zhenglei - Rear Orientation

Grand Master Chen Zhenglei - Mirrored

Master Wang Hai Jun

Master Chen Huixian

Grand Master Chen Zhenglei - With Breathing

Similar Posts