One of the things I am constantly telling people, is not to worry about the hands, because the feet are much more important! People come along obsessing about how their hands look, or if their arms are in the right place and it's really irrelevant, until the feet are sorted out. The feet are like the cake, the hands are like the icing (g).

One thing we do is teach "tai chi walking", so people really get to know what their feet are doing, where they are pointing, where the weight is at any step. Once you get into it, it's a lot like training to be a ninja on a rooftop! Becoming aware of your feet means you are starting out on the right path to do good tai chi.

Without the feet being right, you may look to outsiders as if you are in a tai chi pose, but to a tai chi person, your body will be screaming there is no tai chi being practised. There really is nothing more important than the feet.