Taijiquan

Rules for Taijiquan

General Rules

• Maximum performance time for all Taijiquan styles is 4 to 5 minutes; minimum 30 seconds.
• Salute to the judges upon entering ring, then announce to the chief judge your name and the form you will be performing.
• Once an age group is announced to perform, the cut off time for competitors at that age group to enter the competition is 5 minutes.
• All Taijiquan styles are scored based on good stance, balance, power, coordination, and structure.

Taijiquan Styles

• Yang Style, Chen Style, Wu Style, Wu (Hao) Style, Sun Style, Liuhebafa

Movement Specifications (6 Points)

• One-tenth of a point is deducted when a slight inconformity with the technical specifications occurs in any hand form, stance, hand technique, footwork, or leg technique.
• Two-tenths of a point is deducted for an apparent inconformity, and 0.3 point for a serious inconformity. If several errors occur in a single movement, the deduction is not more than 0.3 point.

Power and Harmony (2 Points)

• Full points (two points) are given to the contestant who applies the power smoothly, steadily, accurately and continuously, and performs well to the requirements for hand forms, eyework, body movements and footwork.
• One-tenth to five-tenths of a point is deducted for a slight inconformity with the technical requirements, 0.6-1.0 point for an apparent inconformity, and 1.0-2.0 points for a serious inconformity.

Spirit, Pace, Style, and Structure (2 Points)

• Full points (two points) are given to the contestant who performs with the mind being fully concentrated, natural facial expression, proper pace, rich content, well-knit structure and well-balanced choreography.
• One-tenth to five-tenth of a point is deducted for a slight inconformity with the technical requirements, 0.6-1.0 point for an apparent inconformity, and 1.1-2.0 points for a serious inconformity.

Scoring

• Beginner Under Belts: 6 – 7.5 points
• Intermediate Under Belts: 7 – 8.5 points
• Advanced Under Belts: 8.5 – 10 points

Additional Rules

• Unfinished routine – competitors of any event  leave the area of competition midway with the routine unfinished shall not be scored.
• Forgetfulness – each occurrence of last memory shall result in a deduction of 0.1-0.3 according to the severity of the case. A subsequent pause affecting the rhythm of the movements shall result in a deduction of 0.1; a long pause 0.2; and pause leading to confused movements in a deduction of 0.3 point.
• Weapon tangle/cut in the uniform, or touching the floor (if is recognized as not a part of the technique) shall result in a deduction of 0.1 point for each occurrence.
• Dropping weapon/s on the ground shall result in a deduction of 0.5 point.
• Loss of balance, tripping, shall result in a deduction of 0.1 for each occurrence, and a subsequent fall to the ground in deduction of 0.5 point.
• Restarting routine – shall result deduction of 1 point 
• A competitor’s performance of the routine is interrupted by uncontrollable circumstances and may repeat it with the head judge’s approval without point deduction!
• Extra acrobatic movement in traditional styles should not be taken in consideration for extra point scoring.
• No flexible blade weapon (modern Wushu weapons) should be used in traditional divisions.