Ji Ben Gong stands for Basic Foundation Work. So any time you see the word Gong, that means work. Like Qi Gong (Energy Work) Nei Gong (Internal Work).

With that being said anything that is practiced to enhance your form can be considered Foundation Work. At New Life Kung Fu we have a Ji Ben Gong exercise that consists of 14 exercises. Most of my students come up with interesting names to try to remember the movements and the order, because Ji Ben Gong is the students 1st official Taiji test we give.

It is important to get the student used to testing, because when it comes to learning all the techniques of Taiji, simple tests along the way show that the student is practicing and ready to learn more. Lets face it, if the student can not remember a simple 14 warm up exercises, how are they going to remember all the movements of the Taiji form and Push Hands drills.

Below I will list the 14 exercises with a given name to try to help each student remember the exercise and order.

  1. Ankle rotations
  2. Knee rotations
  3. 6 point hip rotations
  4. Shoulder Swings
  5. Shoulder rotations
  6. Neck rotations
  7. Elbow rotations
  8. Wrist rotations
  9. Swinging arms
  10. Side Bends
  11. Rooster Stance
  12. Tiger Stance
  13. Deep Squats
  14. Flexibility Stretch

I hope that helps and here is a link to the 14 exercises.