How to handle the teacher's teaching?

十年之内，对老师的东西要坚信不疑，一字不能差。
十年之后，要对老师的东西全部重新确认。一字不漏。

For the first 10 years, believe everything the teacher says without any doubt, with no changes to any word.
Beyond the first 10 years, verify everything the teacher says without missing any word.

20 yilus a day for 20 years

Master Chen Zhonghua says if you want the real gongfu, you will need to give up something. To have real change, you will need to find someone who you can't defeat no matter what you do today. 20 yilus a day for 20 years are also needed to get real taiji.

If you don't understand something, write it down in your notebook

Master Chen Zhonghua: "If you don't understand something, write it down in your notebook." (Don't just remember it in your head, or say that you will not forget it, literally write it down)

Notes for Every Move Must Be Adjusted

http://practicalmethod.com/2014/06/every-move-must-be-adjusted/

Notes:

1. Every right move we make, we will make a wrong move as well. We need to strive to conceal or eliminate the wrong move.
2. 5 parts must disappear: wrist (same as ankle), elbow, shoulder, kua, knee.
3. Open one door, close it behind before opening another one. (I see sequencing in this description of actions).
4. Train enough to the point where you can do what you are supposed to do automatically. Training means following a procedure repeatly until you get it. No need to think about why you are following that procedure. When you can do it, you will know why you did it the way you did it.

Notes for Todd Elihu and Wu Shaozhi Testing Energy Online Video

http://practicalmethod.com/2014/06/todd-elihu-and-wu-shaozhi-testing-energy-online-video-purchase/

Notes:

1. If you don't know how to squeeze (ji), you cannot start, and are just fighting (i.e. not doing taiji).
2. By comparing how Master Chen Zhonghua did the squeeze himself to how the two students did it, I can see the difference between the correct and not-so-correct ways, and hopefully in due time, I can get closer to the ideal. 
3. Take note of Master Chen Zhonghua's commentary while the two students were trying the squeeze action. It is important to associate what he said to what was happening at the time, so one can start to recognize the deficiency in one own's action during training. The ability to recognize the issue paves the path to a higher level.

Notes for How to Create a Hole in the Opponent Online Video

http://practicalmethod.com/2014/04/how-to-create-a-hole-in-the-opponent-online-video-trailer/

This video is a refreshing way of looking at separation of yin and yang. This first half talks about a theory, and the second half is a push-hand demonstration on the theory.

Notes:

1. 2:04 - If there is no hole or tunnel in a rock, when you push on it, you hand can't get through, and you will just move the whole rock. Now if you with the hands held in front are the rock, the fact that the hands can come back without you moving, it is because that you (the rock) has a hole, which the hands go through.
2. 2:59 - Your opponent fights you (the rock), he is going to find that there is a hole in you, and his energy will just go into it without him knowing why. With Practical Method, when you do it correctly, you are totally stealing your opponent's energy or it's like you put a virus in your opponent's software, and his brain starts to listen to you and he doesn't even know why his brain listens to you. It's because you are activating the opponent's muscles without going through his mind. This is called indirect power. You access your opponent indirectly by creating a hole.
3. 4:55 - Master Chen Zhonghua pushed against the opponent (creating a rock), and then he moved something at the bottom (creating a hole in the rock). The opponent then fell into it. This definitely required repeated watching and trying.
4. 5:44 - Another way of creating a hole, it is called a sand pit. It is like you standing on a boarding, and someone digs a hole under the board, and you will eventually fall into it.
5. 9:00 - Master Chen Zhonghua demonstrated how the stepping part of Brush Knee created a hole.

Notes for How To Move Without Losing Power Online Video

http://practicalmethod.com/2013/11/how-to-move-without-losing-power-online-video-trailer/

This video showed clearly what it meant by losing power while doing the circle. Master Chen Zhonghua demonstrated it to each of the students in the workshop. For people who haven’t had the chance to attend any of his workshops, this is how one gets the hands-on transmission of taiji.

Notes:

1. 0:52 - In order for the gears to work, each gear (disk with teeth) must be made of the same material, i.e. one cannot be made of steel, while another is made of cotton or other softer material.
2. 3:10 - There is no slack as the opponent pushes or put force on you. In other words, there is no free move. You must carry the force, e.g. if you are moving a box of china from the table to the floor, you must carry the weight the whole time during the transfer.  This just reminds me of another lesson from Master Chen Zhonghua, who said Grandmaster Hong Junsheng said one must do yilu like carrying a 5-lb ball all the time without dropping it.
3. 7:30 - The problem is when you are loose, the opponent attacks you; when you are strong, you can't move. What we want is when you are strong, you can still move. "Strong" is the peng energy.
4. 16:28 - The power is in all the joints.
5. 17:00 - Yin and Yang are distinguished while you have action.