An Outline for Teaching Soft Movement to the Young

My Tai Chi teacher, Kuo Lien Ying in a monkey pose with his son, Chung Mei (late 1960's).

Traditionally family members inherited the movement skills of the family boxing. There's a long tradition of training children from a young age. Today most of the nei jia (internal) arts are taught to older adults 40 and over. Why not start the teaching of the soft arts and their cousins in schools to the young?

What is important to transmit by way of the movement arts of nei jia? Offer alternatives to the external arts. 
The principles of movement in Tai Chi require a different way of moving then we are normally used to. It requires relaxed arms with the movement propelled from the ground. The Tai Chi classics say "the movement is rooted in the feet, controlled by the waist and expressed in the fingers."
The baseline of the first class will be developing the feel for the primary energy of peng. The energy of peng is like the ocean supporting a boat. It dips and crests, but always supports the boat when upright.

Yang Ch'eng Fu's  Peng

Clunk the arm into the shape of peng. Let the elbow sink downwards. Suspend the arm with the least amount of effort just to the point of almost falling. Find the most comfortable position possible in this shape while retaining the structure. Often it helps to have a partner assist you to find peng by supporting the arm and allowing you to release residual tension in the shoulder joint. We will play with this by having your partner support your arm and moving it to through the range of motion without resistance. The partner who is doing the supporting and moving will have to feel/listen through soft arms for the gaps and internal holdings to assist in helping your partner release the tension and find peng. Listening is paramount in all connection operations.
In all aspects when you are working with a partner, understand that you are responsible for your partner's safety  This means joints not taken beyond their comfort range ... leading balance out of structure so that your partner falls ... collision resulting in injury, etc;

The point of contact - resting-in and supporting
Sticking, a foundation skill of Tai Chi Chuan.
We will touch (Ha!) on the first of the five connection operations mechanical in nature which is the complementary activity of 'resting-in and supporting'  The best explanation of this is a quote from Sam Masich from an article on Wuduan Taiji Jue-shou.
'In order to accomplish sticking it is necessary to 'rest-in' into the point-of-contact when approaching connection with the partner, and to 'support' the point-of-contact when being approached by the partner. The most typical expression of 'resting-in and supporting' has to do with whether one is on the top or bottom position in the touch relationship: i.e. if one 's arm is atop the partner's one will rest-in; if one below, it is apt to support the partner.'

From playing with peng, we proceed to introduce sticking and adhering energy or zhan-nian through exchange stepping which utilizes a comfortable, even-pressured touch connection with other individuals during changing conditions.

Baihui

"Hold the head as if suspended from above, so as to allow the spirit of vitality to reach the top of the head."

- from Yang Chengfu's 10 important points.

"Most people confuse the middle of the head with the top of the head. The highest point (no pun intended) of the head is found by placing the tip of one index finger atop either ear and moving them up along your skull until they meet at an acupuncture point called "baihui" ("one hundred meetings"). When this point is allowed to be the highest point on the body, the chin will drop down a little, the neck will relax, and the gaze will be a little bit downward. This is a natural and logical position for the head to be in if one is walking, not only because it allows the body to relax and align properly, but because it allows your eyes to see where you are going. " - Ian Sinclair

Other topics that will be covered:

Sun Lu Tang in Santi

Basic warm-ups testing flexibility
A run through the tai chi forms of peng, lu, ji and an.
And to break into a different rhythm, a demo of the 5 fists of Xing Yi (a sister art of Tai Chi).