Feeling Bass Drum

Again, begin by feeling the energy between the hands. The movement starts with fingers pointing softly upward – “about a foot apart,” says Justin. The movement is initiated by the wrists – the hands softly coming down to the T’an T’ien (not below it). The Chi is always there. How do you access it? What is happening between the hands – can you feel it bouncing back and forth? What do you feel in your T’an T’ien? “Circles,” answers a retreatant, “Life is complete. It does what it needs to be doing.” Note that at 4 o’clock (if the clock were now facing out to the side in a plane perpendicular to the floor), the hands begin rolling over the top of the drum. If the hands begin rolling towards the body at 4 o’clock, this will assure that the hands don’t come up too high. Note the inner feeling and possibility of complete release in the arms just before the “4:00” point.

Abandoning with Bass Drum

Ev Hanson-Florin, Sidlesham, West Sussex, UK

This movement allows a feeling of abandonment, as if immersing into a warm bath. Using the forward/backward foot movement and the relaxed but upright spine learned in the preceding two movements, Bass Drum allows relaxation while tracing the form of a water wheel or bass drum in front of you.

Start with the palms facing each other about 10-12 inches apart, fingers slightly separated from each other at about chest level. Move the hands down the front of the torso with the forward weight shift and trace the form of a bass drum or water wheel away from the body. Rotate the wrists upward and back to the chest with the backward weight shift.

Since bass drums are not common in the UK, “Water Wheel” has become the colloquial movement name here. This explanation comes from a student, Anwyl Allisstone, who felt as if she was being immersed in a warm bath.

Editor’s Note: Please remember to retain the official name of the movements before acknowledging colloquial differences and imagery.

Closing with Bass Drum

By Stephen Thompson, Tupelo, MS

Without moments of silence separating individual words, there could be no speech. All vocal attempts to communicate would be chaotic and meaningless. So it is with the quietude between our T’ai Chi Chih movements.

I write of a pose so unusual it is referred to by two names. During the pause between the left and right repetitions of a movement [(which is not meant to be as long as the actual close)], it’s referred to as a restful position. And at the completion of a movement it is referred to as a graceful conclusion. As we cycle through our TCC movements, this grounding pose allows body and mind to unite in a spirit of calmness. In this sacred, silent center where we become as still as the mountain, anything is possible. We exist briefly as pure potential and then, when our time inside the pose draws to an end, we gather our essence and flow outward in an intentional, purposeful way.

The foundation of all 19 TCC moves is this pose of stillness. For the body to move in the TCC way it must begin each move from a state of profound stillness and it must end every movement with a return to that stillness. Honor your students. Do not allow them to hurry through these times of stillness. Hold the pose.