Hydro TCC

Five years ago, I spent part of each day at the pool where I live. I sat on the stairs and read; I did laps – a slow crawl and leisurely sidestroke. Most importantly, I was determined to find a way to practice T’ai Chi Chih in the water. I knew there was a way – there had to be – they’re a natural fit. I also knew the natural buoyancy one experiences in water would make my disability less of a concern.

The exercise at first was most unsatisfactory. I was making “work” of TCC, not “the effort of no effort,” as it’s taught. The crux of the problem was simple physics: Newton’s Laws.

The movement of hands, weight shift, etc. all produced an equal and opposite reaction. This isn’t a problem with normal standing TCC. It became a problem, however, when I ventured into the totally alien environment of being submerged up to my neck in water. We’re naturally buoyant, and physics defeats the effort to stay firmly rooted to the ground.

Mary Case, an accredited TCC teacher who substituted in both my seated and standing TCC classes, once described her more than 18 years of experience teaching water aerobics. When I mentioned my Summer of Frustration trying to make TCC work in a swimming pool, she asked if I’d tried weight belts or ankle weights. There it was: the solution to my frustrations was adding the sort of weights that Scuba divers use to overcome their buoyancy challenges. Mary began trying “Hydro TCC” practice at the pools and spa she and her husband attended and reported back results that were even better than my expectations.

The weights worked, and once the problem of staying grounded was solved, I could concentrate on TCC. It was incredible! Justin often spoke of imagining moving through heavy air or water. Here it was. This was truly taking “less is more” and “the effort of no effort” toward the perfection his words conveyed.

Rocking Motion is a breeze with ankle weights. All the side-to-side movements are treats – Carry The Ball To The Side is fun. The four Taffy movements are all Seijaku and more. Pulling Taffy, Variation #3, Perpetual Motion and Passing Clouds are even more addictive in the water. My body has already adapted to this strange environment, moving with the line of least resistance.

The forward and back weight shifts – moving the widest aspect of the body – are more difficult. Swimming is easier than walking across the pool. It took a while, and much experimentation, to finally find the combination of movement, speed and muscle control needed. I find I do a lot of pushing with the back foot. Leading with the tan t’ien is an art. When I can establish the rhythm, I love it. But if I let my mind wander, I can easily lose the rhythm of the yinning/yanning weight transfer.

Because I was learning a new way to do TCC in a totally different environment, I felt as if I were back to the first months of my original TCC class. I felt fatigue in my legs, for example, which didn’t manifest until a few hours after the end of a practice. I’m certain it’s the same tiredness that most beginning students report for the first month or so of weekly classes.

The whole experience is somewhere between standing TCC and Seijaku. I recommend trying it. As with seated TCC, someday it may be taught seriously. The natural resistance of the water will really give you an appreciation of Justin’s “moving through heavy air.” For just the building of muscle memory of what that feels like, it’s well worth trying some Hydro TCC.