Important Movement Principles

“The internal environment we create through T’ai Chi practice cultivates the circulation of chi, which diversifies and compounds to produce progressive stages of personal development or spiritual maturity. This process is cumulative and spans years, until it culminates in the state of perfect Clarity or formless T’ai Chi. The key to success is, as always, continued practice and adherence to the principles.” Steve Ridley, Perspectives in Motion & Stillness.

I want to outline some principles of movement that relate directly to each T’ai Chi Chih movement pattern, so that any needed adjustments can be made to ensure that we are deriving an optimum chi flow. Of course, the chi flow improves generally as we improve our applied level of “softness and continuity”, but there are more specific principles having to do with synchronicity and alignment that we should be able to enact to more completely foster the desired circulation of chi.

Weight Displacement & Hand Position

When your weight is fully displaced on one foot, the hands are at one of the two extreme positions of the particular movement pattern, either at the beginning position or at the halfway point.

For example, while performing “Daughter on the Mountaintop” (left side), we begin with the hands at the extreme low position, at the sides of the upper thighs (palms forward). The weight is fully displaced on the right foot. As the weight smoothly and gradually shifts forward, the hands begin to rise simultaneously at a uniform speed, timed so that they arrive at the halfway point (extreme position) at the same instant that the weight is fully displaced on the left foot. Likewise, as the weight smoothly and gradually shifts backward, the hands simultaneously begin to come down at a uniform speed, timed so that they arrive at the beginning position at the instant that the weight is fully displaced on the right foot.

This movement principle of weight displacement and corresponding hand position should be applied consistently to each T’ai Chi Chih movement pattern, whether front-to-back or side-to-side. Otherwise there will be either a stagnation or a loss of momentum regarding the chi flow. For instance, if you find that your weight has arrived fully on your forward foot, and your hands are still moving to complete the first half of the particular circular pattern, the movement is out of synchronization and power is being lost. Similarly, if your hands have arrived at the extreme halfway position and you are still moving into your full weighted halfway position, the movement is out of synchronization. Remember the statement from the T’ai Chi Classics that advises that we move “without hollows”? A hollow move is an empty move, an independent hand motion made without support of a simultaneous leg motion. When our upper body moves independently from our lower body, we are in a weak, fragmented condition, and we have severed the unification of power that should exist in T’ai Chi Chih movements.

Check each movement pattern to see if you are in conformity to this movement principle. If you are, then you will be sure to derive optimum potency from your present level of proficiency. If you find that you are deviating from this principle on a few movements, make adjustments, even though they may feel odd and strictly mechanical at first. It will be a matter of establishing a new “feeling pattern”, that will seem natural in a short time.

Alignment of Strength

Keep yourself aligned in a position of optimum strength, as if you are going to encounter physical opposition throughout the performance of each movement, so you could resist such opposition with optimum physical strength, within the context of the particular movement pattern. This alignment, however, is performed in softness, with the exception of “Joyous Breath”.

For example, while performing “Working the Pulley”, your advancing hand should extend directly from your shoulder, where your optimum strength is. If you push your hand forward from a position above your shoulder or to the side of your shoulder, the potential strength of the movement is lessened considerably.

There are a number of commonly mis-aligned movements that I’ve noticed through the years. The 6 Taoist Healing Sounds: During the side-to-side sweeping motion, the forearms should be held parallel to the ground, one above the other, with the elbows close to the torso. Push Pull: Hands should push out directly from the shoulders, positioned shoulder width throughout the movement pattern. Carry the Ball to the Side: The elbows should be close to the torso especially as the ball is carried up and over, so the hands don’t extend too high – all wrists and forearms. Joyous Breath, Light at the Top: Temples: Pushing down, the hands are kept close to the torso, shoulder-width apart. Lifting up, the hands are kept close to the torso, shoulder width apart. Passing Clouds: The elbows are kept low and fairly close to the torso, so that there is no undue extension with the upper arm – all wrists and forearms.

Alignment of strength should be applied to each T’ai Chi Chih movement, not because we are going to encounter external resistance with muscular strength, but because this alignment is most conducive for an optimum, unified chi flow. By aligning ourselves as described, we provide the ideal internal shape for the chi to conform to. If we perform a movement with improper alignment, by over extending or deviating from our optimum strength positioning, the circulating chi is likewise influenced and weakened.

Check each T’ai Chi Chih movement pattern by assuming that you are going to meet resistance at various positions. Are you aligned in an optimum strength position, within the context of the movement? Be willing to make adjustments, and you will derive a more efficient chi flow. A major objective of T’ai Chi Chih practice is to cultivate the chi in a dynamic and efficient way.

Additional Considerations

Mental State: T’ai Chi Chih should be practiced with a quiet mind (“unclouded mind”) so that movements may be accomplished in a state of expansive sensitivity and intuitive awareness. Thought directs chi and the body follows, alertly accommodating an integrated flow.

Physical Attitude: The soles of the feet should be substantially rooted to the ground. The general stance should be low, with a primary emphasis of feeling awareness focused within the lower abdomen. The spine and head should always be vertically aligned and at rest, as if suspended from above – the torso should move as easily as a mobile being motivated by the wind.

Circularity: Through each movement, the physical motive force is rooted in the feet, passes up the legs as the weight moves from substantial to insubstantial, is distributed by the relaxed openness and pivoting of the waist, and nourishes the upper body. Each T’ai Chi Chih movement pattern should be developed and felt in this way.

I hope that this sketch of movement principles will contribute in someway to the enrichment of your practice of T’ai Chi Chih.

Sincerely,

– Steve Ridley