Learning Bass Drum

At Carmen Brocklehurst’s March, 2008 Retreat in Albuquerque, I heard Justin say, “A teacher must teach by demonstration not by 6,000 words.” So the first thing I do for my students is demonstrate the movement. I ask the class to recall the bass drum in their high school marching band so that they visualize their fingertips tracing the rim of a vertical drum. I point out that our drum is not too big (in other words, the hands stay close to the body and go no lower than the T’an T’ien) and that Bass Drum is primarily a wrist movement.

We begin with the hands. Palms face each other; we keep them apart about the distance of the crease in your pants, with fingers spread. We discuss polarity and feeling the Chi between the hands. It is important that the hands not be stiff or too bent. There is a slight cupping of the hands. To demonstrate the amount of cupping, I have the student place one hand gently on a table and then lift it up. That’s it.

Fingers, which start about half way between straight up and parallel to the floor, begin moving down the front of the body. When hands get to the waist the wrists completely let go. When tands continue around the circle and as they begin to come over the top of the circle (4:00 on a clock), roll the fingers back. Notice that the skin will be creased slightly at the wrist.

Then we focus on the legs and the importance of keeping concentration in the soles of the feet. Of special importance: the T’an T’ien leads. If the hands are moving and the legs are not, it is a hollow movement. Let the engine do the work as the weight is shifted completely on bent knees. Remember the back heel only comes up about an inch. If it’s more than that, the upper body is thrown forward.

In Bass Drum, it is as if the wrists are making the circle. Encourage your students to flow softly, feel the energy between the palms of their hands, and smile. Practice, practice, practice and the Chi will teach the rest.

On a personal note: My understanding and the teaching of Bass Drum and T’ai Chi Chih is much improved after attending Carmen’s last two retreats. My students agree. Thank you Carmen and Justin.

A Watershed Moment with Bass Drum

By Jim Eagle, Salinas, CA

Accessibility is not one of the principles of T’ai Chi Chih, but to my mind it’s a critical characteristic. If TCC were not accessible to beginners, many fewer students would continue past the first lessons. Its accessibility is part of its genius and inspiration.

Bass Drum is accessible. The leg and arm motions coordinate naturally. So it’s important to take advantage of this by presenting it early to students. But Bass Drum has more to offer. It can introduce us to the T’an T’ien and its role in synchronizing the upper and lower body movement. At least that’s the way it happened to me.

Last year, during the two months before my teacher accreditation, I was struggling to fully shift the weight forward. The problem was a lack of hip flexibility. I couldn’t fully load the front leg without leaning forward, extending the knee beyond the front foot and lifting the rear heel, before the rear leg was straight. Doing many TCC repetitions, and concentrating on upper and lower body synchronization in Bass Drum, eventually unlocked the hips and got me back on track. (The patient instruction of Jerry Bumbalough and Athene Mantle also helped.)

So what is being synchronized? As the hands approach the most-forward, 3 o’clock position, the hips continue to move forward. The front leg becomes full and the knee is bent; the back leg becomes empty, unweighted, and straight; and the back heel begins to peel off the floor. The circular, forward motion of the hands helps keep the hips moving forward. Keeping the back heel down until the back leg is straight encourages hip and groin flexibility.

For a simple, accessible movement, there was really a lot going on! No wonder I was having trouble. But eventually I began to feel just a bit more hip movement. It was, however, an important bit. While practicing Bass Drum one morning, completely unexpectedly, I heard the T’an T’ien say, “Hello, Jim. I am your center!”That was a watershed moment. T’an T’ien awareness then rippled through all the movements and brought my practice, I believe, to a new level.

At the time I thought, “So this is what ‘Joy Through Movement’ means.” I still do.