Notes on Movements Just Learned

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Now you have learned the movements of T’ai Chi Chih. It is necessary to practice them regularly, not hard to do when you begin to realize how joyous such practice can be. Here are a few tips on what to remember as you do each movement:

Rocking Motion is a good way to loosen up and get the Chi to start flowing. Be sure the arms (fingers, wrists, elbows and shoulders) are loose. Keep the knees soft as you rock forward, and up and down, and back. Coming down, don’t forget to land flat on the feet before lifting the toes; it is easier than rocking back on the heels. Do not raise the balls of the feet.

In Bird Flaps its Wings, when the arms are out to the side the third time, do the wrist circles with the wrists, not the arms, and be sure a complete circle is made each time. We flip the wrists to the side quickly but bring the arms and hands back together slowly. As the hands come together, the polarity of the palms facing each other is important, so do not rush bringing the hands together.

Around the Platter is done mostly with the wrists, starting at the chest. The hands are kept close together all through the movement. Be sure to settle down on a bent back leg as the weight shifts back and straighten the back leg (not stiff and tense, however) as the weight moves forward to a bent front leg. Do not do stiff-legged TCC! Observe the yinning and the yanging, the shifting of weight. Exaggerate it if necessary.

In Around the Platter Variation, be sure you carry a ball halfway around, then let it drop as the hands flatten out. Do not rush the backswing; slowly and evenly is the right way.

In Bass Drum we imagine a big drum at the chest, and we circle under the bottom and around over the top. Hands are about a foot apart and the movement is done mostly with the wrists.

In Daughter on the Mountaintop we start low because we are going high. (Actually, the two hands cross at about chin level.) The right-hand crosses outside the left hand no matter which foot is stretched forward. After the two wrists cross, do not point the fingers down but bring the cocked wrists downward with the fingers still pointing up until the very last moment, and then relax the wrists completely, and allow the fingers to point down as the wrists separate.

In Daughter in the Valley we start high as we are going to go low. The hands swing in a half- circle, then start up with the palms facing each other, only a few inches apart. This slow rise of the hands as they come up is all-important because of the polarity caused by the palms facing each other. We are still shifting the weight forward until the hands begin to pull apart at the top of the arc. Do not begin to shift the weight backward before the top of the arc is reached.

Carry the Ball to the Side has several important points to remember. First of all, we have our hands cupped on the sides of the ball, and the ball is curved (so the knuckles are soft). As we move to the left and do an under-swing just below waist level, we slightly emphasize the right hand, but there is no emphasis as we swing up and over back to the right. Similarly, when we later step to the right, the left hand is slightly emphasized to balance the positive leg (bent with the weight on it). As we come up and over, moving the hands back to the left, there is no emphasis.

Push Pull is done with slight emphasis on the right hand as the left leg is forward. The emphasis is on the left hand when the right leg is forward. Remember that we push out and just slightly downward going forward, then turn our hands up and come up and over slightly as the weight shifts to the back leg. Do not push hard. Keep your fingers pointing upward as you push forward.

Pulling in the Energy is done with the palms facing upward, and, as we move the hands in a circle (as we did in “Around the Platter”), we visualize the energy coming into the fingertips from the most distant star. This is a simplification of imagining the five colored Pranas (Chi) coming in through the fingertips. In India it is felt that there are five major functions of the Intrinsic Energy, called Prana, and each one has a representative color. It is not necessary to know this; just use the energy from the stars.