Teaching Awareness of Chi Grounding

T’ai Chi Chih (TCC) practitioners have told me that they think the “close” position is just an ornamental pose Justin created to divide the movements; they say it is a “static” position and are impatient to move on to the next movement. Nothing could be further from the truth! I ask them, “Does electrical current need to be grounded?” “Of course,” they say. “Well,” I respond, “Chi is composed of yin/yang, or positive and negative energy, as is electricity; after you circulate and balance the Chi with the movements, you must ground it for the same reason.”

I experienced the power of ungrounded Chi years ago when I had a student who wished to become a teacher. She had taken many classes and had great potential. But she couldn’t ground her Chi: her body would shake violently when doing TCC. I told her, “If you can’t ground the Chi, you can’t become a teacher.” One day, when she was shaking hard during practice, I held her feet to the ground. Immediately, her circulating Chi transferred into my energetic body, and I went into spasms of pain. Hearing about the incident, Justin admonished, “Don’t you ever touch an ungrounded person again.”

To illustrate the importance of grounding, I use a photo of lightening (negatively charged) striking Earth (positively charged). Grounding rods are set eight feet below the Earth because it takes that depth to dissipate the negatively charged cloud energy into the positively charged ground. In TCC, the movements circulate and balance the Chi, but of equal importance is the grounding of Chi. I ask students to imagine roots growing down eight feet from the soles of the feet for just this reason.

Once, I practiced next to a new teacher. After she finished each movement, she would ground for about two seconds, then straighten her knees and move her feet around restlessly as if she were being bitten by ants. When she severed the connection to the ground, I heard/felt a snap as the Chi flow broke. Shocked, I turned my head and looked at her in disbelief. She performed this pattern after each movement. The power of TCC comes from the flowing of Chi. The grounding position is part of this flow. In his first textbook, Justin said to hold the grounded position for 15 to 20 seconds.

To illustrate the grounding and movement principles in TCC practice, I use a photo of a kelp, an ocean plant whose roots deeply embed in the rock below the sand. The body of the kelp, its trunk and leaves, sway effortlessly back and forth with the weight-shifting water current.

There is an additional benefit to holding the grounding position mindfully: The Earth’s 0.1 Hertz geomagnetic frequency meets the soles of the practitioner’s feet. Earth’s frequency is about the same frequency as our brain, heart, and cardiovascular system when we are in a meditative state. Therefore, when we ground the circulating Chi, we are also interacting with the Earth’s meditative frequency. My youngest brother, who is a physicist, noted, “It appears that we evolved from Earth’s vibration.”

There are three reasons I emphasize the grounding position when teaching and practicing TCC. First: moving from a grounded awareness does a superb job in allowing the Chi to descend. Second: the awareness of moving from rooted feet guides the student in the pace of the movement, given that full weight shift is required. Third: keeping the mind in the roots of the feet fosters one-pointed concentration, which greatly enhances the opportunity to experience Cosmic Consciousness. Justin was fond of quoting the Buddha’s famous saying: They who keep their minds in the soles of the feet cure one-thousand ills. And as TCC practitioners, we experience the truth of what Justin told us: Wisdom and energy are not two different things.