Chris Chi

Wellbeing & Performance - the Tai Chi way

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Archives for June 2011

Belly Button Tai Chi

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We all the know the importance of turning your waist in Tai Chi.

Without turning your waist your posture will become disconnected and ineffective.

For a beginner it can be difficult to turn the waist because attention is usually focused on  arms and/or legs when practicing a Tai Chi movement.

My teacher would constantly say to me, “turn your waist Chris, turn your waist”.  As a beginner I would nod my head and usually forget to turn my waist because I was concentrating elsewhere.

Here’s a technique that will help get your beginner students to turn their waists more often.

If the phrase ‘turn your waist’ doesn’t work try saying ‘turn your belly button to the right (or left)’.

A single reference point such as a belly button rather than a large expanse such as the waist is easier to visualise.

So get their belly buttons turning or else they may go belly up when learning a new technique!

 

Tai Chi: Counter Balance

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Counter balance  is an important concept and skill in Tai Chi.

Without it you are in danger of toppling over. It is difficult to achieve in the hands form and even more difficult when performing dynamic weapons’ forms such as the sabre, spear and staff.

I’ll focus on counter balancing in the weapons’ forms for this post.

When you lunge forward in either the sabre, spear and staff forms you need to be aware of anchoring your rear foot so you stay balanced.

Once you have lunged forward bring your focus and chi into your rear leg and down into the ground.

If your focus is only on the weapon and the direction you are going in – the momentum of your lunge may throw you off balance.

It may be an extreme shift where you stumble or a subtle shift where you are not properly grounded with your rear leg.

The counter balance technique acts as a brake and will make your form more stable and powerful.

 

Footnote: – This technique also applies to sword forms where you lunge forward.

 

Redirect the Chi

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In Tai Chi language ‘rooting’ is the ability to connect yourself to the earth.

It’s an important skill to develop for two reasons;

  1. develop proper structural alignment and stance
  2. to redirect someone’s force against you

Let’s look at the redirection aspect.

Practicing with a partner is ideal but if this is not possible then a punching bag is a good substitute.

Here’s how I do it.

I align myself in an empty stance (one foot forward – the majority of the weight on my back foot) – in front of my punching bag.

Then I slightly push the bag forward with both hands and hold that position for a few seconds.  As I feel the resistance of the bag I relax my shoulders and elbows and redirect the force into my hands, arms, shoulders, spine, legs and into the ground.

Then I change feet and work the other side of the body.

You can do this exercise with any of the postures but I suggest you start with this simple exercise so you can learn easier.

Relaxation and proper alignment are the keys to correct ‘rooting’ and redirection of an opppent’s force (Chi).