Hips And Waist Turns

Getting beginners to turn their hips and waist when practicing boxing drills in Tai Chi is not easy.

What usually happens is they tend to use upper body and arm strength to power their punches instead of their waist and hips.

As this post is for beginners I’m only focusing on using the waist and hips and not on using the whole body to power a punch. That’s another post for later on.

In this drill you can work with a partner holding a hand mitt. If you haven’t got a partner, improvise – hang up a towel or a drape to use as your target.

Here’s how to do the drill:

1. Hit the hand mitt a few times with your left and right fists without turning your hips or waist. Focus on how it feels. Do it slowly without power
2. Now hit the mitt and turn your waist – left strike turn left hip and waist to the right – right strike turn your right hip and waist to the left
3. Count out aloud, 1-2, as you turn your hips and waist for each punch
4. Focus on the 1-2 count so you do turn your hips and waist
5. After awhile use a silent 1-2 count

With practice there will be no need to count as your hips and waist will automatically turn as you punch.