David Chen
Resource Book of Tai Chi for Arthritis Instructor's \/Vorkshop Revised by Drs Paul Lam and Pam Kircher 22/04/2008
Essential Taichi Principals
Tai Chi is a sophisticated art with many different styles and forms. Despite the many variations of Tai Chi, its immense power for improving health and inner energy derives from a set of essential principles.
Here we present the most important ones. We've put them into simple easy-to-understand language. By bearing them in mind as you learn and practice, you'll be able to do Tai Chi more effectively right from the beginning. To see if you're following these principles, you can use a video camera, a mirror, or check with a friend or instructor.
Do your movements slowly without stopping. Make them continuous like water flowing in a river. Avoid jerky movements. Maintain the same speed throughout.
Imagine you're moving against resistance. That will cultivate your inner force (Qi.) Imagine the air around you is becoming denser and that every move you make is against a gentle resistance almost like moving in water.
Be conscious of weight transference. This is important for improving mobility, coordination, and stability. Be aware of each step of your weight transference. When you move forward, for example, put your weight on one leg while maintaining an upright posture, touch down gently with the other heel first, and then gradually place the entire foot on the ground putting more of your weight onto that foot; slowly and consciously as you transfer your weight forward.
Maintain an upright posture and body alignment. It is important to maintain the body upright, be supple and keep the body well aligned in a straight line without undue tension. This can be more challenging than you might expect, especially when you start bending your knees. Very often when people bend their knees the body alignment becomes distorted. Test with a mirror. Without looking at the mirror, bend your knees. After bending your knees, look at the mirror. Is your back in a vertical line to the ground? A good way to keep a good alignment as you do this is to imagine you're going to sit on an empty chair and bend both your knees and hip joints. Practice it with the mirror and check yourself every now and then. We have found many people don't keep a good body alignment, and are not aware of it. That is why we said it is more difficult than expected. However, once done right, your Tai Chi will improve greatly because Qi flows best in the aligned body. Hunching forward will hinder the flow of Qi, and compromise your balance and leaning backward will create extra strain on the spine.
Loosen or "Song" the joints. You should relax when you do Tai Chi, but by relax we don't mean let your muscles get floppy. Instead, consciously and gently stretch your joints from within, almost like you're expanding your joints internally. Many people mistranslated this into just relaxation, which is an incomplete translation of the Chinese word "Song". Song is both relaxed and loosened. To loosen the spine, imagine it's a string, and that you're gently stretching it from both ends. For the lower limbs, bend your knees and stretch your hips out to form an arch as if you are crouched. Other lower limb joints will gently expand from within.
Focus on your movements. Avoid distractions. Be mindful of what you're doing. Be aware of all the principles mentioned above, but think of them one at a time.