Movements which originate from the body’s center are a hallmark of good T’ai Chi.
These movements usually exhibit an integration of all the parts into a unified whole, with all the parts coordinating harmoniously, supporting , reinforcing, and strengthening each other. In this way it may be said that the whole becomes more than the mere sum of the parts.
For the human body in the gravity field, the spine may be viewed as the center of the body, with the hips at it’s base and the shoulders at the top. Out of these extend the neck and head, arms and hands, and legs and feet, out to the extremities. All may benefit from exercises generated from the center.
Some of the largest muscles in the body stem from the hips, at the base of the spine. These upper leg muscles turn the hips. This energy is then transmitted through spinal rotation, through the shoulders and arms and on out through the extremities, and similarly down through the legs and on through to the lower extremities.
This is usually accomplished in the lower, weight bearing structure by centering over the weight bearing side, rotating this side in balance, and passing energy out through the non-weight bearing side, out through the non weight bearing extremities.
This energy transference requires relaxed connections between the parts, and this relaxation is dependent upon one’s being in balance within the gravity field.
In simpler terms, balance allows relaxation which then allows the cooperation between the parts, engendering the integration that allows efficient energy flow and unification of the parts, that which we call Chi.
Energy Transference Through Combining Rotation and Linear Motion
A hip rotation, translated into linear motion through relaxed and stretched joints, connects outward moving energies from the center through the various parts.
Similarly, energies entering the body through the extremities may travel through the body and be registered directly within the center, without much of the filtering and delaying which often takes place when input between the extremities and the center travels through electrochemical means, as takes place in the nervous system.
Both systems are very useful, especially when they work together and complement each other.
Such terms as excellence, mastery, and even proficiency often evolve out of a productive dialogue between these two sources of real-time information.
In practical terms, this may be studied within the framework of this moving from the hips.
