Last Saturday evening, at the park with the Astronomy club and our telescopes, we had good weather for the first time in a few weeks! No rain, not too many clouds or too much wind! A church group had joined us to view Jupiter, the Moon, and other celestial sights.
In conversation one of the group asked me about T’ai Chi and I gave an impromptu demonstration of the Walk and the first moves that begin the Form, and also demonstrated the methods of teaching the Form and the principles.
The Walk, Relaxation and Shifting the Weight
(Watching the videos on the 'Video' tab, in the
Home Page helps here a lot.)
- In the beginning we stand relaxed with our hands and arms at our sides, our feet parallel and maybe a foot apart. First we raise our Right leg from the knee until the Right toe is just touching the ground. We then straighten the knee and lower the leg until the heel touches the ground, keeping the weight on the back foot, and bending the back knee enough to keep the balance 100% on it as we lower the Right toe, flattening the foot on the floor. At this point, both legs are parallel from hip to knee.
- We then shift our weight from the Left to the Right leg by turning our Right hip forward and to the left, leaning forward and bending the front knee, bending the back ankle and maintaining a straight line from the back ankle through the back knee, hip, spine and top of the head, leaning forward until the weight is balanced on the front leg and foot.
- As the body is brought back to vertical and the Left hip comes forward, the Left knee raises and straightens. The straightened Left leg then lowers to the ground with the weight on the Right side and the Left hip forward and unweighted.
- We then repeat the first moves, shifting our weight forward 100%, back and forth as we move forward by rotating our hips 45 degrees back and forth, Right, Left, Right. Each step always in balance, always moving the unweighted side while balancing totally on the unmoving, weighted side.
- The backwards walk may be learned and practiced in the same way, in the opposite order.
The movements all originate from the center of the body and and some of it’s largest muscles. This center is the spine, with the hips at the base and the shoulders across the top.
Since we are never out of balance (Always balanced on the weighted side), We are able to totally relax without ever being out of balance or falling! This relaxed body state allows all the parts to work together without the muscle tension that creates energy blocks between the joints.
For example, if my shoulders are tense, this tension disconnects the extremities from the powerful strength and healing available from the core (spine, hip and shoulder muscles).
Just as a group of people working together may work much more effectively than those each working alone, The separate parts of our bodies (or any other organism) can function more effectively as well!
Simply put, 1) Shift your weight from side to side with each step, 2) Always move the unweighted side while balancing on the unmoving weighted side, and 3) move from your center (out of which extend your legs and arms).
We begin with the leg movements, that are more difficult to change, as they are supporting our weight.
Habits
When we first learned to walk, we learned to first fall forward and then to catch ourselves. We were constantly out of balance and tensing up in order not to fall. By now those are some very strong habits. These may require lots of time, patience, and effort in order to change them. After all, we don’t want to fall!
The bad news is that changing these strong habits takes time.
The good news is that as we are able to change them, this can gradually change not only how we move, but also how we feel and think, and possibly allow us to outgrow many earlier limitations, things we might have accepted before we knew better…
First Lessons
In the beginning of the form there is a lot going on. We are moving our hands, our feet. Shifting our weight, changing direction, turning from our hips, paying attention to our movements in a new way… It can be a bit overwhelming.
In order to begin this process we may break it into smaller steps. If this is still too overwhelming, we might break each of these steps into even smaller steps.
In China, for very advanced students, often for those who wish to teach, private, or “indoor” lessons might be offered to particularly promising students. When the Chows came to the West and began teaching, they offered this to all their students. It requires much patience, but offers training at a very high level from the very beginning. As my friend Carol, that I teach with, said, “T’ai Chi is not for everyone.” The Chows would only teach this “Step by step” (Square) method for several months before teaching the “Continual” (Round) form that is commonly taught.
I teach both from early on, recognizing that us Westerners are double plagued, by both a lack of patience, and by a lack of the tradition and culture that Chinese students might bring to the mix from the very beginning.
Step by Step
The first lesson begins with the Principles, such as balance, relaxation, and moving from the center. It also covers what Mr. Chow called the Standards, including that the feet are usually parallel and begin under the shoulders, the elbows are dropped down and bend 45 degrees, making a right angle (one might put a book in the angle). To demonstrate, for defense, placing the hands not too close, where they might be pushed into you, or so far from you that they might be pushed out of the way.
Then the beginning movements are shown and followed, step by step, and then done without a model to follow, so that the student goes home having at least once having practiced the movements on their own before leaving the class.
From the very beginning, I also have the students watch, then follow the continual form through the beginning movements in order to get a feel for the flow, and perhaps the energy that is generated, whether one feels it or not.
At this point, after a lengthy attempt at creating a verbal description of the movements, I found that this would not help at all.
I suggest you go to the ‘Videos’ tab on this website Home page in order to see some perhaps useful examples of the Square and Round Form.
Best Wishes to All,
Dan
