Inner Movement Tai Chi

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Tai chi in life

One of the beautiful things of tai chi is that everything you do can become part of your practice. Tai chi is not only the form. We can do tai chi while doing any everyday activity. Here are a few suggestions on how we can bring tai chi into our daily life.

The first and most crucial aspect is of course remembering. One cannot do tai chi automatically or by accident. It needs awareness. How can we remember to apply tai chi during the course of the day?
1. Doing tai chi in the morning helps your body to remember and retain the effect of releasing tension. The sensation may stay with you for quite some time, which can serve as a reminder.
2. Association. Through regularly associating certain activities with tai chi, you will be reminded when you do that activity - for example climbing stairs or taking a walk. Certain impressions can also serve as reminders, like a stiff back when sitting for a long time, or a feeling of impatience, etc.
3. Regular times (set a reminder) for stopping what you are doing and taking a few moments to become quiet and just breathe.

One activity that is ideal for practicing tai chi is walking. It’s something we do often, and the constant shifting of weight and repetitive nature of it makes it an ideal opportunity to apply the principles of tai chi. Pay attention to the following:
1. Breathing. Breathe to the dan dian. Imagine every breath spreading throughout your body and into your limbs.
2. Suspended from the crown. The top of the head is gently pulled up, as if buoyant.
3. Sinking. Relax the shoulders, chest, and kua, and sense the full weight of your body sinking all the way down to the foot and into the ground.
4. If the body is loose and upright, the weight on the foot, or more accurately, on the ground, will result in a reaction that can be sensed – a counter-force starting in the ground and rising through the body up to the crown of the head.
Constantly attend to your breathing, releasing tensions, and the two-directional sensation of sinking and rising.

Mental activity can likewise follow the principles of tai chi. Dealing with stress may be a good example. Envisioning pressure from whatever source as physical, we deal with it as we would during push hands.
1. 不丟不停 (Don’t waste, don’t resist) Forces coming at us are led toward our feet, to the ground, giving us stability and a connection with what is real and constant. Tensing up in response to incoming pressure gives the pressure a surface to push against, causing us to lose our balance.
2. Instead of fixing the attention on where the pressure is applied, rather mind the whole – where it originates and where you are leading it.
3. Taking a step back isn’t losing. It is learning.

The principles and practice of tai chi can be extended to apply to almost any activity – mental or physical. The form is only the beginning. Tai chi can – and should – permeate your life, and with some practice you would be able to benefit from it moment by moment, in every aspect of life.

© Francois Rousseau (Inner Movement Tai Chi)

Double-weightedness (雙重)

Double-weightedness must be one of the most misunderstood concepts in Tai Chi. Many people understand it at face value: The weight should not be on both feet. This is only partially true. Two things should be considered here:

1. The way most practitioners do the form involves the gradual shifting of weight from one foot to the other throughout the form. This means that 99% of the time, they are double weighted to some degree. This can be avoided by changing the way we shift our weight, to make it more instantaneous. (Instantaneous shifting of the weight of course does not mean a faster form. One should take all the time one needs to iron out the creases and release all the little tensions in preparing the empty leg to receive the weight, all the way to the foot. But once the weight shifts, it is like opening a tap, it gushes into the receiving leg, not trickle in little by little.) This can be achieved if we maintain a looseness in the kua and stay centrally aligned, instead of moving the whole body to and fro externally. “上下前後左右皆然 凡此皆是意 不在外面” (Up, down, forward, backward, left or right, all these are in the mind/intent, not external)

2. The second thing to keep in mind is that it is not only the weight on our feet that causes up to be double-weighted. The principle applies throughout the body. If, for example, both the left foot and left hand is full, we are double weighted to the left. This would happen if the mind is on the left hand while the weight is on the left foot. If the left foot is full, the right hand is full, and visa versa – this means there is balance. So wherever the principles of opposites and Yin Yang are ignored, double-weightedness will likely result. “有上即有下，有前即有後，有左即有右” (When there’s up, there’s down, when there’s forward, there’s backward, when there’s left, there’s right)

So double-weightedness is really a complex and subtle issue that should be worked on throughout one’s development, no matter how advanced we are. This work can guide us on our way to perfect balance!

Please share your own thoughts on double-weightedness in the comments.

© Francois Rousseau (Inner Movement Tai Chi)

Photo: Dimitri Otis / Getty Images

Modern Tai Chi Parable

Sinking, channeling force all the way to the feet, is as a person commuting to work by train. Every day, he travels the same route. He reads the newspaper, or at very best, stares intently out of the window. He gets to his destination. He reaps the benefits. It is good. Yet better it would be for him to alight and walk to work. It will be slow, so slow. That is good. He will inevitably travel the same route as he always travels by train, out of habit, yet it will be more actively and with more awareness. After some time, he will start to know the landscape. He will be able to keep in mind his destination - and start to walk like the crow flies. He will meet obstacles. He will traverse areas where time and neglect have let weeds flourish and grow dense. Pushing through them will be hard. Some of his clothing and belongings will inevitably get entangled in the growth, and it will be tiresome. He may meet more serious obstacles, like cliffs or other misalignments in the landscape. He would need to change the landscape by laboriously moving earth little by little. Yet gradually, day by day, he will beat a passable track straight to his destination. With time it will get wider and easier to traverse. With proper care and diligence, it will become a road, so straight you can see the destination plainly from the starting point. Traversing it will move to the virtual realm, as instantaneous and easy as double-clicking on the destination on google street view. He will have mastered the art of going to work.

Yet the crowning achievement is when he realizes that he hasn’t been going anywhere - but coming home.

© Francois Rousseau (Inner Movement Tai Chi)

Tai Chi Checks

Because practicing tai chi is such a long term affair, it is often difficult to know whether one is on the right path or has somewhere taken a wrong turn, or whether one is just staying in the same place. Let’s have a look at some important aspects or indicators that may help to evaluate our practice.

1. One of the main signs of a productive and successful practice session is silence. One’s state of mind should be significantly different after practice than before. The usual noise, thoughts, and dialogue in one’s head become silent, and in their place come the awareness of one’s breathing and the rich variety of sounds from the surroundings. If you feel no different after practice, if it did not alter your state of mind or involve you emotionally at some level, then you’ve probably not done it right.

2. Also an important indicator of good practice is the quality and depth of physical sensations. Some of these are a tingling sensation at the crown of the head, the sensation of tension melting and flowing down the chest and back, the sensation of the legs and feet easing into a solid, comfortable and stable position without straining. Actively guiding sensations to various parts of the body is also good practice (意到氣到勁力到). After practice one may feel as if one had a long hot bath and rigorous workout at the same time. Long term sensations would also be noticeable, such as less tension and more awareness in the body, quicker reactions, and a general sense of wellbeing.

3. It is essential that each practice should be slightly different than the previous one. If one always did the form exactly the same as the time before one would not make any progress. Focusing and working on some aspect should always be part of practice.

4. I would strongly recommend that tai chi practice be done in conjunction with push hands. Sparring is a way to check the quality of your form, to make you aware of the applications, and to increase sensitivity and connectedness between the feet and the hands. It will test your root, and it will also test your mindset. For some, pushing hands is a win/lose exercise, and if they can’t win using internal power, they would resort to brute force. This not only shows a lack of refinement, but also prevents them from making progress. But to oneself it shouldn’t matter. One has to learn to neutralize and utilize the force of an opponent. My teacher used to say that one must thank the opponent for using force – it gives you something to work with. Also, invest in loss – that is, apply the principles of tai chi even if it means losing the bout. That is the way forward.

5. In addition to the points above, there are also some things one should guard against, to avoid halting or hindering one’s progress. The first of these is overemphasizing any aspect of your practice at the cost of others. Some see tai chi exclusively as a martial art, while others as a meditative or therapeutic practice. Tai chi is all these. Excluding any aspect only impoverishes the art.

6. Avoid outward flair or “showiness”. Over-elaborate movements and flourishes of the hands serve no purpose and will only lead you down the wrong path.

7. It may sound strange, but take care not to be too serious while practicing. A heavy mind makes for a heavy body and a heavy spirit. In this regard it helps to pay attention to one’s gaze (on the horizon instead of on the ground) and one’s facial muscles. Relax the brow and try to lighten your expression.

8. Often we unconsciously approach practice as a means to an end – we practice to improve. But in tai chi, practice IS the goal. Our daily practice is what gives us everything we want from tai chi. Of course, the more we improve, the more we get from it, but there is no destination. This practice we are busy with right now is the reason we do tai chi!

© Francois Rousseau (Inner Movement Tai Chi)

Full and Empty

In the Tao Te Ching (chapter 22) we find the saying “empty then full” (窪則盈). This is quite an important concept in the practice of Tai Chi. Everyone probably knows the often used metaphor in martial art movies that one has to ‘empty one’s cup’ in order for it to be filled, i.e. to be receptive to teaching. This is of course one meaning of the saying, but there is another, much more direct and physical application of this in Tai Chi practice. Using the analogue of a pipe, we know that the pipe needs to be empty in order to let water flow through it. In the same way the body and limbs have to be empty, the joints and muscles loose and relaxed, in order for it to function as a conduit of the force coming from the feet. Tension in the muscles and joints creates a blockage that impedes this inner movement. When ‘empty’ of these tensions, the limbs and body can be a pathway for energy to flow without obstruction, and the force can reach all parts of the body – hence the whole body can be energized and ‘full’. It is often said that the body must become as if transparent when doing the form.

Also connected with this is the adage from the Tai Chi Classics: “attract into emptiness” ( 引進落空). When pushed, the force directed at the body ‘falls’ (落) down the empty pipe and lands on the ground beneath the feet, on one’s root. The opponent’s force is neutralized, and at the same time, as the force did not find the resistance it was expecting, the opponent is off balance, or uprooted. He can then be moved in any direction quite easily, especially since his force has lent weight to one’s own root. With increased skill, the force that hits the ground beneath the feet bounces back up the length of the body and is channeled back at the opponent, thus making it unnecessary to exert much force of one’s own. This is the application of the principle “using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds” (牽動四兩撥千斤).

Lastly, as with every aspect of tai chi, there is a more spiritual or psychological application of 窪則盈, empty then full. Being preoccupied, busy with thoughts or inner dialogue, or generally predisposed is an obstruction to impressions coming to us from the real world. Letting go of these mental postures and tensions creates space within us, it makes us more ‘empty’ and thus better able to receive impressions, and the energy that comes with them. Receiving impressions in this way anchors us to the moment, to reality, in the same way that receiving outside forces roots us to the ground.
© Francois Rousseau (Inner Movement Tai Chi)

Sinking

Sinking (沉 chen2) is an exercise central to tai chi which can be practiced by anyone whenever they have 5 minutes to spare, and can be of tremendous benefit to body and mind.

To practice sinking, start by standing up straight with feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent. Imagine being held up by the top of the head. Then begin with the neck and back of the head, sensing and relaxing the muscles there, feeling the tension dissolve and flow down to the shoulders. Then do the same with the muscles in the shoulders, sensing the tension dissolve/melt and flow down to the chest. Repeat this in the chest, to the abdomen, to the groin, down the legs, and to the soles of the feet. Focus your mind on each part in turn, feel the muscles loosen, and imagine the released tension flowing, like water, downward to the next part, right down to the feet. Relaxing the feet, one can visualize the weight of the body penetrating the ground, or spreading outward around you. With practice, this step by step relaxation can become smoother and more seamless, so that the sensation of tension flowing down would be one continuous movement, like a stream.

Try to maintain this downward-flowing sensation. Tension always gathers - releasing tension is a continuous task. Now, without stopping or losing touch with this downward flow, trace it back, with the mind, from the ground back up to the top of the head. An analogy could be the aerated water bubbling back up where a waterfall strikes the pool. Or in more physical terms, it is the ground’s upward force – the reaction of your weight bearing down on it. Because the muscles and joints are loosened, this force can be sensed upward through the body to the top of the head.

So there is this sensation of movement in two directions at the same time - sinking and rising. Take care not to tense up while following the latter. The sinking is initiated by oneself, but the rising should be merely an observed reaction to that. This inner two-directional movement is at the heart of tai chi. It is also the foundation of tai chi’s martial application. But it can be an exercise in itself, or the basis of any activity. This is why it is often said that doing tai chi is not limited to the form, but can be done throughout the day - while sitting, standing, walking, working, or even lying down. So, in a way, you could be doing tai chi without knowing any of the moves!

Please share your experience in the comments.
© Francois Rousseau (Inner Movement Tai Chi)

The tai chi gaze: 顧(gu4) and 盼(pan4)

Even though studying with a teacher is necessary to enjoy all the benefits of tai chi, there are some principles that can be applied by anyone at any time, even if you do not practice tai chi. In fact, most of the principles of this art can be translated to something relevant to daily life. Let’s look at a few “life lessons” we can extract from tai chi.

One of these is the “gaze”. Two of the original thirteen postures of tai chi are 顧 (gu4) and 盼 (pan4). Both are concerned with the way one “looks”, in other words, the attention, but they are different in quality. The character 顧 (gu4) is associated with a focused, directed look, as when tending to or considering something, while 盼 (pan4) corresponds more to the English word “gaze” – a wider, open and encompassing look, and has a connotation of hoping and longing.

In tai chi practice this means to tend to (顧) the movements, muscles, tension, and key areas in the body, like the top of the head, lower abdomen, palms of the hand and soles of the feet, as well as to the opponent, real or imaginary. Simultaneously, it means to maintain a wider awareness (盼) of your surroundings, to let in impressions of sounds, sights and sensations, to be there at that moment. The connotation of “wishing” or “longing” could also mean to envision the ideal – what you are aspiring to, what you wish for with the exercise.

So how does that apply to daily life? In basic terms it means to carefully tend to what you are doing, instead of just going through the motions with the mind elsewhere, and to simultaneously keep some attention in reserve to remember where you are, to enjoy being there. Doing the tai chi form, like other types of meditative exercises, one practices this attention, so that it starts to permeate one’s daily life. Tai chi’s focus on the body and releasing habitual tensions (顧), together with being receptive to impressions (盼) help us to keep a connection to the moment in which we live, to reality.

Please feel free to share your thoughts/experiences. Questions and comments are welcome!
© Francois Rousseau (Inner Movement Tai Chi)

Photo: Fu Zhongwen (1958)

For those who are thinking of starting tai chi practice, or those who are merely curious, here is a quick summary of what it entails, at least on a physical level. Attention, Relaxation, Control. These three are the fundamental principles when doing tai chi, and they are interdependent. Through attention, you are able to detect tension in your body and release it. Absence of tension in the muscles and joints means greater control, as it increases sensitivity to movement and force, quickens reaction time and allows force to be channelled elsewhere. The form (outer postures) is both an expression of this as well as a precondition - incorrect form tenses up the body and creates a blockage. The form is also designed for use in combat, so incorrect form makes it less effective as a means of self-defense. That is the physical part of tai chi in a nutshell. From time to time we will talk more about its other aspects, as well as common issues and mistakes. For the purposes a beginner, though, this will help to guide your practice, and inform your judgement when looking for a teacher. Like a tree, tai chi is hard to begin, and takes some time to bear fruit, but persevere! You will be able to enjoy those fruits throughout your life, until the day you keel over!