Miscellaneous

Flow

Watching tai chi performed usually makes a strong impression on people

- and on dogs. The slow flow of movements seems unreal, as if a person

has been taken by a winding stream and mindlessly goes with the flow

totally detached. A dog will realize that something unusual is going on

and will try to break into the stream and wake you up from your trance. A

human will suspect that you are deeply concentrated in a world apart.

Like a shaman communicating with the spirits.

Others, who do not know you are practicing tai chi, might suspect that

you are a mad person, especially if you practice alone. I once

experienced this when I was practicing in the Bois de Boulogne near

Paris. A police car drove slowly by and stopped to check.

So don't bring your dog, but some friends.

From inside the practitioner the view is usually less spooky. Ideally you

are in a meditative flow, aware of the changing balances of the whole

body, aware of the pulse of the surroundings. You are at ease, not going

anywhere, being in your space.

Breathing

In tai chi breathing is usually not trained in a formal way. You breathe

deeply into your stomach without full expansion of chest and shoulders

as this would make you vulnerable in a fight. This light, but deep

breathing is supposed to be spontaneous and to regulate itself.

However it is a rule that outgoing action is accompanied and reinforced

by exhalation, and the return to centre is accompanied by inhalation.

Awareness of this rhythm is also a part of learning tai chi.

Sometimes an outgoing movement is followed immediately by another

outgoing movement. Then you have to administer your breathing to the

best effect. Often the exhalation would accompany the first or the most

powerful action.

Light or heavy?

Should you emphasize lightness of movement, a relaxed letting go of

your weight, an uplifting energy, the emptiness that your opponent will

meet, or should you emphasize grounding, solidity, sinking to connect to

the root of your power that will be needed to move your opponent?

Obviously the answer is both. Your footwork should be nimble so that

you can always present the yin side to your opponent, but the lightness

comes from the ground, from accepting and dropping your weight, from

pushing up centre from the ground like a spring.

Hips and Core

In tai chi movements the hips and core of the body is usually kept as a

stable basis and channel of the energy. The curve of the spine is

straightened somewhat, the butt is tucked in, the pelvis positioned as a

well balanced bowl. If you push or pull something heavy you will

automatically align like this. Also when turning using the big muscles of

the torso to move a heavy load by centrifugal force you must keep the

alignment steady