Tai Chi’s Basic Rules

We are going to introduce Yang style Tai Chi to you, from outside look it is a none stop gentle soft flow, but the practitioners’ inside is fully awake, every cell is alert, listening intensively and carefully. So if there is an opponent tries to attack you, if you are a Tai Chi practitioner, every cell in your body is ready to response, so your response is a lot more concentrated and powerful.

If you are wondering how to stay outside soft and inside alert, Yang style has two phrases for it: 中正安舒，translating into English would be centre the body, quiet the mind and make inside comfortable.

The body is always balanced, and engaged in a natural way: the way how the body was designed upright, comfortable, and rotate freely. All Tai Chi movements and stances are teaching us how to use our body in a natural way, allowing the body to move freely with ease and grace.

It is whole, when one part of the body moves, everywhere adjusts to to fit the movement to finding the new centre.

Our Body’s Natural Alignment

The neck is upright, chin is parallel with the floor you are standing on.

The shoulders to be loose and heavy, the elbows to be drooped.

The chest to be loose and relaxed, bending inward slightly to allow the back’s protection.

The back is stretched and straight, allowing the spine to express its shape, relax your body, can you feel your spine? How do you align yourself that would place your spine in a comfortable position?

The waist is naturally loose and straight.

The bottom cheeks should be restrained; a feeling of it is squeezes and forward, or a feeling your tailbone is tacked in.

The hips are parallel with the floor, a straight level, not one hip higher when you swop your legs and walk, thought keeping them loose and flexible.

The knees should bend naturally and softly, if you can keep your hips level with the ground all the time, you will find your knees are naturally soft bend when you walk, when you think about how your spine is designed you would naturally bend your knees slightly too when you standing.

Your whole body is pushing upward by the earth below your feet, and the top of your head is pulled by heaven.

The Benefit of Practising Tai Chi

The purpose of Tai Chi was for kung fu fighting, won battles using least effort. It wasn’t for health, peace of mind, relaxing, improving sleep, preventing diseases, better relationships on and on, but these benefits all can be achieved by practising Tai Chi.

Now people using Tai Chi mainly for health benefits, for we are going to learn it as it was created, so by learning it the way it was used for, we are going to know how to fight people if they ask, and win with ease and grace.

So the benefit in our Tai Chi Learning will be–

preventing diseases

strengthening our body and improving healing process

increasing concentration and productivities

defencing

improve life in all levels, like quality sleep, balance, peace of mind, joy, social life…

Why Tai Chi Does So Much For Us?

It is because it helps us to connect ourselves deeply, getting to know ourselves better and only when we know ourselves better, we can give what we need, and only when we know ourselves better, we know others better, so it will improve our relationships.

Why We learn it for fighting?

Because we want to do the movements right as the way they were created so we know what we do is right.

Tai Chi is an art that emphasises saving effort when hitting people, so sensing and following the component’s force to use for oneself is the essence of Tai Chi fighting, such comes the saying “moving a thousand catties with four ounces”. We need to get to know the lightness and agility in body movements, the body movements can be corrected one by one, light and free, and achieve one place moves all parts move along, and one part doesn’t move so is the whole body. Up and down, left and right follow each other, and you are all powerful in front, back, left and right. And you can achieve perfection.

In short, when the practitioner sees the opportunity and decides to strike, the whole body must be completely unified: the traction is on the top, the transportation is on the chest, the storage is on the legs, and the control is on the waist, all is released.

The energy originates from the heels, from the feet to the legs, and from the waist to the fingers. It must be a complete movement without any interruption.

One must possess five bows in order to be able to accumulate energy like a bow and release energy like an arrow.

Strength is accumulated by bending, and the strength of the whole body lies in the whole body. And to exert strength, you must focus on one area, identify the right point, and be targeted.

It is a way of living, a healthy and natural way of living. The more we do it the more we will be in tune with our higher selves, the better we will feel and better we will do on earth, once we connected with ourselves deeply, we can connect with those around us with ease and grace. Nothing in the universe is separated from everything else, let Tai Chi helps us to connect.

Love and Appreciation!