One of the most difficult things for new students seems to be using the waist to drive movement, and sometimes it seems just moving the waist at all is a challenge. I think Yang Chengfu may have missed the boat on this one because he didn’t include it with the 10 Principles of Tai Chi Chuan. In fairness though, he was pretty darn good and you would probably learn to use your waist if you did everything else right anyway.
The thing to remember, and practice of course, is to use your waist to drive your movement. The waist turning drives the turning of your front foot in the bow stance. It moves your shoulders and your arms, providing a clear pathway for the energy and providing power. There are many drills that can help with turning the waist and it’s a good idea to practice at least a few of them on a regular basis.
When turning the waist, allow your shoulders to “go along for the ride”. Most of the time new students focus on turning their shoulders. Over time though, with enough practice and drills, we learn to use the waist to turn our shoulders. It helps to think of your upper body as one unit, and when the waist turns it moves the shoulders. In the not too distant future I’ll record a video showing a drill for practicing turning the waist. Until then, don’t turn your shoulders turn your waist!
What’s your waist looking like these days? 
John
P.S. I found this pic here: http://fortifyservices.blogspot.com/2009/04/does-not-play-well-with-others.html
Leave A Reply (4 comments So Far)
The comments are closed.
anthony morrison (6 comments)
621 days ago
This is very good exercise for waist. By the way now a days my waist has been covered with so many fat so I am looking so fatty and my waist looking so shapeless because of this fatness.
John Crewdson (479 comments)
614 days ago
Anthony,
Although I do ask what your waist is looking like these days, I was really referring to the movement of your waist. It’s not about seeing the waist; it’s about feeling it. How’s yours feeling?
John
elad (1 comments)
466 days ago
First of all I want to say that I just stumbled across your blog and it’s realy exciting for me to see someone writing and thinking about tai-chi in this way. Thanks
Second, I find that “using the waist to drive the movement” is misleading. I think that the point is to use the whole body as one, and moving the waist is a derivative of that. A problem I often see both in my tai-chi and with other students is that the waste moves independently of the rest of the body – and that is simply not enough.
Moving the waist is dificult for many new students and training it is important, but sometimes I tell them to imagine a line coming out of the middle of their chest and use it to keep their hands in front of their body. This way they have to use their waist in order to move but they can learn to conect their waist to the rest of the body.
best,
Elad
John Crewdson (479 comments)
464 days ago
Elad,
Yes I do agree that the whole body has to move as one unit. But I do think the movement must come from the waist. You’re right, it is difficult for beginning students to get this.
John