The Seventh Principle of Tai Chi Chuan “Upper and Lower Body Are Coordinated”
The Seventh Principle of Tai Chi Chuan has got to be one of the most important from a purely physical aspect. Without constant attention to this principle, tai chi looses all effectiveness. In my e-book The 10 Principles of Tai Chi Chuan for Beginners, that I give away with my video Beginning Tai Chi Exercises, I give a brief description of the Seventh Principle that’s geared toward beginners.
Upper and lower body are coordinated: Energy is brought up from the ground, through your feet and legs, directed by your waist and expressed through your hands and fingertips. For this to happen every movement must be coordinated so that each part of the body begins and completes each form at the same time. Pay close attention to timing; it’s very important.
In tai chi it’s really all about awareness of your body. While your mind always directs your movements, it’s also critical for movements to be properly timed with the upper and lower body beginning and ending movement at the same time in almost every case. In fact the very few times movement may begin in the lower body while the upper body pauses are so few they can almost be ignored, and the movement of the upper and lower body always end at the same time.
For me this is a core principle and should be part of your training from the very beginning. When I’m training I can feel when my timing is on and when it’s even a little off. It took a while to get to this point, but I think it was worth the focus.
Your thoughts, experiences?
John
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Jun 12, 2009 - 10:06:34The paradox is that if all movement is driven from the centre, it will all be correctly timed, but till you get there you have to “fake it to make it” so studying correct timing’s the way to go.
I think you’re right, you have to start teaching this from the very beginning, in varying stages, as it’s one of the biggest things for students to “get”
tannage from Taijipedia’s last blog post..Taijpedia Answers the Biggie - What is Chi?
More confused than ever on this topic. Still in the fake it till you make it stage. New topic for me to discuss with Shifu
The problem with a phrase such as “energy is brought up from the ground” is that too many beginners will take it literally and it will throw them off-track as they think there is a scientifically real “energy” coming up from the ground. Instead, it’s the ground path and ground connection they’re trying to achieve. That’s hard to explain but very easy to show, and this could be why one of the comments here says the person is more confused than ever.
How to establish the ground connection? Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and have a partner stand at your side and push straight into one shoulder. Not a hard push, but enough so that you can feel it go into the ground through the opposite foot. The problem many people have is that they tend to push back and their bodies tense, but they need to relax, sink the weight, and take the partner’s push to the ground. That’s the ground connection. This ground connection must be established and maintained at all times, and it can be manipulated to different parts of the body.
Even this is difficult to understand through reading, that’s why they say “It Must Be Shown.”
Tannage,
You’re right; fake it till you make it is a good strategy. This can confuse a beginner but once they start trying to apply this principle their body will give them the feedback they need.
John
Joy,
Confusion does seem to be a part of the process. Some things we pick up easily and others we don’t. It really depends on the person. Tannage’s advice of fake it till you make is a good strategy. Your Shifu can undoubtely help with this as well.
Good luck and let me know how you make out with this one. I’d love to hear about it.
John
Ken,
Your description of the ground path is a good one. I’m not sure however, that it adds clarity at the moment since we are talking specifically about timing.
Timing definitely makes “creating” a ground path possible. The phrase you brought up “energy is brought up from the ground” is a good one and I believe is different from grounding as you are discussing it here.
There is also the concept of “bouncing” your opponent’s energy through the ground path and back to them. This energy is real although science does not appear to be able to measure it at this time.
Showing a student something in person is definitely the best way to go, although I know you have a similar philosophy to mine. Many people don’t have access to a teacher and must rely on video, written word and photographs.
We definitely need to remember that someone had to invent tai chi in the first place and they didn’t have a teacher. I like the idea of helping a student develop according to their own desires and abilities, whether with them in person or not.
John
Not to dispute anything said above, but only to add my own two cents worth to energy coming up from the ground, my understanding of this was always that, unless you are on the upper level of a bora infested pagoda facing your arch enemy the Jade Claw in a battle to the death, the ground harbors so much energy in the form of un yeilding, solid, astro body, that can support any amount of downward energy, weather it be from a hard style stance, to the channeling and deflection/reflection of energy from an agressor through a Tai Chi practitioner, and back again.
Thats the earth supports us all, so to make use of that asset is a important thing to learn.
Oh I remember in school as well, that impact energy is in form of Longitudinal waves, that when these wave hit a solid, they rebound back and forth.
http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/Demos/waves/wavemotion.html
So in a style like wing Chun for example, you are taught to relax your punch after delivery so that the energy doesn’t bounce back into you, but stays in your target, correct me if I am wrong John, but I believe it is the same for Tai Chi when you return energy via a strike?
But on topic again,I like this blog entry, as I am learning, it is really hard to co-ordinate upper, middle, and lower body to perform in sequence on time and relaxed.
But one without the other in balance doesn’t deliver anything but simple exersize, but when it’s all in harmony it really sings.
Sheld,
In tai chi there is a moment of “tensing” or releasing energy as a strike is delivered. The fist and arm should then become soft once again, so this may be similar to what you learned with Wing Chung.
Sending energy back into your opponent does not need to come from the point of impact however; it can also be briefly absorbed and returned through another channel such as the opposite hand. I have to say though I have not as yet mastered this skill although my Master has worked with me on this a bit. My understanding may change once I am able to use this skill.
I think your description of your body in harmony singing, is a good image. When everything is properly timed and I am loose with structure, I have that kind of feeling. It’s quite nice.
Thanks,
John
It would be so much fun to train with all of you and learn from each of you first hand! Maybe someday! thanks for all the additional thoughts & suggestions!
Best of luck Joy. There is always so much to learn and there are so many sources of knowledge. I learn from my Master, my Teacher, my training brothers and sisters, my students, etc.
John
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