In Tai Chi Chuan, it’s of utmost significance to keep up stability naturally and relaxed whereas working with the gravity and with out combating it.
“Sinking” has to do with this.
And Central Equilibrium has one thing to do with it as properly.
You have to sink down your energy, all the best way down the legs to the only of your ft, whereas sustaining the integrity of the centreline. I like to explain this as letting the gravity stack your physique from down and up.
You see, the frequent individual will maintain up the physique through the use of tensions within the higher physique. Tensions in locations as within the chest and within the neck. To maintain stability, she or he, will preserve this stress within the higher physique whereas shifting across the stability in small factors beneath the ft. Thus their higher physique has energy, their ft have weak spot. Their stability is compelled and unstable.
The energy of their higher physique is made up by tensions. The stability of their ft is compelled.
That is the “frequent” approach individuals stand, stroll and transfer round, in each day life, each day. Every single day, the entire time.
In Tai Chi, nevertheless, you’ll achieve one other kind of stability. You’ll do that by actively and consciously releasing the stress within the higher physique and the legs, whereas letting your legs and ft care for the burden of the entire physique, and whereas letting your complete ft keep flat on the bottom.
This isn’t the identical as rooting. Letting the energy sink down whereas stress-free the legs and ft is just the start of understanding rooting, the fundamental prerequisite to develop actual roots.
However to grasp actual stability, don’t overlook to get a great sense of the vertical alignment, and find out how it feels to keep up the vertical centreline.
Whereas preserving alignment, gravity is necessary. Don’t attempt to stand up, stretch or really feel tall. The physique will care for this and allow you to stand erect by itself should you simply permit it to. Within the Tai Chi classics, it’s mentioned that you need to really feel like “the pinnacle is connected to a string above”. However that is additionally one thing, a sense, you’ll be able to obtain simply by letting gravity work via you physique with out forcing the alignment.
So you really want to belief your physique to care for the gravity by itself. Once more: This may outcome within the gravity stacking your physique aligned by itself, from the ft and up.
By means of your apply to chill out and to drop down your energy right down to the ft, you’ll achieve a pure stability and regularly develop rooting. And later, when you might have developed this, and if individuals attempt to push you, they are going to really feel like they had been pushing in opposition to a sturdy wall or in opposition to a mountain.
In contrast to them, you received’t preserve your stability by holding it up utilizing tensions stored within the chest. As an alternative, even when they push in opposition to your chest, it’s your ft that they’re making an attempt to push. And your legs. As a result of your stability, and the energy of your stability, shall be organized from the only of the foot, aligned and linked, up via the leg.
You received’t must pressure any of this stability, the power to turn into unmovable. The pure alignment via working with the gravity and not in opposition to it shall be sufficient.
As a bonus, here’s a New Years present to you: An excellent illustration of how one can work with alignment and gravity. Working with your personal physique via the stillness in standing, as properly in motion whereas working via the postures of your kind isn’t very totally different from the ability you see right here. I hope you’ll be impressed.
Please discover extra inspiration in your Tai Chi via this weblog by this video with one other balancing act: