In last week's class, my Taiji instructor pointed out that my upper body was held too straight while performing Fair Lady Throws Shuttles in Taiji 42 Form. He said during the Taiji routine, both the upper body and lower steps should go through constant Yin and Yang transitions. In the upper body area, it means to contain and open the chest alternately.
In the past week, I have been practicing in front of a mirror to find out how I can change my upper body from containing the chest to opening it and vice versa. I found it was awkward since I had been holding my head high and back straight all my life. My understanding of the Taiji principle “Containing the chest and pulling up the back” was just relaxing both shoulders and the chest area plus Yi Nian (imagination). I guess my natural tendency even in a relaxed position is to open the chest area and straighten the back.
Today, the instructor told me to move shoulders slightly inward to achieve the effect of containing chest and pulling up the back. It seems worked. I can feel the chest area more relaxed when pulling both shoulders slightly inward.
I have been only paid attention to the steps and arms, and upper and lower following each other in Taiji practice. It makes sense that constant Yin and Yang transitions are realized by arms, upper body and lower steps in a unified way.
Here are the tips for Qi circulation during Yin and Yang transitions:
Relax both shoulders
Move the shoulders slightly inward
Neck straight
Contain the chest and pull up the back
Qi sinks to Dantian (inhale)
Qi moves up from the spine to the head crown (exhale)
2 comments:
What a co-incidence! My teacher was pulling me up for not leaning far enough into "Fair Lady Works at Shuttle" (as it's called in Wu style) at my last class. My problem is that I'm keeping my posture too upright rather than keeping my back straight; if it was straight I'd be leaning far enough forward. I also don't get anything like enough hip turn into the move which is the very essence of Wu style. By the end of the session I was doing it better but it hurt a lot more...
Andi, Thanks for sharing your experience. I think it is important to have your lower back straight in order to have your upper body straight. With the shoulders dropped, I use the mirror to adjust my posture to make sure my neck, upper back and lower back straight. The most important thing is that you have to feel comfortable and relaxed. For the hip turn, I think the lower back/hip is the command center, so it does have to turn into the posture and lead movement of the upper body.
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