What you see is not necessarily what is happening.

What your mind sees is not necessarily happening in Tai Chi

Tai Chi may take longer to catch on to in part because of the differences between the muscular focused exercises us Westerners grew up with and the Traditional Chinese Medicine approach to health. Sometimes described as counter intuitive, a westerner when first approaching the art of tai chi must make mental as well as physical adjustments. Practicing tai chi is often referred to as Playing Tai Chi in traditional circles. Westerners hear the word 'exercise' and up pop images of healthy young people with rippling muscles acing the routines with every isolated muscle group clicking like a well tuned racing engine.

Eastern philosophy generally ascribes to an overall holistic approach to tai chi and health. TCM doctors will and can prescribe tai chi to their patients as therapy. In tai chi there is an efficiency of movement which tends to save energy and get better results. Eventually, practitioners of tai chi will generate huge amounts of energy by performing tai chi, especially on a regular basis. Rather than isolating the muscle groups the individual movements are integrated, or articulated, with each other to entice the whole body to contribute to what the practitioner perceives as 'the movement'.

There is the rub. What we perceive in tai chi movements is not what they actually are when we first start tai chi. We see a practitioner taking a step and then moving forward. Inside, all he is doing is providing an 'invitation' of support' by putting the front foot forward to support spiralling up on the back leg. When the transfer of body weight is complete it almost comes as a surprise because he is still standing up on the back leg when the body weight finally deposits itself on the front foot. Many only see the practitioner moving forward in Brush Knee Twist Step, or forward and backward as in Grasp Bird's Tail. Tai Chi Vertical from the feet, even on an angle

ANGLE, SIT, DIRECTION, TIMING AND BALANCE are all at work to provide the spiral up at the back and the spiral up at the front. Please notice the direction before the spiral up.

Have fun Playing Tai Chi! It's more a feeling than a regime and that is the language of holistic body.

Cliff