The root of good Tai Chi is based on the footwork. 
The root of good Tai Chi is based on the footwork [1]. Rotation of the ankles, knees and hips affects the bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Shifting back and forth from one leg to another brings pressure to bear throughout the whole body. This action helps yang energy and yin energy within the body to inter-exchange. One leg has weight and is Yang (active); in the next movement, it does not carry weight and becomesYin (receptive). This shifting is something we do naturally every day-in walking for example. The more relaxed we are when we carry out this action, the more an inter-exchange of Yin and Yang can occur within our whole being. Needless to say, I am simplifying the process. There is a great deal more that happens to us as we practice the set; but at the root of all action is this shifting or in the physical sense a change of pressures.The footwork of Tai Chi is based on WU HSING (the Five Elemental Phases of Change theory). These phases of energy are present within the whole body and are to a large extent the basis for Oriental Medical theory. I use the term Oriental to mean specifically those ideas derived from classical Chinese thought. These elemental phases are: WATER, WOOD, FIRE, EARTH AND METAL. Classical thought presents these qualities as surrounding us and also present within us. It's difficult to exactly define within the framework of leg movement. I'll try to give an example that can be understood in a general way. A step forward is an action that requires reaching out; it is fire. In this fire is also wood and earth. The fire feeds off wood and creates earth or the center of action. Earth is present in root, stability and balance within the movement. The earth forges metal the striking ability. Additionally, water or smoothness of action- the way of the flow and the way of intensifying the heat of fire by expanding wood- courses its way through movement. Through this definition of the action, it is possible to comprehend the building values of the interplay of the five phases. Classically speaking, fire is the step forward. Earth is the step to the center (central equilibrium). Metal is a step to the left (also referred to as the left ear's turn to the left and gaze to the left). Water is the step back (receiving). Wood is the step to the right (also referred to as the right ear's turn to the right and look to the right). According to master Kuo, the feet are the root of our action. The step must be right for the rest of the body's actions to be correct. When the step is wrong the unifying qualities between upper and lower will be missing even if the upper body looks like Tai Chi. In movement the whole body moves. In stillness the whole body is still. The feet gather energy as they move on the ground. This energy strengthens the thighs from whence peng ching springs. The belly (Hara in Japanese and Tan Tien in Chinese) is the center of our cauldron. Here the fire is ignited which feeds off the wood in the thighs. The Chi (energy) courses through the blood with the expansion brought about through internal fire. The heat helps to open all systems throughout the body and expunge toxins so that the body can receive through the cooling Yin. It is this action that makes the balance between Yin and Yang possible. |