Building a Tai Chi Body

The correct practice of Tai Chi Chuan transforms both the body and mind, to create what Is called the 'Tai Chi body'.

So, what is a Tai Chi Body? Simply put it's the ability to absorb and transmit force, develop integrated whole-body movement and power, and to isolate parts of the body to dissipate incoming force. To be able to empty the body and to become light but also heavy. To root or connect to the ground to generate power. The ability to stick and follow the opponent and to have the sensitivity and listening skill to react to changes made by the opponent. Most importantly the ability to build a physical frame/shape with the body with the correct structure for you to deliver all the above through. 

I like to think of the Tai Chi body as a spinning top or a rotating sphere which can rotate in all directions to absorb and redirect incoming force or to project force away. The building of the Tai Chi body begins with the Jiben-gong (basics) correct form practice, zhan Zhuang (Standing Practice) and many of the auxiliary tai chi exercises. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, guidance from a good teacher and lots of practice.

To further build and to test the progress of this transformation we have several two person exercises. These exercises are designed to test the progress of your solo practice and to see if the body has all these connections and capabilities, and to what degree. The exercises start off soft and light with the intensity increasing as the level of the practitioner increases. The feedback gained from the two person exercises informs on how well your form practice is developing and the overall level of your Tai Chi.

The process of going back and forth from the solo and two person practice and working on the feedback gained helps to condition the mind. The idea is to be able to understand the two person exercises and their relation to form practice, and to become aware of weaknesses to understand what one needs to improve. Over time through continuous practice in this way the actions will become natural and automatic, with the mind being conditioned to perform the actions correctly as part of the subconscious.

The video below demonstrates and explains some of these two person exercises and is taken from one of my online workshops. The exercises are not to be confused for martial applications although there will be some cross over to all aspects of Tai Chi Chuan. To join my online or physical classes and workshops check out the following link https://www.patreon.com/taichispace

Does your Tai Chi system have similar two person exercises to test and develop the Tai Chi body?