Absorbing, and spinning out of the way of an incoming energy...

Used appropriately, with absolute perfect timing, this half spinning manoeuvre by the defender can be a great defense to a partner's straight arm punch. It leaves the defender in a great position to counter another attack because the defender will end up facing the blind side of the aggressor's body. The defender can also mount an offensive strategy (which could be the most appropriate defense). Adding a step forward after the stabilized end position, the movement can be a repetitive practice for developing a smooth transition into a variation upon Part the Wild Horse's Mane.

Remember: when practicing with a partner,  the one who advances makes her movement precise, clear, strong and keeps the speed of the movement  consistent through many repetitions. Later on, she can disassemble the variables and play.

Let's dissect the movement.

1. neutral position: relaxed, rooted

The pelvis is the level platform that shifts from side to side through the function of the ball joints in the hip. The ground, legs and pelvis are a parallelogram. The level pelvic platform supports the spinal column  naturally with the least effort. Starting from a neutal position, shift  the weight from the centre point-vertical line-midpoint-between the knees to the the left leg/foot. The weight shift goes totally through the point of support which must be directly under the Centre of Gravity: in this case the left foot. 

Now, it is most important is to sense the central pillar about which the body rotates. You the viewer of these pictures can be the cooperative partner-aggressor, who will smartly approach with her right fist,  right arm horizontally extended at the blue shirted fellow, wanting to 'walk through'  blue's right shoulder. If Blue doesn't move, you the viewer will knock him over, so....Blue shifts his weight to his left foot which becomes Blue's new centre of contact with the ground.

Blue swings the rest of his body through a vertical axis which is his left foot. His left hand and forearm rise up to meet the viewer's incoming right fist. Blue's left hand/forearm is NOT A HARD KARATE -LIKE BLOCK (because there are no blocks in tai chi), but meets, contacts, and rides the incoming movement of the viewers right arm/fist, absords and neutralizes it. Blue maintains a safe personal space...a non contact space between his own left arm and his chest...and allows the viewer's arm to penetrate the space that Blue's right shoulder no longer occupies. Can't touch what's not there!

2. left hand/arm begins to receive incoming right fist

3. right hand/arm moves into tickle position 

Blue's left foot/leg is a maypole, around which Blue's hips/upper body spins.  Blue's right foot retreats behind the body and gives the spiral manoeuve the torquing power to shift the length of the right side of the body out of the way. Of course all these actions are acting in a perfect world simultaneously, so even the rotating momentum which raises and stabilizes the left arm into a receiving position... perfectly times itself... to absorb the incoming energy.

4. all the weight on the left foot, toe points forward

5. the rooted body: right arm in tickle position. receiving palm
faces inward, back hand faces outward

The right hand is the only part of the body that Blue must physically lift and place into position. The movement of the body spiral swings the left arm into its dynamic position to receive the viewer's incoming right arm. Blue's right hand is in tickle position. What does that mean? Tickle position? It's a good idea to actually move the right fingers. Loosen up. The right hand can protect the left elbow, further defend against a secondary facial attack, be in position to apply a press....the possiblilities are many.

Finally, the two of you can swing from left side to right side back and forth...tick/tock....tick/tock....tick/tock. 

Notice the forward foot points ahead,
the back foot has swung behind
in a semi circle and points approx. 45 degrees

And now look at a swing back/right avoidance: same movements but around a different center of gravity and the right leg becomes the maypole.

In play, it's really important to be relaxed and rooted in the neutral position.

If you have an expectation that your partner is going to touch your right shoulder with her right fist, and in your mind you are setting up a swing left/rear avoidance, and instead she sneakily approaches your left shoulder, you will get stuck in the middle trying to go both ways at the same time. (Of course, she's not supposed to do this in initial practice, but this is playtime!) You thought that your thinking, your mental preparation, your 'setting of the muscular gain' would gain you a momentary advantage in reflex reaction time. Now you have to release motor neurons on one side of your body before you can activate the other side to avoid her approach. Way too slow. You are caught in a  motor neuron chaos.

So, each time, start fresh in a neutral position: relaxed and rooted. No expectations.

Of primary importance: the 1st walking exercise

Walking Forward

neutral position: standing feet shoulder distance apart

weight shifts as you pick up the right foot

The placement of the feet sets up the alignment for the structure of the form. To pick up the right foot, you must place all the weight of the body onto the left foot. Imagine you are stepping down onto a step beneath the level of the grass. The relaxed arms fall toward the weighted side of the body : sense the different distances that the relaxed hands are from the body.

As you pick up the right foot, sense how the ankle plantar flexes and lengthens...there is no tension holding the foot at an acute dorsiflexed angle (a right angle). All the weight is on the left leg.

lifted foot lengthens as it falls into plantar flexion

foot begins to dorsiflex 

The distance (not the diagonal distance) between the two feet we can call the width of the railroad tracks, about shoulder distance. The left foot always lands upon the left track, the right upon the right. Because left and right foot move symetrically, neither foot lands in the middle of the track. The diagonal distance between the two feet we can refer to as the length of the stride.

foot dorsiflexes before the heel touches the ground

The heel lightly touches the ground. Pretend it may be thin ice. Will it support you? No? Yes? Then roll the weight onto the right foot. Stabilize the weight between the two feet. This we call rooting. You are stepping on steps below the level of the grass. Down there somewhere!  Some systems weight the difference between the front leg and the back leg 70% front/ back 30%;  As in Aikido, Master Henry Wang in Comox does 50%/50%. There are benefits and deficiencies to both. The big toe of the lead foot, in this case the right, points exactly in the direction of the eyes, forward: toward the (target) point to which you are moving toward.

testing the ice with the right heel :100% of the weight is on the left foot

70/30 or 50/50...rooted!

foot rotates out 45 degrees

Now that your weight if firmly rooted, lift the ball of the foot up enough so that you can turn the foot 45 degrees. You have to pull your weight back slightly from the ball in the direction of the heel to pull the ball of the foot up off the ground.

Now step down into the rotated right foot and lift the left foot off the ground.
Following the same process, point the left toe in the direction of the eyes. The right foot will now be pointing 45 degrees. That angular placement of the foot stabilizes balance and is the foundation of a wall that cannot be moved by an inward coming force.

movement repeats sequence with the left foot

If you close your eyes, and walk toward a target, 15 steps down the line, you will be facing the target. If your feet move off the tracks to the left or the right, you will be walking to the left or the right of the target. Pretend you are walking toward the moon, place each foot precisely. If you are out a centimetre on the ground, the NASA engineers will be disappointed as you miss the mark of the moon by kilometres.

Thinking while you are walking? A no-no!!!! Everytime a thought arises, use the distraction as an opportunity to place your attention MINDFULLY on how the body moves. RELAX. Notice how the hands in the pictures are suspended from the shoulders...no innate tension holds them away from the body. Nor do we use the arms for balance...that is the responsibility for the centre core muscles.

Walking Backward
If you were walking on almost cured cement, the step marks you left walking forward could be used exactly again for walking backward. More on walking backward next blog. 

Benefits of short forms over long forms

right arm wind up

left arm wind up

right mid position

 left mid position

left end position

It's useful to compare some of these duplications of movement...throwing an object with the dominant and non dominant hand. The start, mid and end positions of the left side throwing and the right side throwing are almost the same. Some variation exists because of different weighted rocks. The most significant change will be the balance. The torquing force of the throwing arm will wind its way down through the body to the forward stabilized leg. Look at the knee in this picture.

With practice, the non dominant side of the body can almost duplicate in dexterity, smoothness, rhythm and strength...but never quite. It's no wonder that in the pro baseball, hitters who can switch sides are a much valued commodity when thrown against a same-side pitcher. Look at these juggling pics...there is almost an equality between the two sides of the body...but not quite!

Notice the shoulders are relaxed and the posture is stable despite whatever hand is manipulating the balls.

These manoeuvers require a lot of practice to perform effortlessly on both sides of the body.

Now, a movement suggestion to improve your tai chi would be to stand in front of a tall wall and toss and catch the ball overhand and underhand at a designated target. Have fun. Give attention to ease of movement and especially balance. At the end of the movement, does your balance feel stable?

Now how do all these movement/pictures  apply to tai chi short and long form? In the experience of this practitioner, short forms are usually practiced left side and right side of the body. Long forms aren't.

Throw that ball against the wall again with your non-dominant arm. Throwing and catching does wonders for  hand/eye coordination. Hurray! You are growing neural networks that will be used for solving problems in math, in science, in the arts. That's the reason you should be practicing both sides in your form. Challenging the non-dominant side of the body not only improves defensive/offensive strategies, there's a whole lot of sprouting going on in your brain! If you listen carefully, that cellular growth might sound like your popcorn machine on overdrive.