EXERCISES FOR ALL SEASONS: No Arms Tai Chi Form

No Arms Tai Chi Chuan Form (straitjacket), bird's eye view, front - 11/09/08 (Autumn)

No Arms Tai Chi Chuan Form

Various sources relate that Prof. Cheng Manching's tai chi chuan skills improved tremendously after he had a dream that both of his arms were cut off, or that he no longer had the use of both of his arms.

This is what Prof. Cheng's 37 Posture Tai Chi Chuan Form
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8P-ZCG1ysDo
http://youtube.com/watch?v=USJPmCZ6Efc
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sjV9bx9unxQ
looks like when I don't use my arms.

Throughout this "No Arms" version of the form, I keep both of my arms wrapped around my waist, as if I'm wearing a straitjacket.

What can be learned from doing the form this way?

Even if the arms are missing, 95% of the body is still there!

The legs and torso generate the primary power of movement, not the arms. The arms just "go along for the ride."

It is the momentum of the total body as it shifts from leg to leg and the turning power of the waist that tai chi boxing utilizes, NOT the individual power resident in the arms acting independently of the body. Arm movement is subordinated to total body movement.

The Tai Chi Classic attributed to Chang Sang Feng states:

"Sound boxing is rooted in the feet, develops in the legs, is directed by the waist, and functions through the fingers. The feet, legs, and waist must act as one."
(translation by Robert Smith, with Prof. Cheng Manching)

This is what becomes crystal-clear when performing the 37 Posture Tai Chi form without the use of arms: the true sources of power in tai chi are the weighted foot's connection to the earth; the legs, knees well-bent; and the turning waist (the pelvic girdle / kua / hip joints), which turn the upper body / torso / upright column that sits like a block on top of the pelvic basin.

The more square the shoulders are kept with the pelvis, the more the entire upper body moves as one unified block, or one turning upright column. The arms, attached to the periphery (or circumference) of this upright turning column, just go along for the ride; they transmit the turning energy of the central axis / spine.

The less tilt in the spine (forward, backward, to the left side, to the right side), the more relaxed the back muscles and the abdominal muscles. The more relaxed or "sung" the entire body, the more capable of transmitting elastic energy (jing) effectively from the foot's connection to the earth all the way to the peripheries of the upper body.

Another Tai Chi Classic states:

"Neither lean nor incline."
(Lee Ying-arng translation)

Maintaining an upright spine is crucial for this "turning column" effect to work. If the spine starts leaning forward, backward, or sideways, all kinds of tensions are introduced into the upper body which reduce the efficacy of the turning column. The central axis of the turning column ceases to be perpendicular to the ground, and can't rotate as easily.

Also, a leaning column is much less stable than a column that is perpendicular to the ground. Once a column-like structure begins leaning like the "Leaning Tower of Pisa," gravity threatens to bring it tumbling to the ground, sooner or later.

ChiGuy396

ChiGuy396@yahoo.com

**

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• ChiGuy396
• ChiKung
• qi-gong
• chi
• breath
• health
• exercise
• movement
• stretching
• balance
• TaiChi
• Taiji
• Taijiquan
• Cheng
• Manching
• Man
• Ching
• CMC
• 37
• Postures