The Tai Chi Walk

Every martial art system has its own unique way of moving and placing one foot in front of the other. In Tai Chi and Tai Chi Chuan we call it “Tai Chi Walking”. And in THE WAY TAI CHI SYSTM © our approach is unique. Tai Chi Walking takes a very tai chi approach and is nonimpact, gentle and graceful. If you think about it walking should be one of the most natural things we do. Most of us have been walking almost all of our lives. However, many have learned walking in an indiscriminate way. Because walking is natural, it is not hard to improve it to the point where it becomes a moving meditation and it improves our health at the same time. For Tai Chi practitioners, walking provides an excellent opportunity to enhance, perfect, and strengthen the Tai Chi principles we learn in class and bridge the gap between our formal practice and everyday life itself.

Tai Chi Walking is a form of movement that integrates the principles of an ancient discipline that has been practiced in China for centuries focusing on improving the mind and body together while teaching the foundational movement principles in the martial art itself. This form of exercise can be practiced alone or combined with other aspects of your Tai Chi practice, depending on personal liking.

The goal of Tai Chi walking is to gently exercise the body while improving posture and gait by being mindful as the practice. In Tai Chi walking, the body weight is very deliberately transferred from foot to foot (weighted to unweighted/ empty to full), with the focus being on the creation of a smooth, even gait resembling flowing or rocking motion, rather than trudging along. This gentle shift of weight encourages people to use all of the muscles in their legs as they walk, and it is said to stimulate the flow of chi, or qi, the life-force of the body all around the body and through the legs. As a general rule, the gait is slow, smooth, and very rhythmic. Tai Chi Walkers are encouraged to think of their bodies as being very light, placing each foot deliberately and firmly, yet lightly on the ground as they walk. By being conscious of the body as it moves, individuals can become attuned to things going on both inside and outside of there being.

General guidelines:

Your walk should be performed in a slow motion with every step noted as significant, being carefully balanced - just as if you were walking on thin ice. All movements should be slow and at a smooth pace, with no pause between the steps; there is a free flow to the movement. This develops a sense of secure balance, and gives a deep sense of being rooted. However, your body weight should be shifted from one foot to the other in a very distinct movement, but not clumsy or stiff in THE WAY TAI CHI SYSTEM © this is created with the rocking we speak of in class. This assures not only stability of the body but agility during changing of the steps. Furthermore, it reduces the possibility of muscle cramps and general tiredness in the legs- something that is carried into your Tai Chi forms. You must walk like a kitten, light yet firm and surefooted. Your torso should stay upright without any bobbing of the head and shoulders, aligning the three (and we speak of four) dantiens. This is determined by maintaining a constant knee bend, though not very pronounced, throughout the stepping. The knees act like the shock absorbers on a car. When you walk you look forward and downward, not staring but focused and aware; we see without looking using peripheral vision. Remember to sink your knees downward and allow your body weight to shift appropriately with each step. Breathe slowly and naturally into the lower abdomen. And like with the practice of your forms place the tip of your tongue on the upper palate or roof of your mouth, circulating the orbits as necessary.

Tai Chi Walking:

From the starting position, shift your weight to the left foot and move the right leg forward with your toes pointing to your angle 1. Place your right heel only onto the ground first to root and allow the ball of your foot to follow. Gently rock forward on the right foot but do not extend the right knee beyond the toes (your dantien does not go past the knee) and rock back onto the right heel lifting the toes. As the toes com up rotate the body to 45 degrees to angle 7.

Gradually shift your body weight into the left leg and lift your left leg, half-mooning forward and repeat the process with the left foot first to angle 1 then angle 5 respectively.

Continue this back and forth as you walk forward across the ground.

In Tai Chi we do not drag the feet along the floor; we lift the feet.

The Tai Chi Turn:

1. When you are ready to turn (for practice purposes we will discuss a 180 degree turn) begin by stepping forward with your right foot like you have been. But instead of turning to angle 7 (45 degrees) turn the foot inward on the rock and become pigeon toed. You should feel like a cork screw.

1. Transfer your body weight into your right leg. At the same time twist your hips anti-clockwise to follow the direction of the right foot (the more pigeon toed you are the more the turn creates a 180 degree turn).

1. Pivot the left heel outward through one-hundred and eighty degrees and set it down at your new angle 1. You should now be facing the way you came.

1. Transfer your body weight into your left leg and continue walking like before. (this can be done with the opposite foot as well with respect to the appropriate angles.

You should feel that you are almost lifting yourself off your feet; that you are as light as you can be and that it is only your feet that can tell you if it is safe to go forward. All movements should be slow and at a smooth pace, with no pause between the steps.

-sifu

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