taichi montclair-10 essentials

A Few Comments on the 10 Essentials of Practice
By Holly Sweeney-Hillman

The 10 Essentials of Practice make for somewhat awkward reading. It is important to remember that Chinese is difficult to translate into English and particularly when translation is required for references to anatomical structures, somatic perceptions, posture and mind/body unity because cultural perspective has a huge impact on word choice in these areas. However, these principles of practice are what make Tai Chi distinctive from other exercise systems and we will reap health benefits from following them.

A Tai Chi class without reference to the principles of practice is really not a Tai Chi class, so the 10 Essentials are indeed essential. As a student progresses in his Tai Chi studies, his understanding of the principles will continue to evolve and his ability to embody these principles will continue to improve.

The 10 Essentials give you specific recommendations for constructive use of your body and mind when you are doing Tai Chi. These recommendations give you goals for your practice and will help you deepen the benefits that of your Tai Chi practice.

Upon first reading, these principles may seem esoteric and unappealing. Don’t give up. The teachers at the Yang Chengfu Tai Chi Chuan Center of Montclair will help you understand the 10 Essentials and how to utilize them to improve your Tai Chi practice.

Yang Chengfu’s Ten Essentials of Tai Chi Chuan Practice

Recorded by Chen Weiming, translated by Jerry Karin, edited by Holly Sweeney-Hillman

Empty and lively, the apex is energetic. This principle means the posture of the head is upright and straight and the spirit is infused into its apex. You may not use strength. To do so makes the back of the neck stiff, whereupon the chi and the blood cannot circulate freely. You must have an intention which is empty, lively, free and natural. Without an intention which is empty, lively, pushing up and energetic, you won’t be able to raise your spirit.
Hold in the chest and pull up the back. The phrase ‘hold in the chest’ means the chest is slightly reserved inward, which causes the chi to sink to the dan tian. The chest must not be puffed out. If you do so then the chi is blocked in the chest region, the upper body becomes heavy and the lower body light, and it will become easy for the heels to float upward. ‘Pulling up the back’ makes the chi stick to the back. If you are able to hold in the chest then you will naturally be able to pull up the back. If you can pull up your back, then you will be able to emit a strength from the spine which others cannot oppose.
Relax the waist. (In Chinese thought, ‘the waist’ tends to be regarded as the space between two vertebrae rather than a circle girding the middle of the body.) The waist is the commander of the whole body. Only after you are able to relax the waist will the two legs have strength and the lower body be stable. The alternation of empty and full all derive from the movement of the waist. Whenever there is a lack of strength in your form, you must look for it in the waist and legs.
Separate empty and full. In the art of Tai Chi Chuan, separating full and empty is the number one rule. If the whole body sits on the right leg, then the right leg is deemed ‘full’ and the left leg ‘empty’. If the whole body sits on the left leg, then the left leg is deemed ‘full’ and the right leg ‘empty’. Only after you are able to distinguish full and empty will turning movements be light, nimble and almost without effort; if you can’t distinguish them then your steps will be heavy and sluggish, you won’t be able to stand stably, and it will be easy for an opponent to control you.
Sink the shoulders and droop the elbows. Sinking the shoulders means the shoulders relax open and hang downward. If you can’t relax them downward, the shoulders pop up and then the chi follows and goes upward, causing the whole body to lack strength. Drooping the elbows means the elbows are relaxed downward. If the elbows are elevated then the shoulders are unable to sink. When you use this to push someone they won’t go far. It’s like ‘cut off’ energy rather than the ‘whole body’ energy of Tai Chi.
Use intent rather than force. When you practice Tai Chi Chuan, let the entire body by relaxed and extended. Don’t employ even the tiniest amount of coarse strength which would cause musculoskeletal or circulatory blockage with the result that you restrain or inhibit yourself. Only then will you be able to lightly and nimbly change and transform, circling naturally. If you use intent rather than force, wherever the intent goes, so goes the chi. In this way – because the chi and blood are flowing, circulating every day throughout the entire body, never stagnating – after a lot of practice, you will get true internal strength.
Synchronize upper and lower body. In the tai chi classics, it is stated that energy is lead from the ‘root’, which is in the feet, developed by the legs, controlled by the ‘waist’ and expressed by the hands and fingers in a single, continuous impulse. Hands, waist, legs and gaze all move together. In this way, upper and lower body are synchronized. If one part is not moving then it is not coordinated, or synchronized, with the rest of the body.
Match up inner and outer. What we are practicing in Tai Chi depends on the spirit. If you can raise your spirit, your movements will naturally be light and nimble, your form agile, moving from full to empty, from open to closed. When we say ‘open’, we don’t just mean open the arms or legs; the mental intent must open along with the limbs. When we say ‘close’, the mental intent must close along with the limbs. If you can combine inner and outer into a single impulse, then they become a seamless whole.
Practice continuously and without interruption. Strength in external martial arts is a kind of acquired brute force, so it has a beginning and an end, times when it continues and times when it is cut off, such that when the old force is used up a new force hasn’t yet arisen. In Tai Chi, we use intent rather than force, and from beginning to end, smoothly and ceaselessly, complete a cycle and return to the beginning, circulating endlessly. ‘Moving strength is like unreeling silk threads’.
Seek quiescence within movement. In other words, seek stillness in movement and movement in stillness. When you practice the form, the slower the better! When you practice slowly, your breath becomes deep and long, the chi sinks to the dan tian and there is no constriction or enlargement of the blood vessels. If the student tries carefully he may be able to comprehend the meaning behind these words.