Issue 57 - Tse Qigong Centre

In the first part of this article, we described level one andlevel two of practising Taijiquan. To begin with we just try toremember the movements. After that we need to try andunderstand the movements and although we can rememberthem, there is still a lot of stiffness and they can also beuncomfortable. This we need to try and overcome.TAIJIQUAN Part 2Level ThreeOn reaching Level Three, we are more aware of theflow of Qi and the internal movements. Any movement thatdoes not feel right you need to work on. First you must relaxand then you have to follow the principles of the movementto correct it. You must not just let it pass, any movements thathave a problem need to be worked on.The principle of Taijiquan is based on a circle. Everysingle movement moves in a circular way. The waist whichmeans the Dantian directs each movement. Power comesfrom the root, which is your legs. At this level the circles inyour movements change from big circles to medium circles.Generally, big circles can be seen in your hands andwe only see small circular movements in the waist. When wedevelop the smaller circles it means we move the waist morethan the hands. When you come to Level Three, everymovement should come from the waist. No movements shouldcome from just the hands or legs. When we consider whethereach movement comes from the waist, we also need to seeany blockages in the movement and any discomfort in thetransitions from one posture to another. At this level, it isimportant to understand the application of the movement,but this is not the most important thing. You must rememberthe most important thing is the principle of the movementand the flow. Then you can start to let the movements changefrom a big circle to a smaller circle. However, it is not theexternal movement you need to consider it is the internalmovement as the Qi flows through your body and limbs. EveryQi Magazine 13