Rooting and Connection to the Three Energies

I was watching a youtube video the other day of a “Sifu” playing Yang style and I found myself smiling as his enthusiasm permeated his performance. I always love to see people do Taiji, who love to do Taiji.

I was going to place a comment on his youtube page but thought better of it because what I wanted to say to him could have been construed as a negative comment and I always try to promote the positive in any situation. What I wanted to point out to this player was that he would get even more out of his Taiji if he had a true connection to the energies that were available to him or at the very least, some root.

After years of study and teaching, I have learned to watch for more than just physical performance. I watch for and try to develop a student’s energetic connection on three main levels. Man, Earth and Heaven.

Man

When playing Taiji, one should become aware of, and play with, the energetic connections throughout the entire body. These are the Man connections. Spiral energy rotates around the legs, the waist directs, the hands expel. Taffy like energy is felt between the laogong points and energy courses along the micro-cosmic orbit.

I always get a kick out of watching new students play with a chi-ball for the first time!

I watch their faces as they slowly pump their palms towards each other and if I have prepared them properly, invariably a few of them stiffen up and look around the room with surprised expressions. Even if they don’t say anything out loud, I can hear their thoughts, “what the heck is that!”. Hahaha

Earth

Without a true connection to Earth energy your Taiji will be weak and your Taijiquan with be nothing more than a distant goal. You’ll be like a young sapling that can be uprooted by even a child. Watch some videos and concentrate on the player’s connection to the ground. Do they look like they could be pushed over at any time? Can you see the Earth energy rising up the body, spiralling through the waist coming out through the hands? Do they start and end each form completely rooted? Most players have spent all their time learning the movements of the forms and have neglected the connection to earth. They are without root and it is a foundational imperative.

Heaven

The most challenging of the connections. I watch whether the player has a floating quality while performing the forms. A graceful floating appearance is partly due to suspending the head (as if on a string being pulled up to heaven), but true grace comes when a player is just following the Qi as it is led by Yi (the mind). The floating appearance manifests due to the player not having to “do” anything. This quality is rare to see and I would suggest that it is one to watch for in others as well as cultivate for oneself.

Peace

Rod