The Tai Chi Space: How to Move in Tai Chi and Qi Gong - Softcover

Cavel, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1904658989 ISBN 13: 9781904658986

Publisher: Aeon Books, 2017

Synopsis

Learn the forty-two essential principles of Tai Chi & Qi Gong

This book is designed to teach the fundamentals that drive and underpin internal arts training at all levels and stages of development, not a form.

Each of the 42 principles, portrayed as images and accompanied by brief explanations, are aimed at conveying how internal arts techniques function in ways that help you embed them and feel them come alive in your flesh - regardless of the specific systems, styles or forms you train.

About this title

About the Author

Paul Cavel is the founder and principal of The Tai Chi Space, a London-based school established to teach Water method arts. Since 1987 Paul has studied Taoism, the I Ching, Five Element nei gong, medical qi gong, Yang and Wu style tai chi, Pre- and Post-birth bagua, yoga, tui na energy healing and Taoist meditation. Paul is a certified soft tissue and injury therapist (ITEC Level 4), editor of the Inner Quest journal and he holds a mechanical engineering certificate from London City and Guilds. He began teaching internal energy arts in 1995 with the encouragement of his primary teacher, after healing himself from a serious motorcycle accident.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Tai Chi Space

How to Move in Tai Chi and Qi Gong

By Paul Cavel

Aeon Books Ltd

Copyright © 2017 Paul Cavel
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-904658-98-6

Contents

About the Author, 
About the Artist, 
Acknowledgements, 
Foreword by Michael Mettner, 
Introduction, 
Part 1 Fundamental Principles: Nuts and Bolts, 
Principle 1: Cultivate the Arts, 
Principle 2: The Rule of Thirds, 
Principle 3: Become Sung, 
Principle 4: Build the Pyramid of Giza, 
Principle 5: Breathe with the Diaphragm, 
Principle 6: The Mind's Focus, 
Principle 7: Grow Your Root, 
Principle 8: Moving in Three-Dimensional Space, 
Principle 9: Arms Are Led by Hands and Wrists, 
Principle 10: Create Circular Motion, 
Principle 11: Water Doesn't Flow through a Kinked Hose, 
Principle 12: Shifting Weight Is Like Walking Upstairs, 
Principle 13: The Body Turns Like a Revolving Door, 
Principle 14: The Down Creates the Up, 
Principle 15: Move Like a Puppet on a String, 
Principle 16: Don't Play the Juggler, 
The Five Primary Principles, 
Part 2 Internal Principles for Connectivity and Flow, 
Principle 17: Warm Up Body and Mind, 
Principle 18: The Body Operates Like the Powertrain of a Car, 
Principle 19: Soften to Close, Release to Open, 
Principle 20: The Body Makes Use of Anchors, 
Principle 21: Opposites Spread Open the Body, 
Principle 22: Grow Like a Tree, 
Principle 23: The Six Connections, 
Principle 24: Tune in to Heaven Above and Earth Below, 
Principle 25: Create Balanced Openings, 
Principle 26: The Continuum of Empty versus Full, 
Principle 27: All Body Parts Move Like a Swiss Clock, 
Principle 28: Balance Yin and Yang Energies, 
Principle 29: The Body Moves in Circles, 
Part 3 Deeper Principles for Fluidity and Energy Development, 
Principle 30: Generate Internal Momentum, 
Principle 31: Turbine Power Eradicates Inertia, 
Principle 32: Swing the Pendulum, 
Principle 33: Spring the Five Bows, 
Principle 34: Unify the Yin Snake and the Yang Crane, 
Principle 35: Sinking Creates Rising, 
Principle 36: Energy Moves Fluids, Fluids Nourish the Body, 
Principle 37: Balance the Sphere, 
Principle 38: Become a Sandbag, 
Principle 39: Ride the Wave, 
Principle 40: Moving into Stillness, 
Principle 41: Gather and Bank, 
Principle 42: Postures Link into Fluid Forms, 
Afterword, 
References, 

CHAPTER 1

Principle 1:

Cultivate the Arts

Cultivating land is a progressive, cyclical process. The annual cycle entails ploughing, removing weeds, sowing seeds, watering, and trimming trees and carefully tending crops until the harvest, when the fruits of all that labour are enjoyed.

In the longer term, crops are rotated, compost is added to replenish lost nutrients in the soil from the proceeds of the previous year, and a careful balance between the give and take is always at play.

And the cycle repeats ad infinitum, always returning to the beginning and starting anew. If the land is tended with care and with the correct attitude and insight, crops can improve year after year. If the land is tended poorly, however, the quality of the harvest soon diminishes.

The internal arts are also labours of cultivation: practised to cultivate your being – that is your body, energy, mind and spirit.

Separate and Combine

The primary tool for achieving this cultivation of art and Self is the strategy of "separate and combine", which involves separating from the whole each and every component of the arts, practising and singularly embedding them in your being, then reintegrating them into the whole again. This process allows you to see each thread clearly and in its own light.

Without this directive, the various threads of the internal arts cannot become fully activated, which diminishes overall results. If each thread is weakened by not being properly developed, the synergy that occurs from ongoing training cannot possibly yield the health and longevity that is promised. So the wise student separates and combines all the individual components of internal exercises in a never-ending cycle – continuously and meticulously deconstructing and rebuilding forms anew.

Cyclic Training

The internal energy arts are famous for their application of circles, and they show up in the very spirit of training. Why? Because human beings operate in cycles, one of the most fundamental and influential of which is the four seasons. We have an intrinsic need for repetition and reinforcement; the willingness to return to the beginning again is perhaps equal to if not more important than advancing learning and self-development. So training yields the best results when attuned to our individual and natural cycles, allowing practice to evolve and adjust to both internal and external changes.

However, a circle has no beginning and no end. So, from the perspective of the Water method, you can never really return to exactly from where you came, because you, as a human being, fundamentally change as the result of your life experience – of which practice can be an integral part. But the emphasis is on the return, the deliberate act of revisiting everything that you trained before, from the most basic techniques to the most profound, over and over again in shorter and longer training cycles. By revisiting fundamental components, practice is kept fresh and alive, enabling ever deeper insights as you delve through the layers of your body, mind and qi.

Moving only forwards is a linear progression. By contrast, cyclic training transforms into a spiral, with each rotation taking you deeper into yourself and closer to your core, allowing you to uncover new meanings and gain greater clarity. And so one of the functions of the spiral reveals itself: slowly, over time, through repetition of the same techniques and principles being applied again and again, you refine your art, sink deeper into yourself, assimilate the various and seemingly paradoxical aspects of both your training and yourself, and realise more of your true nature.

CHAPTER 2

Principle 2:

The Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds states that if you are healthy and not compromised in some way, use two-thirds of your energy and effort while always leaving one-third in reserve.

If you are compromised in some way, especially if ill or injured, practise the opposite: never use more than one-third of your energy or effort, and always keep two-thirds in reserve.

When pushed beyond their comfortable limits, the body, mind and qi become strained and trigger the body's instinctual self-defence mechanisms. When activated, the nervous system pulls all parts of the body towards its centre to prevent damage.

When the nerves tighten,
the muscles harden,
blood and qi circulation constricts,
and the body learns to distrust the mind, keeping your system on "red alert".

Whereas maintaining one-third in reserve and not overloading your system is precisely what allows:

The nerves to relax.
The muscles to let go.
Stretches to sink deeper into your body.
The space in your body to open up.
Blood and qi to flood the body.
Total mind-body-qi nourishment.

This principle is the guiding rule for all training, in terms of which practices you train, when and for how long to ensure positive results in all aspects of your development.

CHAPTER 3

Principle 3:

Become Sung

Finding the middle way is one of the goals of internal arts training, to avoid extremes – which cause stress and tension, or slow and sluggish body-mind function.

Contrast the following three postures:

Western military posture: tense, hard and stiff. Too yang.
Western relaxed posture: collapsed and floppy. Too yin.
Sung: soft and relaxed, yet upright and open. A good balance of yang and yin.

Tension restricts the body, both internally and externally. But when the body goes floppy and flimsy, this too restricts bodily functions, especially blood and qi flow. So relaxed doesn't mean collapsed!

The middle way – sung – is open, relaxed and unbound, encouraging the body into an easy, upright posture for:

Optimal blood and qi flow.
Effortless motion.
A healthy and relaxed body and mind.

CHAPTER 4

Principle 4:

Build the Pyramid of Giza

... Not the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

Western military posture: feet together, knees locked, chest forward and raised, shoulders back, chin up and arm muscles engaged. This stance produces a top-heavy, narrow foundation, which is rigid and unstable.

Eastern internal arts posture: feet shoulders' width apart, knees bent, pelvis dropped, chest, shoulders and face sink downwards, spine raised and arms relaxed. This stance produces a light top (from roughly above the waistline to the crown of the head) and a heavy bottom (from below the waistline to the feet), and thereby a relaxed and stable foundation.

11 Steps to Good Posture

Proper postural alignments can be achieved in an 11-part, sequential process, working from the bottom up, then from the top down.

1. The feet are about shoulders' width apart – not less, but a little more is okay – and the toes point forward. The knees are roughly the same width apart as the feet.

2. The knees are bent but do not protrude forward of the toes. Begin with locked knees, then unlock and bend them just enough for the thighs to engage. When done correctly, the centre of the knee is over the centre of the arch of the foot. This is the correct postural alignment each and every time the knees bear weight.

3. The pelvis is relaxed and hangs off the spine. The back of the pelvis descends, which must be done without pushing the knees further forward or allowing any pressure to build up in the knees. The descent is generated by letting go of the lower back muscles, which releases the back of the pelvis to gravity. The pressure from this gentle releasing action transfers to the feet.

4. The spine rises in two distinct stages:

» First, pluck up your back, so the rising spine gently yet firmly lifts and extends all the way from the lumbar spine up to the top of the back/base of the neck (T1–C7). There is no hardening or tensing whatsoever.

» Second, the neck is empty – although not weak or floppy – with a soft, gentle rising in the spine through the neck all the way up to the skull. It is the rising in the neck that takes out any slack, like a helium balloon takes out the slack of a string when attached from below.

5. To align the lumbar and thoracic spine correctly:

» Stand with your spine touching the edge of something, such as a door, so that the prop is not in contact with your gluteal muscles (bottom) or shoulder blades.

» Make sure your legs are aligned correctly and you do not lean or rest your weight against the prop.

» Smoothly drop the back of the pelvis.

» Then, if need be, gently draw the lumbar spine backwards.

» Raise T1–C7 up and back, so that the bulk of your lumbar-thoracic spine is simultaneously touching the prop without pressure, either internally or externally. There is no expectation for your cervical vertebrae and skull to touch the prop, so don't force the head and neck in any way. The main goal is to align the spine plumb vertical and obtain the straightest possible lumbar-thoracic spine – without igniting any sense of strain.

Practising this sequence from time to time will allow you to check your spine alignment as well as your progress.

6. The head draws slightly up and backwards, so that the centre of the head moves towards the centre of the torso and pelvis – again without igniting any sense of strain. The face drops, so that the centre of the eye and ear are level on the horizontal plane.

7. The tip of the tongue makes light contact with the hard palate just behind the top row of teeth and remains in this position throughout the entirety of your practice, to link an important qi flow in the human body – the microcosmic orbit. The rest of the tongue stays completely relaxed.

8. The chest and shoulders are relaxed and drop down without collapsing or bending the spine. As they sink, they draw down energy into the belly and hips, thereby beginning the emptying of the upper body.

9. The arms relax at the side of the body and completely let go. This furthers the emptying of the upper body and begins the process of separating Heaven (the upper body), which is to remain light and empty, and Earth (the lower body), which is meant to feel heavy and full.

10. As you stand, continuously raise the spine from ming men, while continuously dropping the back of the pelvis. Whenever you adjust your spine, follow by releasing and relaxing your face, shoulders, arms, chest, belly, back muscles and tailbone. The more you develop skill with this slow, incremental release, the deeper you can plunge your root into the earth, and the more blood and qi you will circulate.

11. Safety note: don't strain the occipital area (where the skull meets the top of the neck) by applying too much strength to the rising of the neck. Relax the neck and hold up the body from T1–C7. Don't let pressure build in the lower spine or knees by sinking down too strongly. You can gently raise the spine to release the pressure. Always adhere to the Principle of Thirds when making postural adjustments to avoid injury and encourage maximum blood and qi flow.

CHAPTER 5

Principle 5:

Breathe with the Diaphragm

Breathing in tai chi and qi gong is centred deep in the belly and fully activates the diaphragm, a dome-shaped sheet of internal skeletal muscle that is responsible for breathing. There are many levels to breathing practice, with each layer relying on the previous one to take root and yield results.

However, what is important in the beginning is to spend a considerable amount of time cultivating a smooth, regular, deep and balanced breath – without sudden gasps or holding the breath between inhaling–exhaling or exhaling–inhaling.

Many practitioners make the mistake of forcing their breath to coordinate with form movements, which ultimately leads to closing down the breath and generating more tension. You don't want to fix your breath to the rhythm of your form in any way.

Let the breath be natural and easy without igniting any sense of force or strain in body or mind.

When you breathe poorly or into the upper chest, the lower organs stagnate, the mind drifts and bodily functions, such as blood circulation and digestion, are weakened. Autonomic nerve signals are responsible for these changes and respond to sensory information about whether the body is under stress, or more or less in a relaxed state.

When you breathe well and into the belly:

the nerves discharge and enhance bodily functions;
the body lets go and opens up;
sung is amplified; and
circulation and presence improve.

CHAPTER 6

Principle 6:

The Mind's Focus

The mind leads the body in practice. If the mind is not focused, practice is poor, and potential results are greatly diminished.

When you dream, visualise or space out, you do not have any awareness of what you are doing in the here and now.

Whereas, if you are present and in the moment, your mind can focus on the matter at hand, and even a short practice can be incredibly productive.

Stop and take a break if your focus becomes forced, tense or tight in any noticeable way, or the body will soon follow, and your energy will wane. Some days you might have to accept that you must do less.

Your focus wants to remain soft, relaxed and continuous throughout the entirety of your practice to cultivate the energy, vitality and health for which the internal arts are famous.

CHAPTER 7

Principle 7:

Grow Your Root

Phase 1: Plant Your Feet and Sink Your Qi

Sinking energy penetrates the ground and establishes your root.

Poor postural alignments create excess tension in the muscles and prevent qi from sinking.

Proper postural alignments allow the body and mind to relax and qi to sink.

The weight of the body sits on the feet, while the heels, outside edges and balls of the feet make solid contact with the ground. Keep the arches of the feet from collapsing as they remain free from making contact with the ground.

To plant a tree, you dig a hole and bury the roots. In tai chi and qi gong, your energetic roots grow out of the soles of your feet as your qi sinks down – no digging required!

Align your body,
relax your muscles,
sink your qi, and
grow your root.

Phase 2: Release Tension to Develop Your Root

Sinking is an act of letting go. (Let that sink in!)

Gravity pulls objects down, so when you place a stone just below the surface of the water, you can watch it sink down to the bottom as you let go.

First sink your qi to establish your root, then let your practice become deeper.

In tai chi and qi gong, relaxation is cultivated by systematically letting go of tension and slowly working deeper towards your core. Start at the top of your head and sink any tension you feel down your body, out of your feet and into the earth, like a bath emptying of water. Slowly work downwards (never go up!), releasing any tension you find en route.

As you are able to let go into the earth more and more, you will become freer, more open and alive. This process not only releases your body and circulates your qi, but also develops your root.

CHAPTER 8

Principle 8:

Moving in Three-Dimensional Space

The three planes of all internal arts motion are:

Transverse – horizontal plane

Sagittal – front–back–vertical plane

Coronal – left–right–vertical plane

The three axes of motion in engineering are:

X axis
Y axis
Z axis

Both describe motion in three dimensions and provide a framework for how to move in the space around you.

Internal arts forms are always practised in all three dimensions, otherwise connectivity throughout the body and depth of motion will be limited or lost. When lost, internal content cannot manifest in your form, and practice is dramatically downgraded.

Some practitioners believe that if they only practise their form accurately, internal content will naturally come alive. To some degree, this is true. So pay attention to detail, specifically with respect to how movements use three-dimensional space.

Tai chi and qi gong forms serve as containers for internal content:

If a container is weak, it does not contain.

The contents that the container contains are the internal techniques that generate the deeper health and healing benefits associated with tai chi and qi gong practice.

CHAPTER 9

Principle 9:

Arms Are Led by Hands and Wrists

Sung, an open and unbound state, is the underlying quality of all motion in tai chi and qi gong.

Following on from Principle 3 to generate sung, the arms are led by the hands or wrists to allow the rest of the arms to relax and release to gravity.

When raising the arms with the palms on the horizontal plane, lift from the wrists.

When raising the arms with the palms on the vertical plane, lift from the fingers.

When the arms descend with the palms up, sink the backs of the hands and wrists.

When the arms descend with the palms down, sink the heels of the palms and front of the wrists.

When the hands rise and fall, the elbows and shoulders sink at all times – even if the elbows physically rise in space. The shoulders never rise.

The spine rises and the chest sinks at all times. It is the spine that holds up the body.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Tai Chi Space by Paul Cavel. Copyright © 2017 Paul Cavel. Excerpted by permission of Aeon Books Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: Aeon Books
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1904658989
• ISBN 13: 9781904658986
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144