Tai Chi itself is designed to meet the needs of different people, different ages, different qualities, and different training stages, and is divided into three training methods: high stance, medium stance, and low stance. The stances taught by different coaches also have high and low, rising and sinking, and wave-like movements during the entire practice process. At the same time, there is a limit to practicing low stance. In addition to the kneeling and coiling steps, the angle between the thigh and calf in the horse stance and bow step must not be less than 90 degrees. If it is too low, the gear will swing and become sick.

But these do not mean that there are any disadvantages in practicing low stance. Especially for young people, practicing low stance boxing is definitely good for strengthening the lower body.

As we all know, many famous boxers followed their teachers’ instructions and practiced low stance Tai Chi boxing in their youth. They all affirmed that practicing low stance and low stance would produce kung fu. There is a legend that they practiced boxing under a square table when they were young, such as the famous Tai Chi boxer Mr. Wu Tunan.

According to the author’s experience of inheriting the teachings of his predecessors and still practicing low-stance Tai Chi for more than 40 years, low-stance Tai Chi has its unique advantages. Now I will summarize the benefits in the following aspects:

  1. It is conducive to loosening the hips and relaxing the hip joints, which is conducive to exercising the flexibility of the waist and hips.

Human mechanics tells us that the range of motion of the hip joint can directly affect the flexibility of the lower limbs. The hip joint is a ball-and-socket joint. If you want to increase its range of motion (increase its range of motion) and strengthen its stability, you must work hard. In addition to kicking and leg pressing, which are conducive to hip joint training, it should also include low-stance training and low-stance training.

  1. It is conducive to moving the center of gravity downward, stabilizing the lower body, strengthening physical strength, and improving physical fitness.

The reason why the tumbler is not easy to fall is that the center of gravity is at the bottom. One of the ways for the human body to maintain stable balance is to often move the center of gravity downward. Because the center of gravity moves downward, it is conducive to using the rebound force of the ground. Human mechanics tells us that the more force a person applies to the ground, the greater the reaction force the ground will exert on the person.

At the same time, when practicing low-frame Tai Chi, the knee joints must be bent and the center of gravity moves down, which can buffer external forces and play a protective role. Lowering the center of gravity of the human body strengthens the combined force between the person and the ground, and the stability is strong. Therefore, if the feet are equally separated and squatting in a low position is more stable than standing up. The higher the center of gravity, the smaller the combined force between the person and the ground, and the lower the degree of stability. On the contrary, the lower the center of gravity, the greater the combined force, and the greater the degree of stability. In addition, in daily life and labor, no matter whether the human body pushes, pulls, hits, lifts, or lifts various objects, it usually takes a squatting posture first. In sports such as long-distance running and high jump, the starting posture is to squat first. It can be seen that practicing low-position boxing to strengthen the lower limbs in daily life is definitely beneficial to enhancing people’s physical strength.

  1. When fighting, it is beneficial to bend and stretch, and to be low and high, which is convenient for dealing with the enemy.

Some people say: “You practice low-position, who will take a low position in a fight?” In fact, practicing low-position does not mean that you must use low-position when fighting. The boxing theory talks about “bending and stretching” and “looking up makes it higher, looking down makes it deeper”. If you don’t practice low postures and only practice high postures, then once you encounter an enemy who takes a sinking posture, you have to bend, kick your hips, lean forward, or stretch your hips and lean back, and it will be difficult for your waist and legs to “show magic according to the enemy’s changes”.

Fourth, it is conducive to the practice of “empty above and solid below” in the way of health preservation.

The ultimate goal of Tai Chi is to maintain health and fitness, so it has always attached importance to the practice of internal strength, and the focus of internal strength practice is to achieve emptiness above and solid below, that is, to relax the mind, sink the internal qi (true qi), sink the qi into the dantian, and overcome the phenomenon of “worrying” internal qi surging and floating. Practicing boxing in a low posture is conducive to the relaxation of the mind and qi from the outside to the inside, which is definitely beneficial to health preservation. Especially for people who are a little older or those who engage in mental work, they are often solid above and empty below, “heavy head and chest tightness, weak waist and legs”, and it is said that “people get old first from the legs”. If you pay attention to leg and pile training, you can prevent this state from happening. And low-stance boxing is just a kind of live pile training. Many coaches have said that low-stance boxing is equivalent to live pile training. It is said: “The immortals left a recipe for fitness, and opening the crotch and lowering the hips is the best.”

Practice tells us that practicing low-stance Tai Chi is of course a very difficult training method, very strenuous, and it is not as good as standing to save energy. Therefore, those who are afraid of hardship and those who always want to be lazy when practicing boxing will find it difficult to experience the good fitness effect brought by low-stance boxing, and they will find it difficult to accept the above view. In fact, practicing high, medium, and low stances can be suitable for each person, and it is completely voluntary. And no matter whether you practice high or low stances, you will receive different degrees of fitness effects. The problem is not to belittle others with your own prejudice, ignorance, or because you are afraid of hardship.

In addition, I also make the following suggestions to those who insist on practicing low stance: pay attention to the need to do a series of warm-up exercises before each boxing, including leg stretching, leg leaning, leg kicking, knee rubbing, step rotation, waist rotation, and low stance exercises, and switching the center of gravity when blocking the downward arc, etc., to ensure the safety of the knees. In my personal experience, these warm-up activities often take up more time than the boxing time.