What is Tai Chi: A martial art that uses the mind to lead the and the Qi to move the body.
There is a proverb in the East that says that people live with a breath. This Qi refers to the vital energy that maintains our life. The vital energy is born in the kidneys and stored in the Dantian. The Qihai point in the lower abdomen refers to the ocean of vital energy, and the Guanyuan point refers to the place where the vital energy is locked, which generally refers to the Dantian. In daily life, the vital energy will circulate in the body on its own to ensure the continuation of life, but this movement is very slow.
Tai Chi Qigong (a system of deep breathing exercises) uses our thoughts to command the vital energy in the body, let the vital energy obey our will, stimulate the movement of the whole body and limbs, and perform twisting and beautiful boxing postures according to different routines.
Specifically, Tai Chi Qigong is produced by the movement of the Dantian, and the movement of the Dantian is consistent with the breathing of the lungs, but it is not the same thing. The inward retraction of the Dantian is the inhalation of Yin, which gathers the vital energy of the whole body into the Dantian; the outward protrusion of the Dantian is the exhalation of Yang, and the vital energy is emitted from the Dantian to the whole body. Therefore, breathing and yin and yang in Tai Chi are consistent.
Since then, the secret of Tai Chi has been revealed. It is in the center of our body – Dantian. The power of boxing is the vital energy in Dantian. The vital energy produces yin and yang through the movement of Dantian. The changes of yin and yang determine the movement of the trunk and limbs, and all this is done through the command of the mind.
The best feeling of Tai Chi is the unity of heaven, earth and man. Take the inhalation and exhalation of the starting posture as an example: when inhaling, the earth’s air is inhaled from the Yongquan acupoint, and combined with the vital energy in the body to rise with the mind, and the spine is pulled and stretched. Then the feeling is to hold the chest and pull the back, empty the neck and top strength, and turn to exhale after the air reaches Baihui. The mind combines the air of the universe with the vital energy in the body and descends from Baihui, then sinks the shoulders and elbows, relaxes the waist and sinks the hips, and the air sinks into Dantian, while the turbid air sinks into the soles of the feet.
Tai Chi is the foundation and core of Tai Chi. The process of boxing is actually the process of standing and moving. Through long-term practice of Tai Chi Qigong, our body will become a small Tai Chi. When practicing Tai Chi, the Dantian Qi rotates and sways according to the conversion of Yin and Yang, and moves up and down and left and right continuously under the command of the mind, urging the body and limbs to complete various routines of Tai Chi. At this level, it means that you have entered the stage of understanding strength.
The reason why Tai Chi Qigong is magical is that this method can participate in the redistribution of human energy, change the energy running route with Qigong, and clear the meridians where there is pain, so that energy can reach the lesion directly, bringing oxygen and fresh blood. The infected blood is replaced by fresh blood, and the inflammation disappears, so that the place where Qi is stagnant is no longer blocked, and the place where blood is stagnant becomes invisible, and the diseased part of the body is repaired. This is the principle of Tai Chi Qigong for curing diseases.
Qi is the teacher of blood, and blood is the mother of Qi. Qi depends on blood for nourishment, and blood depends on Qi for circulation. It explains the relationship between Qi and blood, and also explains that Qi exists in the blood.
One is: Qi and blood are sedimentation. When people do the big top or stand upside down, their faces will turn red after a while.
Second, the qi and blood expand. When people are exercising, the internal temperature of the body will increase, and the temperature of the blood will also increase, which will cause the blood to expand.
Third, the qi and blood will be released to the weaker places along with the pressure. When people are exercising, such as running, their faces will turn red. Due to exercise, the blood temperature and pressure increase, and because the muscle strength of people is very huge, the increased blood pressure cannot be released into the muscles, but will be released upwards, that is, the face where the muscle strength and pressure are small, so it will cause the face to turn red.
Fourth, the qi and blood have permeability (patency).
Qi to the arm:
When the shoulder joint of the arm is loosened, the arm will slowly feel heavy, and then the arm will gradually feel heavy and expanded, and the more you practice, the stronger the feeling will be. Exercise increases blood pressure, and because the body is loose, it becomes more permeable. In addition, due to the effect of blood sedimentation and the fact that the palm muscle strength is weaker than the arm muscle strength, blood will move and release in the direction of the palm, so the palm becomes red (same as the principle of blushing when running.
Qi to the lower limbs:
After the arms are trained to produce qi, the body’s qi is trained.
When the body is trained, it begins to feel like a balloon filled with water in the middle of the chest, which suddenly bursts and the water inside slowly melts down. When it melts to the lower abdomen, it is what Tai Chi calls qi sinking into the dantian. When you get to this point, when you do the movements, your stomach will rotate with the movement. After the lower abdomen is trained, relax your hips, and the qi will feel loosened to the legs, and then it will be trained to the soles of the feet.