As we all known, Tai Chi has a very unique aspect to its practice. It combines its movements with a philosophical background at the forefront. Thus there are numerous theories about the practice of Tai Chi, for example, reeling silk, try to understand these ideas first as conceptual theories, and then apply them to your movements will benefits you a lot.

 

Reeling Silk is used as a metaphor for movement in the Tai Chi Classics. This metaphor serves to help the student understand the levels of subtlety involved in the shifting of the weight and turning of the waist. Reeling Silk should feel like a wave that moves up through your body slowly and softly from your feet to your fingers. The metaphor for Reeling Silk is simple enough, if you move or pull the string of silk too quickly, the silk breaks, or if you don't pull the silk at all, it never comes out of the cocoon. So the movements of Tai Chi must be like the movements of pulling the silk-- fine, continuous, slow and even.

 

When you move the body as one unit you will accomplish pulling the silk properly. Reeling Silk is completing the movements in a continuous flow, like a wave up your body.

 

Reeling Silk also has an aspect of movement that is specific to Tai Chi. Tai Chi combines movement and stillness. There should be an aspect of stillness within one's movement, and movement within one's stillness. Stillness should feel like the eye of a hurricane, and movement should feel like the clouds spinning around its center.

 

Central equilibrium is the core of Tai Chi practice. It is the rudder that steers the boat, and at the same time, the point around which the body revolves. In order to get more central equilibrium in your practice, use the bottom tip of the sacrum (called the Wei Lu in Chinese) as the focus point of your practice. The sacrum is the plate of bone that is at the end of your spinal column. It is connected via muscle to the two hip joints. During your form practice, try to notice the position of your sacrum in relation to the hip joints and the back of your head. In particular try to notice if the sacrum tilts or moves off the vertical line with the back of your head during practice. If it does, try to keep it vertical and stable, and then notice its relationship to your weight shifting onto the full hip joint. You can think of the sacrum as being the spade of a shovel and the spine being the handle. Whereas if you drop the spade into the ground it collects dirt, and if you drop your sacrum, you collect energy and proper alignment which is merged with central equilibrium. Although not completely necessary for central equilibrium, but related to it, is the idea of developing root on the leg before you turn the waist.