I am very grateful to my teacher for the work he did in making this video. Over the years of practice and training students I have discovered a few other methods and observations that can be used for the training. In Classical Tai Chi the basic walk is done with the knees
slightly bent and remaining so. When practicing the first lesson of Classical
Tai Chi Walk one should first look to stretching the neck up. Students
should also check that they are not watching the ground to see if their feet
are correct. Check the position of the feet in one of the
exercise methods we outline below wherein the student will stand in
one spot. The position of the legs can also be checked in this “one
spot” method, thus making sure that the thighs line up when the student sits
back, or the knee does not go over the front toe when the student leans to the
front. As the student progresses they
should find they are automatically stretching the head up and looking forward
as well. This is an important part of the “lean” forward posture
where unless checked a student will watch their feet. When one “sits” back, the
body should be vertical and perpendicular to the floor
As training progresses, the student will keep the body
weight back when they are dropping the foot. It is a sign of a
perpetual beginner to have the body weight lurch when the foot
takes a step. The foot pushes down until it is completely flat on the
ground then used either to pull the body forward or back. Until
the foot plants firmly the body does not move and hence the body moves in
a pulling from one weight shift to another. One wants to
learn to recognize,then end, any kind of rocking action with either lead
foot as the weight shifts. I show this
“rocking” in my class by students pulling me by the arm AS my lead
foot is being planted, then pull me AFTER my lead foot plants. This
also holds for stepping backward and plant the foot by actually touching the
heel to the floor first. Eliminate the rocking action that occurs
with stepping onto the ball of the foot. I will also have them do the same
comparative movement. They readily see the instability of
rocking the foot as one is shifting the weight vs. “planting” the foot.
Students who do the basic walk for a while will not
stand up when they lift the leg to take a step. By “standing up”, I mean that the weight bearing leg does not
flex and straighten itself. This type of flexion will result in the
student bobbing up and down as they walk. Or what might be called a
kind of duck walking . To do the walk correctly, the bend of the
standing knee will not change as you lift the other leg, whether moving
forward or backward. I have my students lightly touch a wall as they
move, so lightly that the fingers gently slide as they walk. I tell
them that if they are aware enough, they will actually feel the hand move up
and down if the “standing” leg is bobbing up and down as they walk. Another
technique I recommend is to put a piece of tape on a mirror at the level of
one’s head as they stand with knees bent. Students
watch the top of the head as one walks toward it. Do
not bob up and down and keep looking
forward while not watching the ground. The top of the head should not
rise above the tape as the student moves.
Another use for a wall, post, kitchen counter, etc., is
to isolate the walking practice into a few basic walking steps. The
first advantage of this method is that one does not have to worry
about their balance. In the beginning, students will inevitably be overly concerned
with balance and not able to concentrate on the real movement itself. With
holding on to the wall or post, at least the balance problem takes care of
itself so one can give full attention to the actual practice and training
of movement. In a first step, the full planting of the
foot while holding the pole will make it less likely that the body lurches
forward. Additionally, the student can check their posture in either
lean or sit back positions because they can take an extended pause
with no concern for maintaining balance. Is the rear end tucked in,
is the neck stretched up, is there a continuous stretch from top of head to
bottom of heel, etc. ? In this one position, one
should just slowly deliberately shift the weight from front to back while
pausing to do the self - check in each posture.
Another method one can use for these exercises is to do numerous continuous
walking steps while sliding the hand along a wall. This method
is slightly different from my teachers which as I iterated involves holding a
support without moving the hand. I teach students to practice
different exercises while using both methods. The “holding” onto a support is
very useful for lessons that involve the training of core movement to move the
body. Students doing this can do many repetitions where they
can contract the lower abdomen or tan tien area to move the body either front or
back and shift the weight by pulling. Eventually, one learns to feel
the contractions of the abdomen engage the lower back, buttocks, legs and feet,
etc. I tell students who struggle with feeling the contractions
engage with other muscle groups to simply “pull” with the legs. Or as Mike
Fittipaldi who is also a teacher put it, to “pull with the knee”. That
is the way that I started out as I gradually began to learn not only to
contract the abdominal muscles but also to learn where they contract, how
it felt and how to engage the other parts of the body.
One other method I use for “core contraction” training is to
have students simply sit in a straight back chair with one foot slightly in
front of the other. I then tell the student to contract the muscles
of the lower abdomen while leaning the upper body slightly forward. From
the “lean” position, I then tell students to contact the lower abdomen while
pulling the body back to a straight and perpendicular sitting position. Like
the “holding” onto a support while one stands, this sitting in a chair method
can generate many, many repetitions to train such core contractions and body
movement. The student thinks and feels what sensations are
happening and to look for such things as engagement with the feet to coincide
with the pulling action. One can also gradually learn to detect engaged muscle
groups such as the back, buttocks, etc.
Another component or method for training the walking is
to hold the support, take a couple of steps either forward or
backward and pause at each juncture. Of particular significance at
each “pause” is to check head stretched up, and a stretch from top of head to
bottom of heel. However, an additional check is made
on how well the rear end is “tucked” in with both the forward lean and sit back
postures. For the forward lean one still has to try and tuck
in the buttocks. For the sit back posture, one also has to tuck in
the buttocks. In the lean of course, one will not fully
tuck under the buttocks as much as one can when sitting back. I frequently point
out to beginners how important the tuck is. To illustrate this I
have them move to touching a wall with the backs of their body. With
their legs straight and not bent at all they see they can run their hand
through the curve in their lower back between the back and wall. Then
I have them bend the knees and tuck in the behind while feeling the same area
of the lower back. With their back to the walls I can also have them
practice the “one step” method of shifting the body back and forth numerous
times. When they pull back, I urge them
to see which part of the back will touch the wall first. If the shoulders or even the head touches the
wall first, the obvious correction is to tuck in the buttocks fully. The lower back near the sacrum should be
touching the wall with no other portion of the back in contact. These types of additional practices
besides breaking down the various components of walking thus enable students to
practice the most difficult portions of the walking.
