Developing Circularity

Circularity is a big deal in the internal arts and it gets talked about a lot. But when you go to practise your form, there’s a lot of complexity involved — not just with the choreography, but also neigong: e.g., bending and stretching, turning and twisting, opening and closing, qi and fluid flows, etc.

The mind can easily become fixated on one or more aspects, and circularity goes out the window. Without circularity, your form will have many starts and stops and the continuum is lost. This generates inertia, which reduces the flow of blood and qi in the body.

If you do not do something to specifically focus on circularity, then your forms will always include inertia.

Circularity obliterates inertia because, when you are truly moving in circular fashion, then you will never stop and start. This allows your nerves to release and physical tension to dissipate. The movements naturally sink deeper in the body as a result, and you can use less effort in your motion, powerfully circulate blood and fluids, and bank and reserve the qi you generate.

What You Will Learn

In Lessons 1-12, you will receive step-by-step guidance on the seven circles of tai chi, which train the body how to move in circular fashion, on all three planes of motion:

• Sagittal – front-to-back, vertical plane (think of the wheels of a bicycle).

• Transverse – horizontal plane (think of a table top).

• Coronal – left-right, vertical plane (think of window wipers on your car).

All three join together to manifest deep circularity within the body to generate smooth, continuous motion—the continuum.

The 12 classes culminate in a short set that you can train as a solo practice for the purpose of embedding circularity to a depth in your body that naturally transfers to your other tai chi, qigong and bagua forms.

Archive Course ACCESS

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