Mr. Li Jingwu’s Treasured “Tai Chi Secrets” Functional Song
- **Seek to Understand Energy through Lightness and Agility:** Yin and Yang harmonize without stagnation. - **If Four Ounces Can Move a Thousand Pounds, Master the Expansion and Contraction:** - Maintain Centering, Flexibility in the Hips, and Understanding of Opening and Closing to Achieve Lightness, Agility, Freedom of Movement, and Comfort. **Harmonizing Yin and Yang without Stagnation:** - Most people start from not understanding Yin and Yang to understanding their separation. I believe practicing Tai Chi aims to integrate Yin and Yang into one. In Tai Chi, Yin is Yang and Yang is Yin. Yin and Yang are abstract representations of opposing elements like force, movement, etc., representing direction, existence, emptiness, and solidity. Harmonizing Yin and Yang means combining neutralization and issuing force into one. For example, when a movement goes up, there’s a downward force simultaneously, like a spring that stretches has a contracting force, and when compressed, it has an expanding force. These forces coexist in one movement, allowing one to maintain centering. Understanding energy is the prerequisite for harmonizing Yin and Yang. **The Body's Main Strengths:** - The body’s main strengths come from two areas: the horizontal force of the hips and the vertical force of the spine. The intersection is the sacrum, connected by strong ligaments to the sacroiliac joint, which is difficult to relax. Most people are unaware of this area. Try using these joints when practicing Tai Chi. Only when these joints move can you achieve expansion and contraction. **Expansion and Contraction:** - Generally refers to paired body parts like shoulders, hips, and hands. Expansion and contraction also describe the Dantian, but not absolutely. The Dantian naturally expands and contracts with abdominal breathing. The limbs rotate and stretch relative to the Dantian and tailbone. This is called both expansion and contraction, with breathing and movement combined.