The Essence of the Torso in Taijiquan

By Sifu Yeung Yun Choi

The essence of the torso is the movements of the spine, and self-stretching of the spine is the essence of Taijiquan. This is why it is emphasised that practitioner should maintain the spine erect during practice and return to the erect position after moving or issuing power with the spine. Very often practitioners overlook the concept of "relaxed and extended" as applied to the spine. Maybe it is too delicate for beginners and fails to conceptualise the importance of stretching the spine. The aim of this article is to explain some of the technicalities involved in the torso.

Taijiquan emphasises that the head, back and lower back should be straight. This is consistent with the three curves in the spine, cervical, thoracic and lumbar. Keeping the spine straight is simply relaxed and extended. In order to stretch the spine effectively one must pushes upward and at the same time relaxes the hip and thighs so that the torso can sink downward. This will produce two opposite forces on the spine pulling it more effectively. One can notice the effect of "chest relaxed and abdomen is firmed", and some can even feel the lifting of the groin. In this case, Yin is sinking down and Yang is pushing up, and both actions achieve a state of Yin Yang equilibrium. This state is also a state of springiness, neither stiff nor soft.

The concept of harmony is very important in Taijiquan because it is relaxed and yet extended in order to produce the effect of springiness. It is not possible to stretch out without relaxing the muscles; it is not possible to produce the kind of tension that is required in the state of springiness without relaxing and extension. This is a process to relax the muscles so that the joints and tendons might be pull to be loosened. This is why Taijiquan is a dynamic self-stretching exercise that has an impact on the tendon and bone tissues. This is quite the opposite to other form of exercise that builds up muscles concentrically by shortening muscle fibres.

Some practitioners find the concept of "Song" confusing because this Chinese word can mean relax, slack, loose, flabby, and flaky. Maybe the example of a sponge cake would help practitioners to understand this word better. It is soft and yet raised up, and it is not something soft and floppy. Sponge cake in Chinese is "Song Dangao" or sea cotton wool like cake, there may be some confusion in its literal meaning but in usage it is very clear. "Song" is associated with usage like untie a person, become less crowded, degree of tightness, elasticity, relax one's efforts, etc.

There is the confusion in using the shoulder instead of stretching the back muscles, as there are artists who can efficiently use the shoulder to generate force. This is an example of not using the back muscles but can be noticed clearly with reference to the head and shoulder movements. The head tends to move forward, pushing the chin to the forward position, shrugging of the shoulder, and stiffening the chest and neck muscles. This is why Taijiquan gives emphasis on pressing the shoulders downwards in order to use the back muscles efficiently.

The contraction of the shoulder muscles will also cause the facial muscles to contract. The emphasis in Taijiquan is to relax and stretch out the facial muscles as well. This is the concept of "like smiling but not smiling" which advocates the facial muscles should be relaxed and extended in the direction of smiling but not fully extended like giving a big smile.

Care should be taken in keeping the head erect with the chin pushed slightly inward to maintain the throat and chest relaxed. To check correctness is to stretch the head upward and the shoulders pressed downward to the extreme with y little impact of the throat and chest, this should be considered as the correct position. It is also suggested that the tip of the tongue should be touching the palate to draw saliva during training and the mouth slightly open.

The chest should be relaxed to facilitate the movement of the ribcage, so that it may pull to open and compress to close depending on the motions of the spine. The chest muscles are somewhat passive in order to maintain flexibility. The chest and the upper abdomen play a very important role in neutralising an incoming force by generating various circular motions. In fact the mid section divides the chest and abdomen and is the waist line in traditional Chinese clothing and not the line above the hip line as in Western clothing. This has confused many people because Taijiquan emphasises that "movement is dominated by the waist", and obviously it should be dominated by the chest and the abdomen.

The abdomen should remain firm because the weakest part of the torso is the waist and twisting of the waist will result in overbalance. The firmness of the abdomen will connect the chest and hip together to reduce twisting. With the mid section as the prime mover, this will drag the hip and shoulder to move in co-ordination.

With a firm abdomen, one will be more sensitive to the internal movements of the bowel such as whether the bowel is being pushed down to the lower abdomen, pushed up to the upper abdomen or to the side, etc. A simple test of whether the lumbar is straight or not is to check whether the bowel can be pushed down to the lower abdomen or not. In most cases, when the lumber section is bent backward or forward tension will be formed on the lower abdomen to push the bowel upward instead of allowing it to drop down.

In Taijiquan, "power comes from the spine" and this saying states very clearly that the spine initiates power. Stretching the back muscles will cause the spine to bend forward, stretching the abdomen muscles will cause the spine to bend backward, and in fact the various combination of the muscles will cause the spine to bend in any direction.

The tension that is maintaining the spine erect should be there at all times in order for the spine to spring back to the original erect position or to another action after issuing force with the muscles of the torso. Without this action of springing back, the issuing of force will became stiff when muscles are stretched to the full. The issuing of power in Taijiquan is coined as a kind of "explosive force", as it is a sort of return to normal after a bang.

The Yin Yang effect is very clear in the issuing of power; the back muscles are intensified and the abdominal muscles are relaxed, or visa versa. The action of the spine should be like a bow with movements in both ends when bent to produce maximum power.

The movements of the torso are very delicate and one should learn with care, otherwise it would be difficult to visualise the concept of "moving the torso instead of the hands". It is not that the hands do not move in Taijiquan but the torso mainly generates movements, with hands relatively relaxed and extended to co-ordinate. Practitioners of Taijiquan must learn the movement of the torso otherwise it is not possible to be mature in the art of Taijiquan.