AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

The body is designed to move as a unified whole, yet too often it moves in pieces. There are times to isolate a muscle or body part for a specific purpose, but in real, functional movement as a whole, we move as one.

Taiji asks the upper and lower body  to follow each each other, inside and outside, to harmonize.

Hand and foot, elbow and knee, shoulder and hip, all coordinate together. The waist is the hub of the wheel. Through the waist, movement initiates and is directed. This is not linear movement. It is a spiral that extends from the core to the fingers and toes and back again. 

Rooting through the feet allows energy to rise through the body, directed by the waist. As we root, the top of the head lifts keeping the spine upright, elongated and open. Movement is not only one direction; as it moves one way, it simultaneously moves the other. The arms connect through the shoulders and move as one.

Movement in each part of the body begins and ends together. Within the movement, parts express their own timing and range. It is through this independent togetherness that we attain a unified harmony of motion.