This innovative book makes the benefits of Tai Chi directly available to Westerners by communicating its essence in poetic, evocative, and humorous images that apply not only to movement practices of all kinds but to daily life. The book does not assume any knowledge of Tai Chi forms.The images in this book - drawn from a wide variety of sources, both Chinese and Western, ancient and modern - are easy to understand, fun to work with, and embody the true inner spirit of Tai Chi's timeless tradition. The book contains hundreds of photos and line drawings illustrating the images, detailed explanations of the biomechanical realities that underlie the images, and a summary of the latest scientific research on the benefits of Tai Chi.
ContentsAcknowledgements. Photo Credits. Introduction. Letting Go. A Key to Relaxation: Commitment. Letting Go of Muscular Tension. Power Through Letting Go. Letting Go of 'Doing'. Letting Go of Thought. Letting Go of Limitation. Stance, Rooting, and Stepping. The Importance of Balance. Using Imagery for Balance. The 'Empty Step'. The Iliopsoas Muscle Complex and its Role in Stepping. Transferring Your Weight. Feet Like an Ape's Feet that can Hold on to Branches. Riding a Horse. Stance Like a Mountain. Your Body is just the Tip of the Iceberg. Your Reflection is Underneath the Ground. Lines of Magnetic Force. Stance is an Arch. Sitting on an Exercise Ball. Stance like a Car Suspension System. Being Carried in a Sedan Chair. Doing the Form Under a Low Ceiling. Skating. The Pelvis Opens and Closes Like a Book. The Center. Life, Emotion, Power, and Breath. Sinking the Consciousness into the Center. The Eye of the Storm. Pelvic Floor like a Trampoline. Psoas and Iliopsoas. Sitting in a Chair. Climbing Harness. Hydraulic Jacks Lift Your Ribcage Off Your Hipbones. Trapping a Sheet of Paper in the Crease of the Hip. Sweeping Beer Bottles off a Table. The Trim of the Pelvis. Hipbones Resting in one Horizontal Track. Hipbones like Headlamps. Feel the Pelvis as a Large Cup with a Handle. Pelvis like a Bowl of Fruit. Circuits Around the Center. The Process of Developing Awareness of your Center. Your Spine and Your Line. Anatomy and Musculature of the Spine. The Jade Pillow - Gateway Between Mind and Body. The Golden Cord. Sitting on a Window-ledge. Feel the Spine like a Snake. The Pin of a Vertical Hinge. A Downward-pointing Spear. A Golf Ball Resting on a Tee. Feather Extends Upward from Back of Head to Paint the Sky. You have a Dinosaur Tail. As if Balancing a Book on your Head. One Line Through Back of Head, Tailbone, and Heel of Support Foot. Three Circles in the Torso. Radiance. The Inner Smile. Breathing into Every Cell in your Body. Bursting with Energy like the Michelin Man. An Aura Surrounds Your Body. Like Watering a Flower. Light Shining out from all your Energy Centres. Lights Shining out to and Beyond the Horizon. Shoulders, Arms, and Hands. Relaxing the Arms. Relaxing the Shoulders. Energetic Openness. Connection. Flow and Rhythm. Rhythm. Flow. Combating Evil Spirits. Dancing with the Spirits. The Five Elements. Power. Mechanical Disadvantage and how we get Around it. Static Power. Bracing of the Small of the Back. Dynamic Power. Wave Energy. Explosive Power. Self and Other: Push Hands. Notes on Word Choices. Push Hands is for Everyone. Intention, Relationship, and Push Hands. Push Hands 'Light'. Push Hands as a Formal Practice. Effectiveness of Imagery for Push Hands. Some Basic Images for Push Hands 'Light'. Stick, Connect, Absorb, and Displace. Imagery for Level 1: Sticking. Imagery for Level 2: Connecting. Imagery for Level 3: Absorbing. Imagery for Level 4: Displacing. Tai Chi Straight Sword and Other Weapons. Tip of Weapon Passes through a Tiny Hole without Touching the Sides. Tip of the Sword is 'Sucked' out into Space. The Sword is an Extension of your own Body. Dissecting the Air as if it were Solid. Slicing a Pillow. Imagine your Empty Hand as Another Sword. The Overhead Chop - Like Unrolling a Red Carpet - or like an Ice Skater going into a Spin. Imagery in Daily Life. Appendix A: Mathematics and Mechanics of Tai Chi. Open Curves and Mechanical Advantage. Gravity, the Ground Force, and the Balance of Forces. Elastic and Inelastic Collisions. Appendix B: Scientific Research on Tai Chi. Confounding Effects in Tai Chi Research. Research Reviews by Subject. How to Research the Research. Bibliography. The Tai Chi Classics. Imagery and Movement. Imagery and the Mind. The Five Elements.
Post Cultural-Revolution tai chi does not include imagery, but Mellish learned from older teachers. He brings a sense of play to the underlying illustrated movements, while inviting body mindfulness, designed to tap into inner wisdom for building strength, flexibility, and balance... these practices, illustrated and explained with humor and wisdom, create the potential for a powerful mind-body shift. Profound moments emerge in comments such as ""Commitment does not mean increasing the force that is pulling you forward, but letting go of the force that is holding you back."" These physical practices combined with visuals bring such wisdom alive by igniting mindful movement in unexpected and everyday ways.
