The Art & Science of Taijiquan Part I

The Wuji Posture

By: Jason A. Ward

There is a profound depth to the art of Taiji, and unless you seek the deepest levels, you will never understand the art and science that we call Taijiquan. In order to truly understand Taijiquan, one must learn the proper method and application of what is known as the Taiji method.

In order to break through to the core of the Taiji method, one must first understand that the art of Taiji is a physical manifestation of the Taiji concept which was a firm part of Taoist thought. This manifestation is proven by the fact that Taijiquan forms begin with the classical Wuji posture. As the Taiji Classics describe; “From the Wuji comes the Taiji”. From nothingness comes the interplay of yin and yang, creating the Taiji or grand ultimate concept.

It is exactly from this posture, before the first movement begins, that many individuals deviate from the proper method of Taijiquan. As Yang Chengfu wrote: “People all too easily neglect this posture, and really do not know the method of its practice or its application.”[1]

The Wuji posture is the classical posture for beginning the form, and it was traditionally taught as a method of Taoist meditation. The five methods of practicing Taoist meditation were standing, sitting, laying down, moving, and methods of interaction. It is in the primary practice of standing meditation that one can relax into the inner being and rest in stillness. As Master Bruce Frantzis states: “The foundation of inner stillness prepares you to learn to transform the body, mind and spirit through internal alchemy”. [2]

It is while standing in the wuji posture that one learns the exercises known as What’s Alive/What’s Dead?, Scanning the Body, Sinking the Qi, the Luminescent Water meditation, the Inner and Outer Dissolving practices, as well as learning to quiet the Monkey Mind.

Each classical posture was taught with a Xinyi (Mind/Intent) application. In the Wuji posture which begins the form, the student learns to stand for varying lengths of time, and learns to discover in their body the signs of energy blockages such as a sense of strength, contraction, tension, and/or a sense that something is not right, even when you do not know why or what it is.

History tells us that the old masters taught each posture individually, and the student practiced a limited number of postures taking several years to learn the whole form. Today in the modern martial arts world, people are learning the form over the course of two to three days, and completely ignore the Xinyi principle of the forms postures.

How important was the Xinyi principle in the forms? In his book translated as “The Essence and Applications of Taijiquan, Yang Chengfu wrote detailed descriptions of the wuji posture, and not a single word on the raising and lowering of the hands, recognized as being the first movement in the Taiji form as we see it today.

Louis Swaim, translator of this classic book by Yang Chengfu wrote: “The first thing that strikes the reader about the description of the beginning form is that there is no description of the raising and lowering of the arms. The photo shows the position of the hands as they would be following the raising of the arms to shoulder height, then lowering them to the sides of the body. Could it be that the raising and lowering of the arms, so emblematic as the opening of the received form, was optional in earlier versions?”[3]

Swaim also notes that “The emphasis here is clearly on the classical postural alignment prescriptions, the inner intent vital to Taijiquan practice, and the stillness that balances movement.”[4]

Yang Chengfu’s interest in the wuji posture was not just noticed by Swaim. Author Jan Diepersloot notes that “When Yang Chengfu created the classical sequence or form, he prominently incorporated this principle”

He goes on to say that “Stripped of all extraneous motion, only in stillness of the wuji posture can our mind truly cultivate the sensation of Zhongding or central equilibrium.”[5]

The importance of the Wuji posture cannot be ignored. By merely standing in this posture one will learn to quiet their mind and open up their ability to feel their body, thus relaxing the nervous system, and increasing their qi.

If an individual comes to understand the importance of the wuji posture, they have cleared the first obstacle along the way. While this in itself is a major breakthrough, there is another obstacle, which can easily divert you away from the true meaning and application of Taiji. Most individuals who stand in the wuji posture do so incorrectly. The assumption is that you simply stand in the shape of the wuji posture. This assumption is what diverts you away from the true application of the stance. In order to properly perform this posture, you must first build the anatomical foundation along with the internal structure.

To build the foundation there are certain xinyi exercises, which you must practice, and only after completing these will you find your centre, which allows the internal structure to be solid.

The first step in the wuji posture is to work on aligning the frame. To do this one must first learn how to align the skeletal frame, and there are several reasons for this. To begin with the student’s feet must be parallel to each other, and no wider than the shoulders. The easiest way to accomplish this is to stand with the feet together, then open the feet out 45 degrees, keeping the heels together in a V stance. From the V stance, open the heels so they are vertically aligned with the toes. This is called a Two-fold stance. Standing in the Two-fold stance aligns the left and right energy channels of the body. If these energy channels are not properly aligned, then energy flow will automatically be restricted, if it flows at all.

Now that we know the channels are aligned, we need to work on aligning the skeletal frame and manipulate the joints into the proper posture. To accomplish this we must first start with the feet, and gradually ascend through the skeletal frame, thus aligning the skeleton properly, further improving the ability for energy to flow.

Starting with the feet. Make sure that the pressure is placed on the outer edges of the foot, leaving the yongquan (bubbling well) point open, almost like a suction cup on the floor. This cupping of the floor serves three purposes. First, it opens the yongquan points allowing negative energy to leave the body and sink into the earth. Second, it allows for the same points to absorb the “earth” energy and breathe with the feet. Finally, it allows the muscles of the foot to combine with the muscles of the ankle to close both the foot and ankle joints thereby making this area stronger and more supportive. Distribution of the weight must be over the yongquan points. You would also envision a third yongquan point, located directly in the middle of the two yonquan points. This “Ghost” point allows for the upper body to reference for future alignments. To emphasize the importance of the ghost point, many students have reported that they feel the sensation of a drawing up of energy when focusing on just this part of the posture.

It is imperative that you take your time when learning these alignments. These alignments are meant to be felt and experienced. Only by registering the feeling of these alignments over a gradual amount of time, will you be able to instantly form these alignments without hesitation. What may take several attempts and a few hours of experience, will later become an automatic alignment response.

After you have aligned the feet and ankles, you work your way up the skeleton and focus on the knees. In order to proper align the tibia and fibula bones, you must rotate the knees, concentrating on feeling the fibula and tibia bones. When the knee is in the proper position, then these bones will feel aligned, and the knee joint will close. When the knee joint is closed your lower body will begin to feel the concept known as sung. The feeling of sung is simple. You should feel as if your body is limp, yet aware. Some students have commented that when the knees are aligned, the sung concept feels as though the legs were cut off at the knees and the knees become the feet.

In the three bodies concept, there is the nine songs or classics. The first of the nine songs is the three pressings. The knees are a part of the three pressings, and in addition to the feeling of the knees becoming the root, you should also feel them pressing slightly forward. When the knees are slightly pressing forward, the femur bone is ready to be aligned properly.

In order to align the femur, you must feel as if the hips and waist is sitting on two poles. His feeling helps you to align the waist by rotating it until the waist feels secure atop the two poles. When the waist is aligned properly, then the pressure on the knees softens, and even though the knee joints are closed, the pressure or pain sensation softens and the intent shifts to the kua. Once you have moved your intent naturally towards the kua, you can focus on lifting the kua. Only by raising the kua will the lower body be complete. In order to open and raise the kua, you must tuck in the coccyx and suck in the abdomen slightly. When you straighten the coccyx, the spine becomes straight. When the spine becomes straight then the kua will naturally open. When the kua opens the lower body will feel the sensation of being pulled from the top and the bottom at the same time. This will cause the energy to begin to flow from the feet, up to the waist and enter the spine.

When you first begin to straighten the coccyx, the key is to remember to tuck the coccyx and suck in the abdomen. Again there is a roadblock here. Many individuals who first attempt to do this fail, as they do not properly tuck in the coccyx. It is important that these alignments are felt and not imagined. The best method for naturally straightening the coccyx is to bow forward at the waist, and then tuck in the coccyx and suck in the abdomen. When this is accomplished, you can then straighten your back, and again go sung.

When the lower body goes sung at this stage, the spine is straightened and energy begins to gradually flow up the spine. It is at this stage that the next obstacle appears: The chest.

The chest must be sunk in and downwards, and the shoulders must feel rounded and curved. Only when this is accomplished will the spine at the lumbar/sacral area feel a drawing up of the energy. The next obstacle in this series is the breath. Only by straightening the spine, rounding the shoulders, and sinking the chest, will your breathing become attuned with nature. Taoist breathing teaches you to breathe with all parts of the abdomen, including the sides, the lower back, and the upper back. When breath reaches all of these areas, and reaches the upper back, then during the exhalation you will naturally expel more carbon dioxide, which can be a 20% improvement.

The other side effect of the upper alignments is to have jing energy able to be released through the arms, into the palm and finger tips. If the back is not rounded then the jing energy will stop at the upper back, which if it remains there can cause injury.

Continuing upwards, the next alignment is the head. First you will tuck the chin backwards, and slightly downwards. From this angle the spine will be stretch even straighter with a pulling sensation at the occiput, the hollow point just below the occipital bone. In the book Tai Chi Touchtones: Yang Family Secret Transmissions, Master Yang Chengfu’s ten essentials are featured. Here they speak of the: “Energy at the top of the head should be light and sensitive. Energy at the top of the head means that the head should be carried erect so that the spirit (shen) will reach the very top”.[6]

The next alignment in the head is the eyes. Many individuals need to understand that the eyes are a crucial key to the wuji posture. In the beginning, the practitioner must close the eyes in order to eliminate outside interference and distraction. With the eyes close the level of sensitivity is increased, allowing the practitioner to sense the body at an even higher level of intent. After this has been practiced thoroughly and with energetic sensation, can the eyes be opened, but once they are opened the angle of the eyes must be lowered to a 45 degree angle downwards, and pulled inwards absorbing the images rather than seeking out the images. When the vision is pulled inwards this is called Yin Vision. With a strong sense of Yin vision, the practitioner will be able to utilize this concept during every activity, thereby slowing the monkey mind by decreasing the amount of possible distractions, which will also let you be more present in whatever actions and activities you find yourself in.

The final alignment in this series is the arms and hands. To enable energy to spiral up the back and spine and downwards into the arms the hands must be placed with the palms facing behind the practitioner, with the thumbs and the forefinger lightly touching.

The armpits must be open and the elbows slightly bent. The arms must hang lightly and loosely. At the advanced stage the fore finger is pressed upwards slightly ahead of the middle finger. In this posture the hands will be more open. Focus on the laogong point on the hands.

This will conclude the alignment series, and when the student has effectively and energetically experienced these alignments and can perform them quickly and easily, can the student begin to practice the Internal qigong exercises. It must be understood that in order to fully experience the Internal qigong exercises, these alignments must be complete. If they are not complete, then the qi will not be flowing.

It is recommended that you begin to stand in the wuji posture for only a few minutes in the beginning, then gradually increase the time. Perhaps the greatest secret of Taiji or internal arts in general is the wuji posture. Perhaps the reason it is the greatest secret is because few will endure the difficult challenge of just standing.

Are you up for the challenge….?

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[1] Yang Chengfu – The Essence and Applications of Taijiquan. Trans. By Louis Swaim

[2] Bruce Frantzis: The Water Method (Dissolving practices) www.energyarts.com

[3] Yang Chengfu – The Essence and Applications of Taijiquan. Trans. By Louis Swaim

[4] Yang Chengfu – The Essence and Applications of Taijiquan. Trans. By Louis Swaim

[5] Jan Diepersloot – Warriors of Stillness Volume 1.

[6] Tai Chi Touchstones: Yang Family Secret Family Transmissions. Compiled & Translated by Douglas Wile.