It’s been a while since i’ve last written about my private tai chi lesson. I’ve finished the Sun style form some weeks ago, and now i suppose it’s fine tuning. The usual suspects are still there – relax, relax, relax! Such a simple word and yet the permutations of body parts that can be relaxed is just too many! So i’m just going to highlight the one that I’m finding most difficult – the kua!
I guess many has written about the kua. I’ve linked it with why we have knee problems when doing tai ji. Just when I thought I was making some in roads, my push hands classes tell me otherwise. The message is always the same – the kua is not “loose” enough. Going through this with my teacher, he came up with a simple technique which I hope will help you too.
First, let’s start with a test of loose kua. Do a horse stance. Turn your upper body to one side while in that stance. Both your knees should stay where they are. If they’re following your movement, your kua is not loose.
To do this in a horse stance is difficult. So what he advised was to do it in a higher horse stance. Let the focus be on loosening the kua rather than do a “pretty” horse stance. Give the knees a rest. In fact, try to avoid bending the knees further in an attempt to loosen the kua. The knees are still kept bent though.
I find that this technique actually helps narrow the focus on relaxing the kua. It shuts out distractions from all the other body parts. Please let me know if this helps you, or if I’ve made this clear enough.
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5 Comments
my complementary take on this :-
http://taijistagmont.wordpress.com/2006/10/25/turning-the-body/
If I do the movement and think about one kua going up, while the other kua going down, it’s quite easy. However, if I just try to turn my waist, my knee will shift a bit.
wujimon: I was a bit stumped by your up/down kua movement as well, just to realise ZMS’s similar comment! a video might help.
zms: yes, i guess i have assumed a fixed vertical axis from which to turn from! thanks for pointing it out.
I have been doing tai chi for about 18 months nd experience the same problems of knee pain. Nevr dreamt that there would be link bvetween kua and knee pain.Aftr reading zms blog i tried to focus on my kua–only to find out that I have formed a habit of always tucking in my tummy. Has it got something to do with not relaxing kua?
it’s a habit, maybe to hide the tummy?
it’s normally not just the kua, but the kua is a good indicator. Try noticing the ankles as well, see if they’re relaxed. Similarly with the spine, the chest, the shoulders… take your time, and notice them one by one. try not to rush it, as that’ll just make you less relaxed! good luck.