Shifting my weight from left to right is not much of a problem, until Tai Chi comes and muddle things up. Practising Tai Ji slowly brings me acutely aware of how this shift happens. I’ve always thought that as you shift, one foot will be pushing off to lead to another foot. It’s like how a boxer power his punches – from the back foot all the way to the fist with a twist of the body. Recently, I realise this “push off” creates tension. It creates a “lift” before settling down. This lift will then be cause for a skilled person to uproot you, if this person can sense your shift.
A Tai Chi’s shift of weight seems to be more subtle than that. It requires us to be more rooted than before DURING the shifting of weight. It’s like the two legs are connected, and the weight flows from one foot into the other just like water flowing from one end of a hose to the other end.
I can only put down in words of the theory of shifting weights. For a sense of HOW it’s actually done, take a look at Chen Xiao Wang’s clip of his punch.
I’ve seen this a few times and noticed that his punch is so relaxed that even the legs are relaxed. The legs expanded out during the punch just like how the punch expanded out. it wasn’t actually a punch. It was an expansion of a field of force. In this case it just so happen that it ended with a punch.
All these do sound a bit airy. I would rather have some concrete way to practise this, like punching a sandbag 100 times. But that’s the thing about Tai Chi. It forces you to sense where you’re going wrong. It forces a change in you so that you go in the direction of “the way”. We are learning to be like a sculptor of our own mind and body. We chisel away the unnecessary to leave what’s most essential. The only way to do that seems to be working hard and working smart. Always sensing what’s not right and try to improve it.
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For a concrete way to practice something like this, I would recommend checking out the wujifa side to side training. It is a very eye-opening exercise that can lead to a lot of insight, at least for me anyways
Regarding “the lift” that you describe above, Chen Zhonghua refers to it as “vertical tossing”. Furthermore, as you have noted, a skilled person can take advantage of this tossing and use it to uproot. What helps me is to consider the notion of a corkscrew whenever I move. This way, you are grounded throughout the movement.
i am into benchpress but i recently shifted into Weighlifting. it really toned down my abs and strengthen my back muscles,