Tai Chi helped my Sanchin

One great thing about being in the martial arts is the diversity. From one art foreign to you, you can learn more about your own art. For instance, one of my students back in Lincoln, Nebraska is a Tai Chi instructor (Yang family).  As I learned more about tai chi and began practicing I fell in love with the movement, 'grasping sparrow's tail'.

Grasping sparrow's tail contains the essence of tai chi in terms of its movement. In it we have four movements, called ward off, roll back, press and push.  These correlate a bit to the four 'winds', as I call them, of Sanchin. These are spit, swallow, sink and float. These winds when combined create a spiral of energy that is very powerful.

Well, practicing Grasping Sparrow's Tail, I could feel an internal movement of energy that moved and undulated. It taught me how to use me feet, hips, etc in a continuous movement for self-defense. Then when practicing Sanchin, I could feel the same energy and could use it within the more seemingly rigid structure.

It is difficult to explain this movement, but it is where Chinkuchi, or Fa-Jing, is generated. I am writing more about this in my next book on Sanchin and might play with it here for your reading feedback.

Well, basically, practice some Tai Chi and it will help your Karate. It feels good and can help any stiff Karate-ka break free and flow better.

Hands palm to palm,
Shinzen