Tai Chi Weightlifting for Training Song and Jin

Tai Chi Weightlifting for Training Song and Jin

Ch’i travels in the membranes, bones, sinew, and blood vessels; strength issues from the blood, flesh, skin, and bones. Therefore, those with great brute force have external strength in their skin and bones, or physical form. Those with great ch’i have internal strength in their sinews and blood vessels. 

Yang Family Forty Chapters (Tr. Douglas Wile)

Many Tai Chi teachers advise their students to not lift weights…and with good reason. The rationale is that weight training builds muscle and may encourage a dependency on muscular responses rather than internal power. While I respect this thinking, particularly for those just beginning their Tai Chi explorations, there comes a time when judicious use of resistance training is not just helpful, but necessary, to grasp the nuances of the internal arts. 

I have been thinking a lot lately about the relationship of the connective tissue system and the Tai Chi principles of Song (releasing muscular tension and trusting the intrinsic structure of the body) and Jin (Ch’i that is directed by the mind and expressed through the body). I discussed the topic at length twenty years ago in Taijiquan: Through the Western Gate, and through the intervening years I have tried to find way to simplify and broaden the conversation to make it available to a wider audience. 

The above quotation from the Yang Family Forty Chapters explains the difference between brute force (Li) and internal power (Jin) in the concepts that were available about 150 years ago. External strength comes from muscles and bones and internal power comes from sinews (tendons and ligaments), membranes (fascia), and blood vessels. Sinews and membranes are now considered part of the connective tissue system, which is known to carry energy and information through the whole body almost instantly. The connective tissue system unifies every cell in the body into a Living Matrix and has the quality of tensegrity—giving the body an elastic tensile strength. (See Taijiquan: Through the Western Gate for more information about the Living Matrix)

While the muscles of the body are easily activated by the motor neural network—the brain and/or spinal cord signals the muscles to contract or release—we have to get creative to learn to control the sinews and membranes. The readiness of muscular contraction makes it the default response when faced with a challenge. That is, it is much easier to tense the muscles when executing a movement than it is to follow Tai Chi’s admonition to release the tension and trust the intrinsic structure of the body to do the work. The Tai Chi solution is counter-intuitive. Even when Tai Chi students know the correct response, they will usually revert to the muscular tension they have depended on their whole lives. 

So, how do we learn to trust Song and Jin, rather than LI? 

It is important to understand that Li comes from localized muscular contraction and Tai Chi internal power comes from the body acting as a unified whole. The system that unifies us is the connective tissue system.

One way to contrast these two is to imagine carrying a suitcase. In the first photo, the suitcase is supported by an extended arm. Muscles are being used, but contraction is minimal. Most of the work is being done by the sinews, and tensegrity distributes the load throughout the body. The internal power of the body adjusts to the external challenge and supports the weight without extraneous muscular tension.

In the second photo, the arm and shoulder muscles are contracted in order to lift the suitcase. This is localized muscular effort, Li, and the load is primarily carried by the biceps and shoulder muscles. This will fatigue much sooner than the method used in the first photo. 

Weights can be used in a similar way to train Song and Jin and wean us off our dependence on Li. We start with a very light weight in order to encourage the mind to shift its approach from its default. The external load provides feedback that we might not get from solo practice. It points out flaws in our body mechanics when we have to adjust forms to accomodate the stress on the system. More weight can be added as the body learns to move more easily and powerfully.

This is explained more thoroughly in the following two videos. The first one goes a little deeper into how this works, and the second video walks through how to train with weights to improve your Tai Chi. 

Tai Chi Weightlifting for Song and Jin, Part One

Tai Chi Weightlifting for Song and Jin, Part Two