I recently wrote about using light weights for feedback in body mechanics and alignment for explorations of Song and Jin. Even a small load can provide information about inefficiencies and misaligned joints in our Tai Chi postures and movements. I often use a 3-pound dumbbell for such explorations, but I came to realize that even that may be too much weight for many people to do the exercises correctly. When the load is too heavy there is a natural tendency to enlist muscular force (Li), and that would work against our goal of increasing confidence in Song and Jin. So I came up with “tea cup Tai Chi.” (You can use any kind of cup with a handle, but “tea cup Tai Chi” has a nice ring to it.)
Holding cup with thumb and index finger
The cup handle can be supported by thumb and index finger, which can help you access a heightened state of energetic coherence immediately. This makes your internal power (Jin) readily available. As you learn to trust your Jin, you can release extraneous muscular tension while still supporting the load. The few ounces of the cup is just enough weight to alert us to unnecessary muscular tension and inefficient alignment.
There is one particular benefit with using a cup rather than a dumbbell, for instance. It brings awareness to the importance of the wrist in every movement. Conscious, intentional feeling and movement of the wrist is a huge factor in expressing internal power. Most students that I have encountered are unaware of how unconscious tension in their wrists triggers muscular tension in arms and shoulders. Wrists are designed to be dynamic participants in arm movements, and wrists that are Song make it much easier to be Song throughout your body.
Ideally, we reach the wrist with hand very Song in order to bring the arm into the desired shape and then reach with the fingers to express the Jin. In the Yin phase, the hand is relaxed as we mobilize our Qi and extends in the Yang phase as we express the energy.
Yin: Reach with wrist to mobilize Qi.
Yang: Reach with fingers to express Jin.
“Tea cup Tai Chi” won’t answer all your questions, but it may provide some juicy new ones to ponder.
These two videos from “A Wee Bit of Alchemy with Rick Barrett #272” may give further insight into this way of training:
