Heel out; toes back

by Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy on 2011/09/09

Heel out:

  1. When moving out, the heel must make contact with the ground/floor. This is also called to shovel out, as if you push the shovel into the ground.
  2. When making this move, the knee must be straightened to be tight. You will feel uncomfortable doing this. This is part of the training. It won’t make sense to you at this time.
  3. The front kua must rotate so that the shoveling out of the heel only pulls the whole leg out. It does not affect the torso.
  4. The front center line (from under the armpit to the front of the kua must form one vertical line) must push vertically down. It cannot bend forward from the top.

Toes back/in:

  1. There must be movement from the front knee.
  2. The kua must be locked so that the torso is not affected.
  3. The retreating action, or pull up action if rear foot is involved, can only apply to the big toe. The rest of the toes simply follow.

About Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy

Chen Style Taijiquan 19th generation disciple. International Standard Bearer of the Practical Method system of Hong Junsheng. Second generation master of Hunyuan Taiji. Been teaching internationally since 1985. Educated in the West with a Master's Degree in Education. Highly accomplished through the lineage of two great masters. Disciplined, precise and powerful. He teaches a complete system of taiji based on the principle of yin yang separation; indirect power as a core concept; movement and tranquility as the source of action. In both theory and practice, his taijiquan deals with the problems of double-heavy. He is a real treasure of the heritage of taijiquan.

{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

Zhao Zhidong October 14, 2011 at 5:16 am

Hope you will teach more things like this, Shifu. I believe this is very important. It is things that look simple that are important. When told vaguely everybody thinks they know. It is not easy if the rules are laid out clearly. Most don’t know the rules to start with. Maybe this is why the “theory is precise and the method is complex.”

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Zhao Zhidong October 14, 2011 at 5:45 am

Shoveling out should be a passive action. It is not an action in which one pushed the foot out like a shovel. To be more exact, one’s torso from the neck down (the head must be suspended) pushes downward causing the front foot to shovel out. The leg has no power on it. It is just like a shovel. This type of power is unstoppable. When withdrawing, the torso must keep erect and without any action or protrusion, the front knee pull the foot back to a certain position and stop there.

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Chen Zhonghua October 14, 2011 at 1:50 pm

There are two sticks in this case. One stick from from head to rear foot which is vertical. The other is a 45 degree slanted stick from front heel to front kua. The two sticks are modulated by the kua.

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