Millimetre Matters in Tai Chi
As a Tai Chi teacher, I am quite fond of telling my students, “even a millimetre matters in Tai Chi”. The distance between your feet especially has to be just perfect. There’s no right, no ok, only perfect when standing or rooting in Tai Chi. The science behind this is quite simple. As Tai Chi is a martial art, mainly defensive, one sometimes needs to wait till the opponent makes the first move. This many times takes a while. And so you are waiting and waiting and waiting….! And to make this wait comfortable, you need to space your feet in such a way that it takes a load off the rest of your body, doesn’t tire you out so that you have the strength to fight when needed, and yet keeps you alert.
When I was learning Tai Chi, initially my sir used to frequently correct the distance between my feet, the direction they were pointing at (mostly facing forward), and such small things which I never even noticed. I used to ask him how did it matter what direction did they face or if the distance was half-inch off and he would simply give me a practical demonstration. He would make me keep my feet apart at various distances, make me stand for some time and tell me to observe. I observed that when the distance and the directions were right (perfect), I was able to stand without fidgeting or shuffling my feet for quite some time. Which wasn’t the case with other positions. He then explained further the importance with regards to the body posture and the chi flow. And I had to agree with him as I found them better with the correct distance and direction.
I started using practical demonstrations for my students as well. I too would make them stand at various poses, keep the feet apart at various distances and ask them to tell me the most comfortable pose. They would be like, “this is ok.” And I would then urge them to shift again, by a millimetre and ask them. This exercise would be repeated until they achieve the perfect stance. And I would know that it's perfect because their face would just have this look of wonderment that perfect exists. The look on their face when they used to achieve the perfect stance would usually be worth the discomfort caused. I would tell them to commit that stance, that distance, that pose to memory, the muscle memory.
As time progressed, I learnt to listen to my subtle body signals. I learnt to listen when I was feeling uncomfortable while standing. And sure enough, when I used to check I used to find that either the feet were not at the proper distance or were splayed. And after correcting them, I used to feel comfortable. It so got that I no longer needed to check and my feet would automatically correct themselves if there was even a hint of uncomfortableness in the posture.
As a teacher, I am connected on an ethereal level with my students. So I find myself correcting their distance and direction in the beginning. To the point that I am unable to progress till they correct themselves. And usually, it’s a matter of just a millimetre! I have tried moving on, ignoring that twinge, but yet the connection is so strong that their discomfort rubs my vibes wrong and one can’t work when there are no correct vibes, right? Pretty soon, they learn to correct themselves as they start listening to what their body says to them.
