Central Equilibrium

For some reason this concept has been bubbling up in both classes I've attended and online. Maybe that's because it is central to Tai Chi (I can't decide if that's an attempt at a bad joke or just being redundant). Whether or not it's mentioned this concept seems to tie into the idea that's widely held that the back should stay vertical in Tai Chi.

Central Equilibrium isn't about keeping your back vertical but about keeping dare I say balance, which is not only an overused term but also a pretty close synonym to the word equilibrium. The second definition for equilibrium over at Merriam-Webster is "a state of balance between opposing forces or actions that is either static (as in a body acted on by forces whose resultant is zero) or dynamic (as in a reversible chemical reaction when the rates of reaction in both directions are equal)".

I really like that definition even though it contains that worn out word (balance) because it points out something important in Tai Chi: opposing forces. These forces don't need to be external, though as any Tai Chi keyboard warrior will chime in and tell you Tai Chi is a martial art and was so before it was a health practice. We have internal opposing forces as well; be it mental or emotional stress, injury, or even gravity. Tai Chi is an amazing practice to work on equalizing or neutralizing these forces. Learning how to move in a gentler way with minimal effort is a large part of practicing solo, or open hand if you like, form.

So central equilibrium may mean keeping our back vertical if we're just standing still and concentrating on releasing excess tension from the body, but once we add other forces the back may not remain vertical in order to balance said forces. For instance if we lift one leg off the ground some shifting needs to happen to offset that weight. Our center of gravity needs to shift over to our other foot which is still on the ground. In many schools of Tai Chi this is done by moving the pelvis as a whole over the standing leg, in some schools bending at the hip crease or waist and turning slightly is used to shift the center of gravity. Both may have their uses and I guarantee lively debates will happen if you bring this subject up in the presence of long-time practitioners or instructors.

I'm not sure what the point I want to make here is. Mainly I'd like to say that there shouldn't be a dogmatic, strict rule taught in schools. Try the different approaches yourself and see which feels best to you. I regularly stop mid-movement and experiment with which approach feels best in my body. If I was a master maybe that wouldn't be the case, but I'm just a dude on a journey.

Here's a video from Robert Chuckrow on central equilibrium that I kind of like.