Immovable: The Secret Art of Tai Chi Rooting to Sink Qi to the Dantien and Beyond

[@gjijbuis1]

Thank you! I am a fencing teacher and we benefitted from your examples and explanation in our fencing practice (modern saber, so even without physical contact ! ). In my experience this rooting adds a very noticeable awareness of the feet, a strong feeling of power in the feet and a feeling of the latter rising up from there, projecting into the space between you and your opponent: It strengthens Peng. To test whether this had any effect on the strip, we experimented with switching rooting on and off and asking our opponents whether they experienced any difference. The majority reports that with rooting on it feels harder for them to attack (i.e. harder to overcome the distance and/or grab the tempo). So rooting produces indeed an adavantageous effect for fencers and I can tell from my own experience now: It strengthens your confidence, you feel safer. The latter feeling is based on a second advantage rooting brings, i.e. the contact you have with every move of your opponent becomes (much) stronger too, which results in an increased number of successful parries! Now I have to practice to stabilize this newly learned skill, since one of our fencers is sometimes able to float me with his superfeint...😄

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

This is an incredible comment I was waiting to have time to write a proper reply! What you are describing is totally correct and actually goes beyond Peng towards more advanced aspects described in Tai Chi. You have expanded your awareness beyond your immediate body and into the space that your opponent occupies such that you have a greater alignment with that space and its time. You experienced an advantage in timing, responsiveness, confidence, as well as strength. Meanwhile your opponent experienced a decline in them instead. These are elements of Neijin and Yi Mastery, the 4th and 5th stage of our Tai Chi Internal Fundamentals. This is related to what I described in the video about Tai Chi beyond the physical touch, the Invisible Touch, which if you haven't watched you may enjoy. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaPIkJtvidqqj7M So, good job! To stabilize this skill, really consider, when your root is deeper than your feet and your awareness is beyond the space before you, and there is strength and confidence and responsiveness like this, what is this like, that is beyond words, and is totally a picture of something that you can begin to see in your mind's eye, right now? As that picture come into form, meditate on it so it becomes a part of you. And you can picture it when you are training to recalibrate yourself to this mindset and awareness. Thank you for the awesome comment and congratulations! It makes me very happy to hear about people breaking their plateaus to new levels of understanding and skill! 😃🙏

[@SpectrumOfChange]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi Excellent detailed reply, this further information is helpful for me! I grew up very physical and connected with body function (in a rural Thai town), so when I studied arts and worked with animals it was all very natural for me. However, I moved to the u.s. and later got very sick for many years and lost strength as well as belief and connection with all these kind of things. After years of work to return to this, I am *finally* able to connect again! It feels like touching life again, I cannot express how meaningful this is to me. Physical movement is still very limited, even lifting arms gently causes problems, so I am seeking internal movements to gather chi, balance it, and use that to continue to heal my body. So many teachers online I watch and I don't feel anything from them, or it feels not very strong or maybe not well balanced? So, when I find someone who is clearly skilled with these things, it feels like a relief. Thank you very much for your teachings! I will continue with your other videos, and hope to find teaching of non-moving, non-muscle work that I can do every day until I can fully move my body again. Thank you!

[@marcgehr9313]

Great discussion pulling concepts together❤

[@brentpieczynski]

I enjoyed this description of rooting.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Thank you for your kind comment! 😃🙏

[@tomlewis632]

I have heard it said, that it is Heaven, Man, Earth. That you imagine energy from (heaven), down through you (man), and in to the earth (rooting) as deep as you can go. And the energy will flow from the earth, back up into you. For healing, as well as power when you need it. I have only dabbled with this. But it comes in very handy when ever I have to stand for a long time without my back hurting.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

That is a very helpful visualization to help us understand that we are more than just our physical body, and that we can be a part of something so much bigger. And when you go above and beyond your physical body to access energy and awareness that is available to you out there, how much easier is it to feel more, and heal better? I’m glad you have enjoyed discoveries in this direction that have benefitted your well-being! 😃🙌

[@Nicole-m1p4f]

Actually this is one of the secrets I just recently learned ,.. unfortunately most teachers refrain from teaching this stuff but yes you start in the belly but if you actually go deep deep deep deep into the Earth and you allow the Earth to come through your body you'll have this power even more so the deeper you go into the Earth the more you'll be rooted...

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Awesome! I’m glad you have a wonderful teacher who is knowledgeable and teaches you completely. 😃🙌

[@Yvonne_Jentsch]

Great! Thank you so much for this great explanation. It makes sense :-)))

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Woohoo I am glad it makes sense for you! Because it’s easier to apply it and make it a part of your practice when it makes sense right? Thank you for your happy comment! 😃🙏

[@peterrustdeye-cooke6306]

Very nice ☯️🙏

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Thank you very much for your comment, I appreciate it! 😃🙏

[@DragonIndigo]

👏👏 good video 🙏

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Thank you for your kind comment! 😃🙌

[@DragonIndigo]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi 🙏🙏🙏

[@rapidstable]

Thank you so much!

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

And thank you for your kind comment! 😃🙏

[@LightsOnMultiMediaMindArts]

Great lesson. Especially with the special guest appearance of Leon!

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Haha what a great role model! Thank you for your comment! 😃🙏

[@smithystube]

Thank you 🫸🤛 🙏🏽

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Thank you and you’re super welcome! 🫸🤛😃🙏

[@gklpang]

Thank you from Hawaii............very educational and appreciated.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

You’re welcome to Hawaii! Truly magical place. 😃🙏

[@TheSkippy299]

Great video. ❤

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Thank you for your kind comment! 😃🙏

[@petertuongnguyen7999]

Wow!… Thank you so so very much for this super generous sharing on Rooting and Sinking the Qi. This Taiji Qigong should come down, in history, as the most detailed explanation of the secret of Rooting that I’ve found in over 30 years of my search!.. One of my teachers often says “No Sinking the Qi, No bullets”. Now…I understand it. Sifu Chester, you have proved that Taiji is really the Grand Ultimate Fist!. Taiji is really “Qigong, designed to knock people over”.😊 Love and gratitude!🙏 Peter Nguyen

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Thank you for the generous comment! I understand how you and other people feel. Since a long time ago we have heard that Qi must sink to the Dantien, and that you must have root. And often times the teacher has very little further guidance beyond "just relax more, just song more". And we as diligent students have done that and improved some but not to the degree that we know is possible, right? And after I have really accomplished sinking Qi to the Dantien and establishing Root, and have really come to understand it, I still remember that struggle and that sense of confusion. So I'm really glad to be able to come back and share something more helpful, because the students who really love this art, and the students who don't know yet that they will benefit from and love this art, the students and learners who dedicate their precious time, energy, and resources to learning Tai Chi, they deserve actual guidance that will consistently get them towards their goals. So your comment is totally heart warming for me to know that I have helped someone, who had been lost, to see the path out of the mist for them. Thanks for the comment and I look forward to seeing all of your future success! 😃

[@brianvandine1773]

In a previous video, you instructed the student to direct the opponent's pushing force to roll down his back like a waterfall. I am wondering if the sinking of Qi you are teaching here is the same as the waterfall practice, different or related but different? Also, here in the northern states it's starting to get cold and I'm finding it much more difficult to move the Qi to my hands (my hands stay cold) than I do in the summer, so, is there a relationship between external atmospheric temperature and one's experience of Qi?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Very good questions! Rolling their force down your back and sinking your qi down to your root are related but not exactly the same skill. Because one you are moving their force or intent down and this one you are moving your own qi and intent down. They are totally related because in both you are learning to experience and guide something that is not entirely tangible physically. So being good at doing this yourself paves the road to being able to do it with someone else and eventually to someone else who is not cooperative. Make sense? As to the weather, extreme cold naturally makes our body tense up as well as create a stronger sensation of coldness. The tension impacts your qi flow and the cold sensation can distract your awareness pulling it back to the physical awareness of cold instead of the energetic awareness of Qi. As you improve your Zhongding you will notice yourself better able to maintain your awareness of Qi and mental relaxation even if the body needs to shiver. Thanks for the great questions! 😃🙏

[@bobbader4789]

How does one drop from the para Nieum to the feet?

[@riptiz]

Yi.

[@bobbader4789]

@@riptiz ?

[@riptiz]

@@bobbader4789 intention with your mind. Relax the body and use intent to send the chi.

[@DragonIndigo]

@@bobbader4789 you must feel the gravity/mass itself by changing of full and empty, once you feel the sensation of density like a fluid, that is Yin Qi/magnetic fluid. Once you feel it you can sink it. The same goes to moving your nian (awareness) inside or outside the body it generates movement, "gravity" and electromagnetism as well

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

⁠@@riptizRiptiz is totally right and let me elaborate on some of the details that may have been obvious for him that he didn’t spell out ha ha. First, in Song training, you begin by releasing tension to experience Song and let that flow all the way down. This is the second stage of our internal training. (Stage 1, Fascia Mastery, does not actually require Root but it does teach you to use your dantien!) Then in Qi Mastery, you experience how Song creates a sense of heaviness. This is the Quality of heaviness in your Qi. Now you release the heaviness downwards. As you experience the heaviness flow down your body, first from where you had been tense or forceful, down your torso, down your legs, until your feet feels the heaviness, you will have fully directed your Yi down to your feet and your Qi will have followed. This is the 3rd stage of internal development. Does that make sense? Thanks for the good question and thanks riptiz for helping to answer! 😃🙏🙌

[@נאדר-ש4ז]

To sink we relax the body? Do we relax the body mentally or with sensation?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Very good question! With sensation. Because when you relax only mentally it’s not certain whether that intention travels to the physical body or to the imagination. And when you experience the sensation of relaxing the body your Yi, your awareness, fully travels through the physical to lead the Qi there. Thanks for the great question! 😃🙏

[@נאדר-ש4ז]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi to clarify with sensation is not physical? or mentally But that it will go from mental to physical?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

@@נאדר-ש4זto sink, experience physical relaxation becoming a physical sense of heaviness and let that travel down your body. 😃🙌

[@נאדר-ש4ז]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi I know I ask alot sorry but do we relax physically or can I try mentally but make it to lead to the physical?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

@@נאדר-ש4ז the training sequence I recommend is to practice starting from physically only. And when that is consistent, practice mentally triggering the physical release. This is the easiest way to develop the skill and least likely to end up with imaginary skill that don’t work. Once that is consistent then the process is instant and totally available. Does that make sense? 😃

[@petertuongnguyen7999]

🙏😁❤️

[@jeroenkv5034]

You are an excellent teacher. Very practical! The circle walking in Baguazhang makes lowering to the feet and even lower very natural in my experience. The pong part needs attention else it is gone, like you explain.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

You’re totally right about how helpful Bagua is and the difference it makes when you place your awareness in the right place! There’s a similar circle walking practice in Xingyi that they call Pangen, which means, appropriately, coiling roots! Thank you for your kind comment! 😃🙏

[@jeroenkv5034]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi interesting! How does that compaire to combination style Xingyi Baguazhang?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

@@jeroenkv5034totally similar! I’ll present it in a video sometime. 😃🙌

[@jeroenkv5034]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi thanks! Very interesting.

[@radoslavstoyanov6326]

If I lay down horizontal on my back, where is heaven and earth? Is it still heaven above my head and earth below my feet or heaven is still above my front of the body and earth below my back of the body?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Great and valid question. Heaven is still towards the sky above your chest now and earth is still into the earth and below your back now. However you are right to think the your head is what orients towards heaven and your feet. So it is easier to align with Heaven and Earth when standing, sitting, or kneeling upright. Does that make sense? Thank you for asking an insightful question! 😃🙏

[@radoslavstoyanov6326]

@ Thanks a lot for the swift reply! Yes it does make sense. However, in a hypothetical fight our body can be misaligned towards heaven and earth, but I know that keeping jongding should not be distracted by that. With my question I try to understand how concisely to keep the rooting if I'm physically misaligned towards up and down. Standing on two feet is easy, but I've seen taichi masters still having peng even they are totally out of physical balance and alignment.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

@@radoslavstoyanov6326good question! You can still keep root while horizontal, as long as you are in contact with the ground. Having better alignment improves your Zhongding, or makes maintaining Zhongding easier. When completely off balance and off alignment there are also other skills that you can make use of, that are not affected by alignment. Fascia Mastery is one such skill. These skills support you when you do not have perfect alignment, and augment your capacity when you do have it. Does that make sense? 😃🙏

[@radoslavstoyanov6326]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi That makes perfect sense! Your answer is very insightful! Many thanks master Zhongqing! 🙏🌞

[@JustinThorts]

Sinking the Chi to the tan Tien: Is often translated as putting your mind to the Tan Tien/ lowering the breath

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Yes in meditative traditions and especially ones that focus on breathing they often describe it as lowering the breath or putting the mind at the navel or below the navel. I find putting the mind to be somewhat more helpful than lowering the breath, because in combat you sometimes have to breath in various way and your mind won’t necessarily be on breathing. Thank you for sharing some more ways that different teachers and traditions have conveyed it! 😃🙏

[@JustinThorts]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi If you use your awareness in a fight you will react faster, your mind struggles in such situations.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

@@JustinThortsvery good point! Thank you for sharing!

[@clementray1410]

What idea do you use to root past your feet into the earth when using your yi?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Good question because without the right training this is often where people’s Yi ends up going into imagination. One way is through the practice of Tai Chi sword in which your Yi and Qi enters the sword. Another way is the Neijin practice, the 4th stage of Internal Development in our curriculum in which you learn to manipulate the Qi that is around you. As you do so you realize how to be aware of something outside of you, how to extend your awareness to it and to apply your intention to the physical world beyond your physical body. This makes the experience of rooting this way real and impactful. Does that answer your question? Thanks for asking! 😃🙏

[@clementray1410]

Ya so is that what you were using in your other videos when you use kao and Zhou 2 redirect the opponents energy by manipulating the qi outside your body skill?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

@@clementray1410yes exactly! Good job putting it together. In zhou and kao we use our energy to guide their energy in certain directions. They become one and travel together under our guidance. 😃🙏

[@tranquil_dude]

The "human on shaky chair on earthquake..." analogy was really illuminating, in another way. Most of us *think* we've aligned with a chair just by sitting on it, but when the chair gets shaky, that's when we realize: there's more to alignment than just being on top of it. Similarly, most of us *think* we've aligned with the Earth just by standing on it, but when there's an Earthquake, we realize: ok, there's more work to be done in order to truly align with the Earth. Finally, most of us *think* we've aligned our upper & lower bodies just by adopting a "good posture", but when our legs start to get wobbly, give way, etc., that's when we realize: this alignment still needs fixing ... on a subtle, dynamic level that goes beyond crude bodily posture.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

What a beautiful post! You are totally right and thank you for sharing and pointing this out more clearly! 😃🙌🙏

[@kingofaikido]

Chester, I think you're right on all counts, including the final assessment of why it hasn't been openly shared. But if you give away the whole farm, everyone would compete with you, no..? Thus, paradoxically, it could be argued that the knowledge was not shared so as to prevent the very negative scenario of every-unenlightened-person's-desire-to-be-Chief. If everybody would be Chief, then there would be no Indians and thus no tribe. I gather that the Ch'ing Dynasty was authoritarian and enslaved those who believed in cooperation and harmony. 20 million people died from starvation and rebellion. Yang Lu-Chang refused to teach taichi secrets to the Manchu Emperor, while showing him a watered down version. Do you think, in the age of AI, and social media technocracy, that it doesn't matter whether we share these secrets openly now..? I say the same thing to Japanese masters, who are under the illusion that we now live in peaceful times, where the world is coming together to share knowledge. This is enabled by social media like KZbin but we would be naive if we didn't think these powerful players don't have plans of their own to subjugate humanity. I hedge my bets on a harmonious future of happy human beings filled with love...but I don't think this will come easily, when there are greedy oligarchs with visions of the future we, harmonious beings, would call dystopian nightmares. We face a tipping point...and it's building up to a global crescendo. Either we cave into endless inflation, HAARP-derived man made storms which destroys mineral rich towns, to make way for prospectors, or we say no to this endless and mindless game of manipulation and war.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Those are totally valid concerns, and let me explain why I think things can turn out alright, or even better. While there are powerful, influential persons out there who wish to have control over all the people, whether through AI or social media technocracy or any other method, it does not mean that we are helpless or powerless. And in fact, I think the best thing to do is to empower people. What those who wish to maintain power seek to do, is to deny others power. And I think by giving people the practices and means to become Tai Chi master, it empowers people to live powerfully and authentically in the face of the challenges that we inevitably face in life. Lets look at how: Social media powerfully influences those who are influenceable, those who are lost, those who are confused about themselves. By establishing a deep and powerful physical and mental Root, and by aligning ourself with our highest Spirit, practice of Authentic strengthens people against unwanted influence, from social media or scammers or anyone else. AI can create powerful illusions, through words, images, videos, audio. And as one aligns with one's highest self, and comes to know and be able to express their own highest truth, then we will not easily be captivated by the allure of AI. This is Tai Chi's Zhongding and Yi mastery, in this information era! Bad guys trying to be chiefs: We already have this issue where those with power and more knowledge bully and scam those who do not. I don't think it's very easy to whack-a-mole chase down every single one, and nor do we necessarily have the legal authority to do anything about them. But if we empower everyone to be more informed than the scammers, more confident than the bullies, and even if not everyone succeeds but if some people succeed, the number of people vulnerable to it and the number of people that permits and sustains the wanna be chiefs and scammers will continue to decrease until there is not enough room and resource for the bad guys anymore. That's my dream for empowering people through Tai Chi and other spiritual practices. In regards to giving away the farm so that everyone can compete with me: while this ultimately can happen, in my opinion there is so much more farm and farmland available than what we are talking about right now. In a given town there's currently maybe 1 or 2 tai chi teacher, with 10 to 30 students each. But you look at kickboxing schools and there may be 5 times that number. If you look at BJJ schools you'll see 10-20x that number. And that's because the merits of these other martial arts have been shown and recognized. It didn't happen because they hid their secrets and made everyone confused. I think if we really share how wonderful Tai Chi is, and we really let people see why and how it works, then maybe 10-20x more people will be interested in Tai Chi and we can have 10-20x more teachers or more. Everyone can have their own farms that are bigger farms than the farms today. And that would be fantastic! The other thing is that I am a super Tai Chi and martial arts nerd. I'm constantly farming the farm and growing new crops. When everyone has enough Root and Peng I will bring the next harvest to the farmer's market ha ha. And I'm looking forward to a world where people are all at that level and higher so we can really advance this martial art and explore new horizons! That would be a cool future worth working towards would it not? 😃

[@kingofaikido]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi Hi Chester, you made me cry, in a good way..! I might have to meditate for awhile on what you said but I have a feeling you may be right. I quietly agree with what you say about 'the farm' actually. I've been similarly creative and by the time I get to share my discoveries, or don't actually, I've already discovered half a dozen new things through my research. Sometimes, I feel as though I can't keep up with myself..! But, my dad, and other teachers who are stuck in the old mode of not changing anything, right down to 'not speaking' as a teaching method, have steadily eroded my confidence to speak out about my insights. But...luckily, I haven't been fully crushed..! Your words just now have helped me tip the scale back onto my side. I can't thank you enough, Chester. You're right, we need more taichi, not less. And, by the time people catch up, we can offer more..!! The more empowered people feel, the less susceptible they will be to the fake gurus. You have spoken empowering words to me that I appreciate very much. So, thank you. Heaven-Man-Earth, there's nothing greater anyway..!! (well, at least so far in my taichi journey...(I still can't do that 'shaking' style that that man in New York does...)

[@alexchen5811]

Problem is not the sharing or lack of. Problem is that nothing has been shown in a real sparring or fight scenario to prove the techniques work. I have no doubt in the right hands the techniques work, because I do Taiji and have gotten into street fights and hard sparring, and so I know the stuff works. But, I was never formally trained through a school or system, am rather unorthodox, and so, to prove it works we need an actual master from an actual school using the stuff in a real fight or sparring scenario to show that the techniques are legit. Unfortunately, the only video I have ever seen of an old man in Vietnam beating down a biker with Taiji moves in a real streetfight (the biker tried to rob the old man but was tossed about) has been removed by KZbin. Wish I had downloaded it.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

@@kingofaikido happy for you my friend! 😃🙏

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

@@alexchen5811very good point about footage! I’m gradually collecting sparring footage whenever I get a good opponent to work and show this with. I look forward to sharing it when it’s all done! 😃🙏