Tai Chi Essential: Internal Expansion

[@joanfirra8421]

Joyous magic, a balloon! It is no wonder children love balloons. Tai Chi can return us to that sense of joy.

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thank you, Joan! 🙂

[@brigittemilde44]

Nickels explained 👍❤️

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thanks so much!

[@brigittemilde44]

Sorry, I was going to say very nicely explained . Thank you for this Video ❤️👍

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thank you! 😊

[@girishahuja2192]

Very grateful for a wonderful simulation to understand Chi. Only one clarification, if no air leaks how fresh chi will enter body. I experience that after inhalation of air leads to expansion then compression followed by exhalation to complete cycle. I may be stupid to understand like that but i request u to explain where is exhalation of air. Stay blessed always for making all of us healthier. Girish

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thank you for your insightful question and request for clarification. The "breath" is a metaphor for the expansion, it is not something we actually do. We must allow our breathing to be natural. So "Chi" as I am explaining it in this video is not "air" or "breath" rather it is bioelectrical energy and life energy. It is more a function of allowing this energy to have room to work its magic by expanding our "selves" like the balloon. This is done with the mind, not by a physical action (such as breathing or physically expanding). And yes, there are two things happening at once: imagine the balloon as a nucleus, a center. As the balloon expands, the center becomes smaller and more refined. That is the Yin/Yang, the balancing. I recently was reminded of something my Master and mentor would say: a center so small it is invisible and expansion so big it has no boundaries. I hope this helps clarify a bit! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@darlenekearney3259]

That was excellent.

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thank you.😊

[@PrudentStudent666]

Empty space.

[@InternalTaiChi]

That is absolutely correct.

[@FrankChiang-s3z]

Your theory makes you feel good but does nothing to help your tai chi, sorry to say this.

[@InternalTaiChi]

Hi Frank, thanks for watching and offering your opinion. If you watch a few of my other videos about Song, I think you may (maybe not) see otherwise. With the quality of expansion, there is effortless power. If you do not want to believe me, then watch this highly skilled practitioner and teacher, Liang DeHua, demonstrate how expansion (Peng) easily moves someone: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4GYn3aPjNafrtksi=imHnYgepx4_NTldp

[@FrankChiang-s3z]

@InternalTaiChi thanks for coming back to me with your response. Here is my take: You are right about "expansion" and this idea is embedded in the word "peng", though English translation into "push" gives wrong ideas to generations of English speakers. But your idea about "air pressure" is incorrect because air does not create (enough) pressure in the chest (like a balloon) or any other parts of our body. If you are talking about air as if it is chi then it is even more speculative because even if chi exists no one talks, as far as I know, about creating "chi pressure".

[@FrankChiang-s3z]

@InternalTaiChi "peng" is achieved by something else but it is for you to figure out.

[@FrankChiang-s3z]

@InternalTaiChi I met him in Thailand, I was not impressed. Same for 2 other skilled martial artists.

[@InternalTaiChi]

@@FrankChiang-s3z You are correct in that a definition of "push" is incorrect. In this video I have not said or inferred either "push" or "air pressure." The balloon is a simple visual metaphor for to explain expansion and a filling with emptiness which can create space in our body. The operative word being "metaphor." I am known for being able to create visuals that make esoteric concepts more accessible...such as Peng or Song, which I certainly do understand and can create. Please do not take my teachings when using props literal. If you are not happy with the teachings of me or other teachers, I suggest you keep searching. Or if you feel you have a better way of conveying and teaching concepts perhaps a better approach would be to share your own videos with the Tai Chi community. Wishing you all the best in your journey.