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Tai Chi Chuan is called the art of Yin and Yang. A central idea in traditional Chinese thought is the philosophy of Yin and Yang represented by the Tai Chi symbol. Tai Chi Chuan is said to embody the concepts of Tai Chi in its movements and in its martial arts strategy.  

How exactly Tai Chi practitioners achieve or express this is a subject of greatly enjoyed debate amongst Tai Chi experts. Often the debate itself becomes so enjoyable that the practice stops, and the tea drinking begins. All kidding aside, Tai Chi Chuan does have a great system of movement that is cleverly expressed using, for a Chinese person, the familiar ideas of Yin and Yang.  

In part 1 of Yin and Yang in Tai Chi we looked at the legs and in particular at consciously shifting your weight during Tai Chi. Now let’s look at the arms. 

An image of Sifu Jensen performing Tai Chi taken from Tai Chi Course Exerpts. 10,000 Victories school is located in San Rafael, Marin, CA.

In Tai Chi Yin and yang are expressed clearly by the arms during movement. The two external ways to see or show Yin and Yang in the arm movements and one internally. External means another person can clearly see the quality being described because it is big enough and not hidden or subtle. Internal means that a viewer would have hard time seeing this quality unless they were also a trained expert. The two external ways that arms express yin and yang is first by inward rotation and outward rotation. And second by extending outward away from the center of the body or withdrawing backward closer to the body. Internally we can practice Yin and Yang in the arms by opening and closing our joints.  

Expressing Yin and Yang with the rotation of the arms means becoming conscious of how we rotate and move our arms. The movement of our arms should begin in our shoulders and extend to the tips of our fingers. This means that we initiate the movement of our fingers or hand and wrist deep in the muscles underneath, around, and in front of the shoulder blade and collar bone. When we twist our arm outward this is said to be Yang. When we rotate our arm inward this is Yin. Ideally, we will always be consciously rotating our arms inward or out at all times during Tai Chi Form practice. One arm can rotate inward and be Yin and the other arm can rotate outward and be Yang. The two arms do not need to both inward or outward rotating at the same time. Any combination is fine. The point is the rotational aspect of movement never ceases.  

From the moment you begin moving during your Tai Chi Form practice your arms will have some rotating aspect. Sometimes this rotating or coiling inward or unwinding outward can be subtle and hard to see. Even though it might be hard to as the practitioner you endeavor to clearly feel and control the rotating aspect of the arms that begins in the shoulders and powers the twisting action of the forearms and wrists. Understanding and utilizing this rotating quality gives the structure of each of your movements much more internal strength and outward force.  

Learning how to originate the movement of your arm and twisting of your forearm deep in shoulder makes all your movements much more integrated. This helps to connect the movements of your entire arm to your spine, hips, and stance. Although most people watching a Tai Chi performance would have a hard time identifying the qualities that make it so beautiful and graceful. I think this gentle rotation of the arms, especially coordinated from deep in the shoulder definitely adds a unique beauty, grace, life and fluidity to the arm movements.  

Moving in this way uses the muscles all around the shoulder blade and the rib cage. Keeping your shoulders strong, flexible, and healthy is aided by making sure that shoulders move, rotate and open and close fully. Many important acupoints on the Heart, Lung, and Pericardium meridians in Traditional Chinese medicine are found in these areas. Using these movements to open and close these areas stimulates and harmonizes the circulation of Qi or vital energy throughout these areas. 

Learning how to use the idea of Yin and Yang to learn how to deeply rotate your arms from deep in your shoulders and enhance the power and health benefits of your movements.  

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