Basic Tai Chi for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide | Walking Tai Chi (Part 1)

Hello everyone, it's Bo, and welcome to my English Taiji channel. Do you want to build a solid foundation for your Taiji practice? Today I will be teaching you the Taiji walking technique, one of the most crucial fundamental skills in traditional Taiji. Mastering Taiji walking is essential not only for improving your balance and fluidity, but also for ensuring you have the proper groundwork for more advanced practices. Start from this video, I will guide you through a series of videos to help you progressively learn Taiji walking. Whether you are an absolute beginner or someone who has already practiced Taiji, this video will be easy to follow and offer valuable insights to enhance your practice. So, let's get started. When practicing Taiji, mastering the footwork is essential. This involves visualizing yourself at the center of a square. For example, a square like this. And you will visualize yourself at the center of this square. Intersected by two diagonals representing four directions. Movement is primarily along these diagonals, adhering for specific sequence for both forward and reverse movement. Let's get started. First, begin by lifting the tip of your left foot and turn it to the left diagonal, which means you are trying to turn your left foot for 45 degrees and put it on the ground. And then turn your waist to your right diagonal, or try to turn your waist to your right diagonal. And simultaneously, relax downward your weight onto your left foot and lift your right leg gently. And extend your right leg forward like this and shift your weight forward. Try to shift all your weight onto your right foot. And then shift your weight backward to your left foot. All right. And after that, shift your weight forward. And now, continue shifting your weight forward and lift the left heel, your left heel. And after that, lift your entire left foot. And bring your left leg back and turn your waist to your left. Extend your left leg forward. Try to place your left heel on the ground gently. And now, shift your weight forward to your left foot. And after that, shift your weight backward to your right foot. And lift your right heel. Bring your right leg back and try to rotate your waist. And try to extend your right leg forward and try to place your right heel on the ground gently. And shift your weight forward. And then backward. Shift all your weight onto your left foot. Extend your left leg. Try to place your left heel on the ground gently. And shift your weight forward and backward. And shift your weight forward to your left foot. Bring your right leg back and turn your waist to your right. And shift your weight backward. Bring your left leg back. At the beginning of this learning and practicing, you will have to pay attention to the technique of the weight transfer. For example, now, here, my right leg currently bears the weight. All right. So, my right leg starts shifting my weight towards my left leg. And as weight shifts, my left leg gradually becomes bent. Not through any deliberate bending on its part like this. But as a natural response to the weight shifting towards it. Additionally, avoid deliberately bending your unweighted leg just to shift your weight. When you are transferring the weight, you will have to stay focused on the leg that's actively transferring the weight. And let your unweighted leg to respond naturally. All right. I've discussed this weight transfer technique in one of the previous videos. If you haven't watched it yet, here is a link. I highly recommend checking it out. Let's get started again. Lift the tip of your left foot and turn it to a left diagonal. And turn your waist at the same time. So, which means you will try to turn your waist and your left foot to your left for 45 degrees. All right. And place it back down. And after that, turn your waist to your right. And relax downwards your weight to your left foot. Simultaneously lift your right leg. And extend your right leg forward. And try to place your right heel on the ground gently. But if you can't manage to do this gently at first, it's completely okay. Don't worry. However, make an effort to touch as lightly as possible each time. All right. Continue. Shift your weight forward. Shift all your weight onto your right foot. And shift your weight backward. And then stay focused on your left leg. And shift your weight forward to your right foot. Bring your left leg back. And try to turn your waist to your left. Extend your left leg. Shift your weight forward. And then backward. And continue shifting your weight forward. And first, lift your right heel and then your entire right foot. And here, once you bring your right leg back. And here, if your body is shaking or if you tremble. If you can't keep a good balance of your body, that's totally okay. You don't have to worry about it. Because at the beginning, every practitioner, we can't keep the balance very good. All right. Forward. Bring your left leg back. And try to turn your waist to your left. And extend your left leg forward. Just try to place your left heel on the ground. Gently. And then shift your weight backward. All right. Now, all your weight is now on your right foot. So you will stay focused on your right leg. Who is actively shifting the weight forward onto your left foot. And bring your right leg back. Turn your waist to your right. And extend your right leg. Try to place the right heel on the ground gently. Bring your left leg back. Turn your waist to your left. Extend your left leg forward. And shift your weight forward. So now all your weight is on your left foot. So it's your left foot and leg who is transferring the weight backward. And then it's your right leg who is actively shifting your weight forward. Bring your right leg back. All right. Again, lift the tip of your left foot. Turn it with your waist to your left about 45 degrees. And then relax downward your weight to your left foot. And simultaneously lift your right leg. All right. And extend your right foot forward. Try to place your right heel on the ground gently. And shift your weight forward and backward. All right. So there is another thing that you will have to pay attention when you're learning Taiji walking. For example, the ideal angle of your waist rotation here is 90 degrees. Because between two diagonals, it's 90 degrees, right? But the 90 degree rotation is just the ideal angle. Which means if you can only manage for like 45 or 60 degrees, that's totally okay. You don't have to worry about it. But with continuous practice, you will gradually achieve the ideal angle. All right. Let's continue. Try to extend your left leg and shift your weight forward. And as I said before, here if your body is shaking or if you can't keep a very good body balance, it's normal. You don't have to worry about it. And every practitioner at the beginning, we can't keep a very good body balance. All right. That's fine. Bring your left leg back and try to turn your weight to the left. And extend your left leg. Shift your weight forward. All right. Now stay focused on your left leg. Your left leg will gently shift your weight backward to your right leg. And now it's the turn of your right leg, which is actively shifting your weight forward. Shift your weight forward. And then backward. All right. So here all your weight is on your left foot. And your left leg is actively transferring the weight forward. Bring your left leg back and simultaneously turn your weight to your left. And extend your left leg. And try to place the left heel on the ground gently. And then shift your weight forward and backward. All right. Lift your right heel and then lift the entire right foot. Bring it back. One more time. Turn your weight to your left and turn your left foot to your left. About 45 degrees. And turn your weight to your right. Relax. Turn your weight simultaneously. Lift your right leg and extend your right leg forward. And try to place the heel on the ground gently. And shift your weight forward. And now continue shifting your weight forward and lift your left heel. And then your entire left foot. Bring your left leg back. Simultaneously turn your weight to your left. And extend your left leg forward. Shift your weight forward to your left foot. And shift your weight backward. To your right foot. And every time when you shift your weight between your feet. You will always try to shift all your weight. All right. So because if every time we try to shift the weight. All the weight between the feet. Between our feet. The practice will be more efficient. And for example here. Even if I said we have to try to all. We have to try to shift all the weight between the feet. But once we shift all the weight on the back foot. We will not try to lift the tip of the front foot. All right. We don't lift the tip of the front foot. So that you will have to pay attention. Bring your right leg back. And try to turn your weight to your right simultaneously. And then extend your right leg. Shift your weight forward. And then backward. So please pay attention here. Don't lift the tip of your front foot. All right. And here. If when you are shifting your weight forward. If you feel that your back foot is not very comfortable. You can adjust yourself by turning your back heel. For example here. If I don't. For example if my foot is like this. If my right foot is like this. I can lift a little bit my right heel. And turn it backward like this. For adjusting myself. All right. So we can also for example. If my right foot is like that. And it's not comfortable either. So I can lift a little bit my right heel. And turn it forward for adjusting myself. So this is a method you can use. All right. Now bring your left leg back. And then stand up like this. All right. Now let's take a break. You can massage a little bit the areas of your body that feel tired. For example your arms. Your legs. And then we'll be back with another round of practice. All right. As I explained before. When we practice in Tai Chi walking. The ideal angle of your waist rotation is 90 degrees. For example here. We will try to rotate our waist for 90 degrees. All right. 90 degrees. But at the initial stages of your practice. If you can't fully rotate your waist for 90 degrees. That's totally okay. You don't have to worry about it. Just try to turn your waist as much as you can. For example if you can only manage for 45 degrees. Or 60 degrees. That's totally fine. All right. That's absolutely fine. You don't have to worry about it. The most important aspect in this video is get familiar with. And try to apply the technique of weight transfer. Through the practice of Tai Chi walking. We are also developing a concept and an understanding of waist rotation. Moreover if you can't fully rotate your waist for 90 degrees. As you bring your foot back. You can compensate after your heel touches the ground. For example if you can only rotate your waist for 45 or 60 degrees. That's okay. But you still need to try. You know just try. You still need to try to put your heel along the diagonal. All right. And after your heel touches the ground. You can continue to rotate your waist to reach 90 degrees. While you're shifting your weight. All right. I show you again. For example if you can only manage for 45 or 60 degrees. For example like this. You still need to try to put your heel on the ground. And after your foot your heel touches the ground. And you will start shifting your weight. Right. You can continue rotating your waist to reach the 90 degrees. This is an effective method when you start practicing Tai Chi. And you can try it out. All right let's get started again. Lift the tip of your left foot. And turn your waist with your left foot to your left. About 45 degrees. And put the tip of your left foot on the ground. And then relax downward your weight to your left foot. Onto your left foot. And turn your waist to your right. Simultaneously lift your right leg. So here you have you will have to pay attention. Once you try to relax downward your weight onto your left foot. Your left leg will become lightly bent. It's not completely straight like this. All right. So please pay attention. Shift your weight forward. And then shift your weight backward. Onto your left foot. And then forward. And continue shifting your weight forward. And bring your left leg back. Turn your waist to your left. And extend your left leg. Shift your weight backward. And then forward. And like I said before. Once you bring. You're trying to bring your foot back. And here if your body is shaking. If you can't keep a very good balance. That's totally fine. You don't have to worry about it. Backward. And then stay focused on your right leg. Shift your weight forward. Bring your right leg back. Try to place your heel on the ground gently. And shift your weight forward. Lift your left heel. And then lift your entire left foot. Bring your left leg back. Turn your waist. Simultaneously turn your waist to your left. Extend your left leg forward. Along the diagonal. Shift your weight forward. And then backward. So please pay attention here. Don't lift the tip of your front foot. All right. And here like I said before. When you are shifting your weight forward. If you feel your back foot is not very comfortable. You can adjust yourself by turning your heel. Your back heel. So for example if my right foot is like this. And while I'm shifting my weight forward. I don't feel very good. I don't feel comfortable with my right foot. So what I can do is lift a little bit my right heel. And turn it backward like this. All right. And also if my right foot is like that. I can also adjust myself by turning my right heel forward like this. But what we cannot do is. We can't lift the tip of the foot. Of the back foot to adjust ourselves. You know that is not good. We have to try to avoid it. But we can adjust ourselves by turning the back heel. Shift your weight forward. And then stay focused on your right leg. Shift backward. And now stay focused on your left foot. And shift your weight forward. Bring your left leg back. Extend your left leg. And try to touch the ground with your heel. And shift your weight forward. And then backward. All right. Now bring your right leg back. Again shift your weight forward. Backward. Turn your weight to your left. And here as I said before. The ideal angle of your waist rotation here is 90 degrees. Which means you have to turn your waist along this diagonal. All right. But if you can only manage for 45 or 60 degrees. That's totally fine. You don't have to worry about it. And you can totally compensate after your heel touches the ground. For example. If I can only turn my waist like to here. That's okay. I still have to try to place my left heel along the diagonal. And after my left heel touches the ground. I can continue to shift my waist to reach 90 degrees. Extend your leg. And shift your weight forward. And then backward. Bring your left leg back. Turn your weight to your left. And simultaneously bring your left leg back. And extend after that. Extend your left leg. Shift your weight backward. And when you are practicing the Tai Chi walking. Especially as the initial stages of your practice. You will always try to. Yeah. You will have to always try to stay focused on weight transfer. All right. Because the weight transfer is one of the most elements or concepts. That we have to learn and apply at the beginning. For example now. All my weight is on my right leg. So I have to stay focused on my right leg. Who is actively transferring the weight forward. And here. My weight is on my left leg. So I have to stay focused on my left leg. Who is currently transferring the weight backward. And then now it's my right leg. Try to place the heel on the ground gently. And also you will have to relax your shoulders and your arms. Extend your left leg. And here you can turn your heel for adjusting yourself. Bring your right leg back. And turn your waist to your right simultaneously. And extend your right leg. All right. Now bring your left leg back. All right. Let's practice one more time. Relax downward your weight. And simultaneously turn your waist to your right. And lift your right leg. So here your left leg is lightly bent. All right. It's not completely straight. Please pay attention. And shift your weight forward. And then backward. And forward. Relax your arms. Relax your shoulders. Shift your weight backward. And then forward. Lift your right heel. And then your entire right foot. All right. Let's take a break. You can massage a little bit the areas of your body that feel tired. For example, your arms, your legs. And then we'll be back with another round of practice. Let's get started again. Lift the tip of your left foot. Turn your waist to your left with your left foot. To your left about 45 degrees. And then turn your waist to your right. Simultaneously relax downward your weight onto your left foot. And lift your right leg. And extend your right leg forward along the diagonal. Your right diagonal. All right. Shift your weight backward. And then forward. Bring your left leg back. Turn your waist to your left. And extend your left leg forward. So here if you don't feel comfortable with your foot. You can adjust yourself like this. Or you can lift a little bit your back heel. And turn it forward or backward like this. For example, if my right leg is like that. When I'm transferring the weight forward. I can lift a little bit my back heel. And I can turn it backward like this. And if my right foot is like that. I can turn it forward like this. For adjusting myself. Shift your weight forward. Bring your right leg back. And then extend your right leg. Shift your weight backward. And then forward. Turn your waist to your left. And then extend your left leg along your left diagonal. And shift your weight forward. Stay focused on your left leg. Shift your weight backward. And now stay focused on your right leg. Who is actively transferring the weight forward. Lift your right heel. And then lift your entire right foot. Shift your weight forward. And then backward. And now bring your left leg back. Again, lift the tip of your left foot. And turn your waist with your left foot. To your left for 45 degrees. Which means along this diagonal. Along the left diagonal. And then turn your waist to your right. Relax down with your weight simultaneously. Lift your right leg. And then extend your right leg forward. Try to place your heel on the ground gently. And shift your weight forward. And then backward. And shift your weight forward. Turn your waist to your left. Extend your left leg. And shift your weight forward. Extend your right leg. And stay focused on your left foot. Left leg. And then now stay focused on your right leg. All right. In the end, bring your left leg back. Bring your left foot back. If you enjoy my teaching and want to deepen your Taiji practice. Visit my website linked below to access comprehensive courses. Your purchase grants you entry into our private community. Where you can ask questions and receive personalized guidance. I hope you found this video valuable. And enjoy learning Taiji walking technique with me. If you did, please give it a thumbs up. Subscribe and click the bell icon. So you won't miss any of our future videos. I'm looking forward to seeing you in the next one.