Tai Chi Ball

The Tai Chi ball involves holding your hands out as if holding a basketball in front of you. The elbows should be slightly bent. You then move the imaginary ball around in a circular fashion as if to rotate it, keeping both hands in correct alignment. Each hand reciprocates and assists the other, for example if the left hand is holding the ball at the bottom, palm facing up, then the right hands assists by being placed above.

If you want to move the ball to the side of your body, the arm of the hands positioned underneath the ball tends to pin to the body. There are several reasons for this. First of all, a weight bearing arm, or one that is manipulating an object with precision would need to remain close to the body. This is so that it is almost fastened as a connective link to the centre of gravity, or the hara centre1. This connective link is formed of the Hara centre, which travels upwards from the hips to the diaphragm, and then out again laterally to the elbows. The resulting shape is that of a cross. Another analogy I have used is that of a tucked wing, to cover the body and exposed areas, whilst the other hand spreads out like a wing2. The connection of the elbow to the hara centre provides great energy, which is then passed through the hands.

Now, the ball can be projected out of the body rather than just remaining inside. This is the meaning of externalising the internal martial arts. The energy can also be taken from outside of the body and internalised within. In other words, the process can be reversed. But what I want to focus on here is how the ball method of energy generation can be used to enhance power and performance.

On the purely practical level, holding an imaginary ball forces you to reciprocally align and manoeuvre the body as a whole with poise and dynamic equilibrium. It doesn’t matter whether there is actually a ball there or not, the important thing is to act as if there is one and fully engage with the exercise. Taking care to handle the ball carefully, this is a simple matter and a natural starting point before moving onto mindfully engaging with more complex tasks. This principles if holding the ball, however simple it may appear, is evident in all martial arts, with some adaptions. The ball is an archetypal shape which can be expanded upon and evolved.

Jesus spoke of the living water flowing out of the belly from within. Musashi said that water adopts the shape of its container. Lao Tzu said that water is the softest thing and yet it could penetrate rocks. And what are these rocks? You could say that they are our limbs and organs, metaphorically speaking, and the river beds are our blood vessels. In other words we are the container of this invisible water, the water of life that the Chinese masters call Chi, and the Indian sages call Prana, or vital energy. Throughout the ages water has been used to describe this process and give expression to our thoughts and actions, and to inspire certain states within us3. Here too, it can be useful to symbolically represent this process with the image of water flowing like a spring from the source. This image, in moving from thought into our actions like osmosis, holds the position of intermediary between ideas and reality. Many of the mysteries people seek in martial arts are contained within this simple symbol of flowing water.

You could say that this chi, or energy, comes out to animate martial arts movements, or that our martial arts activities should centre around following the laws of this energy circulation, giving them the means to become forms. Naturally this supposes that we are not just preoccupied with violence. Accordingly, the martial artist tries to approach becoming a living embodiment of power, intensity, subtlety, and wisdom, amongst other principles, so that he can provide the material conditions for this energy to flow. In other words, channelling his inner forces so that he becomes master of his energies. He doesn’t necessarily care how this appears to others. The physical manifestations of this energy may not appear to us as we imagine them, but thought offers the most creative means of expression. Physical expression is limited, the imagination is not. That is why Martial Arts today should not limit itself to purely practical considerations such as being able to knock someone out. What good is it to hear about health, subtly, energy, and flowing water, if you are simply content to hit someone like a wild animal.