Grandmaster Tse’s Tàijí Fist 166

Breathing – Part 2

When we are practising Tàijíquán太極拳, we will generally use Nì Hū Xī 逆呼吸 – Reverse Breathing. When we relax, everything is connected and our movements connect with our internal body and there is no tension. Then our breathing will become stronger and so the Dāntián will move more and its opening and closing will be bigger. Then Nì Hū Xī will start. We will also see that during certain movements, when we are opening, preparing, withdrawing and diverting, we will breathe in. For example, at the beginning of the form, in the movement Tàijí Qǐ Shì 太極起勢 – Tàijí Start, when our hands are opening, we will breathe in. In Dān Biān 單鞭 – Single Whip, when we are separating our hands out, we will breathe in. During Yǎn Shǒu Gōng Chuí 掩手肱捶 – Conceal and Strike, when we are preparing to punch, we breathe in. In Liù Fēng Sì Bì 六封四閉 – Six Sealing and Four Closing, as we are drawing the hands and diverting the enemy’s hand and  we bring both hands to the left shoulder, we breathe in. there are many movements where we breathe in and we can notice some of them, but we should not think too much about it. Just breathe naturally and we will find the right breathing.