Grandmaster Tse’s Tàijí Fist 167

Breathing – Part 3

On the other hand, when we are doing movements that are closing, sinking, releasing, Fā Jìn 發勁 and striking, we breathe out. In Tàijí Qǐ Shì 太極起勢 – Tàijí Start, when our hands are sinking down, we will breathe out. In Dān Biān 單鞭 – Single Whip, when we have finished opening and sink our Qi to the Dantian at the end we will breathe out. When we are doing Yǎn Shǒu Gōng Chuí 掩手肱捶 – Conceal and Strike, at the moment we punch and use Fā Jìn, we will breathe out, and in In Liù Fēng Sì Bì 六封四閉 – Six Sealing and Four Closing, when we are pushing out with both palms we will also breathe out.

There are many movements where we breathe out, but again we should not think too much about this and we should instead breathe naturally. This is the best thing to do. When we relax, our body will tell us what to do and how to breathe and it should all come naturally. Sometimes, when we think about it then we can change when we would normally breathe in to breathing out. For example in Yún Shǒu 雲手 – Cloud Hands, when we are stepping we can breathe either way, it all depends how you breathe on the first step.

So, we should not think about our breathing when we are practising our Tàijíquán太極拳. Instead we should think about the principles of Tàijíquán;

1. Relaxation
2. Posture
3. Move from the waist
4. Upper body light, lower body firm
5. Fajin from the inside to the outside