• The 19 Form

  Why do some stances have one foot on the ground and the other on tip toe?

  Posted by Frances Phelps on September 23, 2024 at 5:08 pm

  User writes:

  My question again comes from my Kung Fu and Schwang Yang background. I have normally been led to believe that stance is key as a foundation to external and internal martial arts. In the 19 form there are some pushes whilst only firmly on one foot, with the other on tip toe. Please could you explain this to help me understand the purpose?

  Stephan Berwick responds:

  What you’re seeing is the Tai Chi expressing power from softness, with the upper body more soft or “Yin” and the lower body more hard or “Yang”’. Tai Chi builds this physical state from the ground up, and then side to side, where each side of the body is more Yang, while the other is more Yin. You can see it in stances with one heel lifted, which in Chinese martial arts is often called “empty” stance, exemplifying the Yin/Yang balance we strive for. That is a key to our expression of a more relaxed, lively power that derives from a command of hard and soft.

  Frances Phelps replied 1 week, 5 days ago 1 Member · 0 Replies
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