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Advanced Silk Reeling & Body Mechanics
Silk reeling or "chansujin" is more than a set of exercises: it is the principal method of movement in Chen Tai Chi.
This unit teaches you how to move your body in a coordinated and efficient way using all the principles of Chen Tai Chi Chuan. It builds on our Silk Reeling Foundation unit, and is suitable for more advanced students ready to upgrade their practice.
It’s based on the “cloud hands” or “wave hands” movement of Chen Tai Chi. We cover single hand, double hand and stepping methods before moving on to more detailed instruction of the body mechanics required to do this correctly.
We look at how to shift weight; foot and knee alignment; how to move the hips and sink into the hips (kua); and how to move the waist and keep the correct structure of the legs and upper body.
Finally we put this all together in the cloud/wave hands exercise, and look at how to implement the principles learnt in Lazily Tying Coat, Single Whip, and Diagonal Posture.
As a bonus we have included a section on posture testing exercises. Posture testing is a great way to see if your alignment and structure is correct and helps develop whole body power!
