12/12/2025
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TAIJIQUAN’S MIND-BODY CONNECTION
One of the often-cited benefits of Taijiquan is that it builds a strong mind-body connection. That’s true, but how does it happen? I don’t think we have to resort to mystical thinking to explain it. Neither do I think it takes decades to establish. Rather, I think it happens every time we practice and that it proceeds in many small and ordinary ways. It doesn’t take some lofty “mastery.” It works for everyone, as long as they practice.
The most basic idea is that we have to direct our body to move. While that’s happening, we have to monitor our actions. We have to relax, move slowly, keep our balance, and maintain an upright posture. As we check ourselves moment-by-moment, a feedback loop is created. That is the very mind-body connection that so interests us.
Some teachers believe that breathing during Taijiquan will come naturally. I think there are basic guidelines to bear in mind. Roughly speaking: exhale when you punch or kick, inhale when you bring your limbs back; exhale when you lower your body, inhale when you rise. Coordinating that is another layer of the mind-body connection.
There’s a lot to remember—the poetic names of the postures, whether in Chinese or English; the sequence; the philosophical ideas (primarily the play of yin and yang); stories of the old masters; the need for softness and grace; Daoist theories of internal alchemy; and the fighting applications. All that gets mixed in too, again strengthening the mind-body connection.
Finally, Taijiquan has immediate effects: one feels calmer, healthier, and invigorated. That surely improves body and mind together.
Taijiquan offers tremendous health benefits and psychological balance to everyone who practices through a mind-body connection that builds with the completion of every set.
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Chen Zhaokui (1928–1981)
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