Tai Chi 5 Elements Form

Video Transcript

"Tai Chi relates directly to Chinese medicine. A lot of the exercises will often relate either to the I Ching or even the 5 Elements. One of the exercises that I'd like to show is called is called an Elements 4. So each one of the movements represents one of the Chinese 5 Elements. This is fire. You want to imagine everything coming out. Bring it in, slowly. Feel like it's water. Water in the ocean. Slow, flowing, deep and smooth. Breathing. Bring the hands around like you got the trunk of a tree. Trace it all the way up, feel yourself getting strong, rooted into the ground. Expand the branches wide. That's wood. Now earth, or mountain. Bring it up. Now it is wind. Bring the right hand, shift the weight. The left. Nice, even movements. Inhale. Then exhale. The left hand is going to drop and speedily catch up with the right. Back to fire. "