The body in T’ai Chi Chuan is often discussed as two halves – the “mountain” below the waist and the “river” above the waist, or, stated in a different way, the root of the legs and the branches and leaves of the arms. To generate power, though, these two halves cannot be separated, and the pathway that connects the body into a unified whole is the waist.
A famous saying is that the “waist is the master of the body.” Another version of this slogan is that the waist is the “wagon wheel “or the “banner holder.” The gist of these maxims is that the waist connects and directs the energy and power of the legs to the arms and hands. The waist turns like a wheel or waves like a flag, but without a soft waist and its unbridled motion, there is no cumulative flow of power. The waist effectively steers or direct the muscular power (or Li) of the legs through the torso and into the arms.
Subsequently, the waist being relaxed and open is vital, which is why Yang Cheng Fu makes “Relax the waist” the third of his ten points regarding Tai Chi. His dictum to “Relax the Waist” emphasizes that a soft waist is the commander and directs the movement of the entire body. The waist links to the power of the legs and guides that energy upwards through the spine, into the arms, and expressed by the hands. If the waist is tight, power (or jing) will be stuck in the legs and the upper half of the body will be disconnected from the lower half. Power is generated by the legs, directed by the waist, and expressed in the hands.
The waist serves an important structural function for the body creating a pathway that resembles either a capital letter H or an X. The rotation of the waist links the foot and the hand on the same side of the body like the letter H with the movement being a “lever” (as in Brush the Knee as the energy from the back foot arcs to the forward hand), or the waist connects across the body from left to right or right to left like a letter X as a upward spiral (as in Single Whip when the energy crosses from the back foot to the opposite hand forward). In either case, the turning of the waist bridges and steers the power; consequently, the waist must be open with no inhibited range of motion so that the energetic flow is not obstructed and diminished. With the bridge unimpeded, the energetic force is amplified by the midsection as it courses from the feet to the hands.
Not only does the waist generate physical power or Jing, it is key to health since one of the main energetic channels of the body circles the lower torso and is known as the Dai Mai channel. That channel, often called the Belt or Girdle channel, is associated with Nei Wei Qi, internal defensive Qi, that surrounds the body like a cocoon to keep a person, healthy and protected from pathogens, microbes, toxins, and bacterial infections. Proper waist rotation not only unifies the body for T’ai Chi Chuan, such movement simultaneously massages the Dai Mai channel and stimulates Wei Qi (Immune system Qi) for health and healing. A principle of Traditional Chinese Medicine (or TCM) is that specific movements bend, stretch, and massage particular channels and various organs to enhance physiological balance and harmony. And such waist movement also stimulates the kidneys, liver, spleen, and stomach ensuring proper circulation of blood, lymph, adrenaline, serotonin, and more. A soft waist coupled with unimpeded rotation and movement contributes to the balancing of the body’s various circulatory, energetic, and organ systems—thereby working to maintain health and the body’s ability to heal.
Truly, the waist is the master of physical power and health for the body, and it is the flag of physical well-being and fitness.