Folding the hip joints is an activity human being do a few dozen times a day if not hundreds. Ironically, it becomes challenging or awkward for a person to fold the hip joints for a specific Tai Chi (Taiji) movement. I was lost and totally baffled as far as how to execute it when I first studied the art. It was almost 20 years ago when my friend Sifu Tim Bruewer saw me practice a Tai Chi form. Tim studies Wudang Tai Chi while I study Chen Style. Nevertheless, Tai Chi principles are the same regardless of styles. Tim is a man of integrity and never flatters others to be diplomatic nor criticizes fellow practitioners to boost his own ego. I asked him how I did it. He did not comment that I was good or bad but plainly pointed out that I didn’t sit Kuas. I was dumbfounded and had no idea that without Kua sitting I wasn’t considered doing Tai Chi at all. It turns out that many long-time practitioners don’t fold their hip joints and neither do some Tai Chi instructors.
Hip Joints are amazing. They are a socket type of joints where the thigh bones or femurs meet the pelvis. Femoral heads are round and fit in the socket well. With the assist from hip and thigh muscles, the hip joints can be flexed, extended, and folded easily. Sitting, crossing legs, parting legs, squatting, and bending upper body forward and down all require the maneuvering of the hip joints and folding the hip joints counts for most of the activities. Kuas are the hip joints in Chinese. Sitting Kuas means sitting the hip joints by folding them.
To help people combat COVID-19 globally by strengthening the health, I started a free Tai Chi & Qigong Lesson program on Mar. 16, 2020 and have live streamed 147 episodes as of Jan. 25, 2021 with viewership from 30 plus countries and total views exceed 400,000 across several online platforms. You can see all recorded sessions at one of my Facebook pages. I have addressed the importance of folding the hip joints and demonstrated it numerous times on many classes. However, it is not an easy concept to understand. Folding the hip joints is like sitting down on a chair or stool that our hip joints fold automatically and the inguinal crease will bend. During the online class on Jan. 25, 2021, I demonstrated in details how to fold the hip joints. When practicing Tai Chi, one should never lock any joints, especially the knees, elbows, and hip joints. When the knees are softly bent, the hip joints can be folded easily while the upper body remains upright. I cautioned the audience against tilting the bottom of the pelvis forward because it will lock the hip joints and make them inflexible. Another way to say folding the hip joints is relaxing the hip joints or Song Kuas in Chinese.
Tai Chi Thirteen Postures (Tai Chi Shi San Shi) are Peng (Ward off), Lu (Roll back), Ji (Squeeze), An (Press or Shove), Cai (Pluck), Lei (Split), Zhou (Elbow strike), Kao (Shoulder bump), Zuo Gu (Look left or Turn left), You Kan (Look right or Turn right), and Zhong Ding (Central equilibrium). We are continuously turning right or left while going through a Tai Chi routine. Turning the body in Tai Chi chuan is a different concept than other exercises. In Tai Chi chuan, turning the body actually means turning the entire upper body or torso. The proper way of turning the torso is by folding one side of the hip joints more so that the entire upper body will turn accordingly. Turning the body this way and not turning at the waist, the opposite side of the knee will not be pulled inwards. For example, if you fold your right hip joint and your torso will turn right but the left knee will pretty much stays in its place and the left knee will remain aligned with the left toes, which is a safety requirement of Tai Chi chuan. A few years ago, I was invited to teach at a Tai Chi workshop. After a class, an attendee approached me and stated that he probably should stop teaching the healing art because of his age. I told him that age makes a person a better instructor provided that s/he continues to learn and teach. He revealed that his knees hurt while practicing Tai Chi. I had an inclination and asked him to turn his torso to the right. Surely, he turned his waist and his left knee was pulled and twisted inwards. I demonstrated how to fold the hip joint properly. He followed the instruction. Voila! No more pain! There is a Tai Chi adage: “Qu Xi, Song Kua, Zhuan Yao”, which means bending knees, relaxing the hip joints, and turning the body. Tai Chi chuan was designed based on the body physics. It is remarkable how our body parts are connected to each other. Without suitable alignments or movements, unintended injuries may occur.
Tai Chi chuan is created based on the philosophy of Yin/Yang. In universe, we have day/night and winter/summer, but nothing stands still. It is always moving and morphing from one end to the other. In Tai Chi chuan, we need to keep shifting the body weight to express Yin and Yang. If the body weight is on the right side, the right foot is viewed as the Yang or solid side and the left foot is the Yin or empty side. The weight transitioning has to be performed in a circular manner not back and forth like seesawing. With accurate Kua sitting, the body will move non-linearly. If you trace the movement, it resembles the center line or the S line of a Tai Chi symbol. As the routine progresses, the movement of the core of the body draws an infinite symbol. This type of spiraling movement generates the Silk Reeling energy and makes Tai Chi chuan the grand martial owing to its enormous power. Not to mention that the dopamine increases the secretion consequently. When Kuas are sitting faultlessly, the hip line will remain parallel to the ground during the form practicing and the tail bone will consistently point downward. If someone’s hip is tilting or swaying up and down, it is a clear indication that the hip joints are not sat appropriately.
I am including the recorded class video here for your convenience. You can watch it and learn how to sit Kuas and let me know if you have any question. There are three major stages in learning a Tai Chi movement, which are Xin (means the heart) Ming, Shen (the pronunciation is flat and means the body) Ming and Shen (the pronunciation goes up and means spirit) Ming. Xin Ming means conceptually understanding the movement, Shen (the pronunciation is flat) Ming is physically understanding the movement and the body is capable of executing the movement flawlessly, and Shen (the pronunciation goes up) Ming means spiritually understanding the profound meaning of the movement. A good instruction helps students grasp the concept faster. It will take time and effort to translate what’s in the head to the body. It might be a painstaking process to “teach” the body how to move accordingly. A seasoned teacher can advise students how to move properly or pin-point the root cause of the mistake. Recently, a student who got the gist of folding the hip joints quickly while practicing it without any arm movements. However, the knees were pulled in while doing Cloud Hands with both arms moving because the attention was migrated from the hip joints to the arms. Tai Chi chuan is highly nuanced and rich in details. There are many other distractions to hinder the right moves also. Listen to your body closely and if something does not feel right, then adjustments may be necessary. This trial-and-error approach can be boring, taxing or frustrating; notwithstanding, during training we should let go of any thoughts and focus only on our body. In the mindfulness practice, it is called meditation. It may take much practice to be proficient and even more to develop a long-term muscle memory so you are accurate every time. It is worthwhile. After all, there is no end game in learning Tai Chi chuan and it is the process that matters. Years after I learned how to sit Kuas. One day my coach scolded me for not sitting the Kuas. I protested it and he called out a couple of movements that I missed. Darn it! Yes, it is important to be persistently mindful as we go through the form sequencing even though we may have memorized all movements well.
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Thank you Violet, this really helps a beginner to understand.
Excellent explanation! Thank you so much. This is very helpful.
Just sent you question on hip folding, then found hip folding page, thanks
Let me know if you have any further question. — Violet