T’ai Chi for Canoeing September 11, 2007
Just when I thought there was nothing more relaxing than an afternoon on the river I come across this.
T’ai Chi for canoeing - Practice these exercises on shore to perform better on the water.
Here is an extract from the article by Betsey Foster with Karen Knight:
Paddling is all about putting that paddle, single- or double-bladed, into the water and touring, surfing, playing, and having a good time. T’ai Chi is a Chinese martial art performed very slowly on land. So what could one have to do with the other?
That was my reaction in the mid-1980s, when I started studying T’ai Chi. To my way of thinking then, my whitewater paddling and T’ai Chi were separate. As the years have passed, I have redefined each and at times wonder whether I am doing T’ai Chi in my boat while paddling or paddling while doing T’ai Chi on land.
Simply stated, T’ai Chi is a centuries-old “soft” martial art that is based on rooting, centering, and using weight shifts and waist and hip rotations to perform the movements. Energy is conserved by using the large torso muscles. The center of gravity is lowered by focusing, imaging, and relaxing into one’s root. The moves are beautiful, graceful, and flowing.
Paddling, whether on flatwater, whitewater, rivers, or oceans, is moving gracefully with and through the water using waist and hip rotations to propel your arms/paddle. The lower your center of gravity, the stabler you are in your boat.
To read the full story (canoekayak.com)
Al - Zoozoo2
Comments»
no comments yet - be the first?