Silk Reeling

Silk reeling is fundamental to Chen style Tai chi. If you practise regularly for several minutes at a time you gradually learn to feel the connection between your dantian (or centre, your waist) and your arms. You dantian is rooted in your legs and feet so the first movement to learn is the movement in the hips and legs. Then find the four different hand positions and move slowly from one to the next as you transfer your weight. This ensures that your arm fully rotates as it changes position. After a while you can move smoothly from one hand position to the next and feel how it moves in a circle, driven by the movement of the dantian. Level: easy to moderate