Video:Ice Walking in Tai Chi

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Transcript:Ice Walking in Tai Chi

Hi. I’m Lenny Friedland from Long River Tai Chi Circle here for about.com. A very simple but powerful exercise is called Ice walking.

Visualize Walking on Ice for to Practice Tai Chi

We call it ice walking because the image is as if you are out in the wild and there’s a frozen pond that for some reason you have to cross. But, you’re not sure quite how frozen the pond is. So, if you walk, like your upstairs neighbors for example. And you come to a soft spot in the ice what will happen is you will break through. Sploosh. You’ll get all wet and cold and not pleasant.

Ice Walking Requires Soft Graceful Steps

So instead, what we do is we put the foot down absolutely weightlessly. Theres absolutely no weight in the foot whatsoever and then slowly and carefully pour the weight into the foot. Listening with the sense of the foot filling up with the weight till I have 100 percent in the leg. And then I take the next step. Pour the weight in. Step the foot weightlessly, relax it on the ground, gradually gradually pour the weight in. Very slow walking and very considerate. As if we’re listening as if I start to hear the ice crack. I can stop and change my mind.

Tai Chi Ice Walking is a Beneficial Practice

Ice Walking is a beneficial exercise because it’s a very simple exercise that helps us learn a number of things. First we develop a sense of delicacy, a sense of grace. We’re not clumsy, we’re not falling into our step. Instead we’re moving with consciousness, with awareness, with delicacy. It’s actually also very pragmatic for navigating on slippery surfaces because the mechanics of ice walking are such that we do not push off with the foot. So the chance of falling or slipping are greatly reduced if we walk in this manner.

We learn to listen to the foot, to be sensitive to what’s going on. To hear what’s happening down below to connect to our route and to conscious of where we are and what we’re doing. So instead of just bullying our way through life. We’re actually a bit more graceful.

So, take a step, shift the weight, pour the weight in. Take a step, relax the foot on the ground, pour the weight in. Take a step, relax the foot on the ground, pour the weight in. Take a step, relax the foot on the ground. Bring the foot back. There should be no weight in that foot right now. Put the foot out with no weight. Now pour the weight in. Take the next step and just walk around putting the foot down empty, pouring the weight in. Keep the head suspended from heaven. Back straight. Put the foot down flat, relax the foot on the ground. Pour the weight in.

This is called Ice Walkig. Thanks for watching to learn more visit us on the web at About.com.