“Use the soles of the feet to follow gravity and the ground’s rebound force. Convert the earth’s potential energy into power for Taiji movements. Only by using gravity and rebound can one feel the ‘floating and sinking like a boat on water’ and truly enter the gate of Taiji.”
This sounds mystical and attractive—but it easily leads practice astray.
Real Taiji has never been about borrowing power from external sources. Taiji trains the body’s internal harmony and its naturally generated integrated force.
1. Taiji trains internal harmony, not external borrowing
The essence of Taiji is zheng jin (整劲)—whole-body integration. It is not:
pushing through the legs,
adding force in the shoulders,
hardening the waist,
or amplifying muscular effort.
Instead, zheng jin is:
the coordinated rhythm of the whole body,
unity of upper–lower, inside–outside,
natural power that emerges without exertion.
It is the unfolding of one’s internal vitality, not a mechanical exchange of forces with the ground.
2. The idea of “ground rebound force” is a misunderstanding
In physics, ground reaction force exists—but only when you actively push against the ground.
If you do not push, there is no rebound.
And pushing into the ground is fundamentally the same as:
pushing with the shoulders,
pushing with the arms,
bracing with the neck,
forcing with any local part.
All of these are localized muscular efforts, which Taiji strictly avoids.
Once local force appears:
integration breaks,
the body forms segments,
zheng jin collapses,
internal work stops.
Sun Lutang’s principle captures this precisely:
“When force is withdrawn, true jin appears.”
If you constantly push into the floor seeking rebound, you cannot withdraw force— and without withdrawing force, jin cannot be born.
Thus, training this way leads away from Taiji, not toward it.
3. Why do people mistake this rebound sensation for Taiji jin?
Because when someone pushes into the ground, they do feel a bit of force returning upward. This feedback can easily be mistaken as:
“I found Taiji power!”
But what they feel is merely the consequence of their own muscular pushing, not the internal strength cultivated in Taiji.
True Taiji jin is:
soft yet alive,
continuous yet unforced,
present without pushing,
arising from inner coordination—not external reaction.
This is why Taiji requires:
Effortless power, natural presence.
4. The “floating and sinking” feeling comes from inside, not from the earth
The metaphor “like a boat carried by water” is correct, but its source is internal:
the body’s natural settling after releasing tension,
the rising feeling that emerges when the body is unified,
the harmonious ebb and flow of internal rhythm.
This internal buoyancy is not created by the ground, nor by rebound. It arises only from the body’s own organization.
5. Why seeking rebound prevents entry into real Taiji
Because the more you chase external force, the further you move from:
letting go of effort,
restoring internal integration,
cultivating natural jin,
sensing the body as one whole.
You begin relying on an external mechanism instead of developing the internal art.
Taiji is a path of returning to the natural state, not a technique of leveraging external power.
**Conclusion:
The gateway to Taiji is not under your feet — it is within your body**
True Taiji is not achieved by stamping, pushing, or borrowing force. It emerges when the body:
releases excess effort,
returns to unity,
becomes internally harmonious,
allows jin to grow naturally.
Only then does one truly step into the real practice of Taiji.
Many Taiji learners have heard a popular idea:
This sounds mystical and attractive—but it easily leads practice astray.
Real Taiji has never been about borrowing power from external sources.
Taiji trains the body’s internal harmony and its naturally generated integrated force.
1. Taiji trains internal harmony, not external borrowing
The essence of Taiji is zheng jin (整劲)—whole-body integration.
It is not:
Instead, zheng jin is:
It is the unfolding of one’s internal vitality, not a mechanical exchange of forces with the ground.
2. The idea of “ground rebound force” is a misunderstanding
In physics, ground reaction force exists—but only when you actively push against the ground.
If you do not push, there is no rebound.
And pushing into the ground is fundamentally the same as:
All of these are localized muscular efforts, which Taiji strictly avoids.
Once local force appears:
Sun Lutang’s principle captures this precisely:
If you constantly push into the floor seeking rebound,
you cannot withdraw force—
and without withdrawing force, jin cannot be born.
Thus, training this way leads away from Taiji, not toward it.
3. Why do people mistake this rebound sensation for Taiji jin?
Because when someone pushes into the ground,
they do feel a bit of force returning upward.
This feedback can easily be mistaken as:
“I found Taiji power!”
But what they feel is merely the consequence of their own muscular pushing,
not the internal strength cultivated in Taiji.
True Taiji jin is:
This is why Taiji requires:
4. The “floating and sinking” feeling comes from inside, not from the earth
The metaphor “like a boat carried by water” is correct,
but its source is internal:
This internal buoyancy is not created by the ground,
nor by rebound.
It arises only from the body’s own organization.
5. Why seeking rebound prevents entry into real Taiji
Because the more you chase external force,
the further you move from:
You begin relying on an external mechanism
instead of developing the internal art.
Taiji is a path of returning to the natural state,
not a technique of leveraging external power.
**Conclusion:
The gateway to Taiji is not under your feet —
it is within your body**
True Taiji is not achieved by stamping, pushing, or borrowing force.
It emerges when the body:
Only then does one truly step into the real practice of Taiji.