What am I doing wrong?

[Chief Fox]

I've been practicing Tai Chi Chuan for well over a year. I don't consider myself even close to being an expert. In fact I'm still trying to learn the Yang long form. It's taking me a while.

Anyway, when I practice Tai Chi my hands are always ice cold. I warm up with chi kung exercises and then move into doing the form. My whole body is warm. Actually sweating ALOT but for some reason my hands are ice cold. I don't have poor circulation. One of the other students suggested that maybe I'm breathing wrong. Not sure.

Any thoughts?

[fiercest tiger]

Seems you are gathering more Yin Chi or losing Yang? I know someone that started Yang Taiji and became very Yin and his wife asked me to treat him with energy as he was always cold and she couldnt even lay next to him in bed.

The weird thing is i went to see him train and meet his sifu and the students all look like they are DEAD or there is now life in there Taiji.

Weird Bunch...Evil master hahaha

FT

[Tingjid]

I've been practicing Tai Chi Chuan for well over a year. I don't consider myself even close to being an expert. In fact I'm still trying to learn the Yang long form. It's taking me a while.


"It's taking me a while" should sum it up, that's Tai Chi, a half hour to perform a lifetime to perfect and it just makes me so contented. :) My question is do your hands heat up during your chi kung? If so then try doing that during your Tai Chi. It is Tai CHI after all. Also what's your visualization? Are you just trying to heat up your hands, or are you bringing chi from your center, down, around your arse, up your spine splitting it at that one point (man I would sound more professional if I remembered names instead of feelings) and then over your shoulders down your arms to your palms in order to lay waste the hordes of imaginary evil doers that just happen to be performing the right move for where you are in the form so that your application sinks up? :D At the very least I amuse myself, and that makes my day. Remember it is a martial art, if that's why you're practicing it, if not, then do you need to get chi to your hands? I'm not too knowledgeable on how much that helps in a purely health stand point, but in a martial way, chi to the hands (and feet and everywhere in between) is where it's at. Remember you can also heat the hands up through your feet, if you've studied Tai Chi for a year, you must have at some point heard the phrase "Root through feet, power through the legs, control in the waist, manifest in the hands" Granted that might win the gold in the 'Easier said than done' competition, but it's good to keep in mind.

With breathing, in my opinion, and I only do have about four years of real training to back this up (which is nothing, and that's important to remember, you'll get there but it takes patience), but just relax, and then relax and relax, then maybe control a little, but control is the wrong word, too hard, maybe persuade your breath to slow. And breath out with a strike or extension and in with a block or pull in or whatever, but that would depend on the particular form, I'd ask your Sifu, he/she should know the breathing ins and outs.

The best thing you can do is just keep trying and maintain mindfulness throughout, all things follow concentration, and at the very least it's peaceful, relaxing and good for you.

Enjoy your training

[Chief Fox]

"It's taking me a while" should sum it up, that's Tai Chi, a half hour to perform a lifetime to perfect and it just makes me so contented. :) My question is do your hands heat up during your chi kung? If so then try doing that during your Tai Chi. It is Tai CHI after all. Also what's your visualization? Are you just trying to heat up your hands, or are you bringing chi from your center, down, around your arse, up your spine splitting it at that one point (man I would sound more professional if I remembered names instead of feelings) and then over your shoulders down your arms to your palms in order to lay waste the hordes of imaginary evil doers that just happen to be performing the right move for where you are in the form so that your application sinks up? :D At the very least I amuse myself, and that makes my day. Remember it is a martial art, if that's why you're practicing it, if not, then do you need to get chi to your hands? I'm not too knowledgeable on how much that helps in a purely health stand point, but in a martial way, chi to the hands (and feet and everywhere in between) is where it's at. Remember you can also heat the hands up through your feet, if you've studied Tai Chi for a year, you must have at some point heard the phrase "Root through feet, power through the legs, control in the waist, manifest in the hands" Granted that might win the gold in the 'Easier said than done' competition, but it's good to keep in mind.

With breathing, in my opinion, and I only do have about four years of real training to back this up (which is nothing, and that's important to remember, you'll get there but it takes patience), but just relax, and then relax and relax, then maybe control a little, but control is the wrong word, too hard, maybe persuade your breath to slow. And breath out with a strike or extension and in with a block or pull in or whatever, but that would depend on the particular form, I'd ask your Sifu, he/she should know the breathing ins and outs.

The best thing you can do is just keep trying and maintain mindfulness throughout, all things follow concentration, and at the very least it's peaceful, relaxing and good for you.

Enjoy your training
Tingjid: you make some great points and touch on some things that I honestly have not even considered before.

My visualization is practically non-existent. The only thing that I visualize is collecting chi in my dantien but never expanding it at all. Maybe this is my problem.

Thanks for the reply.

[Wong Ying Home]

Trying using your Yi to lead the Chi to a point at least 10 feet infront of your finger tips when doing your chi gung, a feeling of elasticity through the tendons of the body expanding and contracting from the feet up through to the finger tips. combined with the breath

A feeling of fullness in the whole arm and body, have you ever seen the san ti stance of hsing yi or any of the yi chuan standing postures?
these are good for training the yi to lead the chi beyond the extremeties.

Visualisation is very important, but don't try and force the chi up and out more like draw it out like a silken thread.

Lift Dang Jin so you don't loose any chi

[Wong Fei Hong]

A couple of things i could mention one being where do you practise ? If the place you practise isnt suitable especially especially indoors you could be sucking in the energy without realising it and its not doign you any good.
Try training elsewhere esp outside and then,
The other is do some heavy warm up before, to get the energy flowing , like push ups sitt ups etc etc liek a normal external class. When you do the tai chi you should feel the energy or if not the energy you will feel the heat circulating more and more , now if your hands start to cool down very very fast whilst doing the form , when the external temperature isnt that cold there is definately something wrong there.

If this doesnt work you would have to look at where the imbalance is, the body might think that you are overly yang and it tries to cool you down, so a part of you that isnt hot gets extremely cold. It could be that the chi is weak and because you dont have enough to go round, it doesnt penetrate and fill you everywhere so the extremities get cold.
Best to do some chi kung and fill up the dantien before you start to do your tai chi so that you can see if thats the problem.

Also you might have a blockage somewhere that stops your chi from going to the hands, an injury a blockage, meridian blockage, like somoene said your intent.

From what it sounds though its like you do the form and heat up because you focus on your body but the part of you thats connects to the chi connects to the room and thats your hands, so the energy of the room is cold and your hands respond to that.

BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTT the ultimate solution is ask your teacher, if he is good enough to feel the chi he should be able to diagnose you. If he isnt then dont **** about with that crazy tai chi until you find someone who does !!! lol

Also dont shoot your man juice for at least a week before doing the form and see if that helps

[Scott R. Brown]

All very good points!

Or it could be something as simple as all the blood draining out of your hands by keeping them above your heart too long. If we keep our hands too high for too long the blood drains out and they become cold. This same thing occurs to me when I lay in bed and read.

You could try performing the form slow then quickly, then slow, then quickly again. This will tend to burn more energy and warm you up as well as stimulate your blood flow.

Or pause inbetween sets and drop your hands to let the blood flow return.

[cam]

Maybe your wrists are tense.
Do you notice this when you practise your other forms?

[Chief Fox]

Thanks to everyone for all of the replys.

First I think I'll try some more visualization to draw the Chi into my arms and hands

I'll also work some more QiGong exercises to try get the chi flowwing.

Then I'll ask my instructor this saturday to see if he has any advice.

Thanks again.

[JAZA]

May be you are blocking the circulation of chi on your shoulder or your wrists.
Many tai chi players tends to have a dead hand, with no intention.
Try to relax your stomach it helps a lot to relax your wrists.

Peace,
Jaza

[onyomi]

A lot of people's circulation to their hands is poor because of tight shoulders. Try this simple exercise: stretch your hand out at either side, parallel to the ground, as if trying to touch the walls on either side of you. Continue to breath in a relaxed manner while you stretch the arms out in opposite directions as far as you can. Try to stretch out further on each exhalation and not to come back on the inhalation. Concentrate especially on relaxing and stretching the shoulders. Your hands should fill with blood and begin to accumulate qi. At this point you can practice looking at one hand to send more qi to that hand and then at the other. This practices using the intent to move the qi. You can also visualize sending the qi from the dantian to the hands on the exhale and back to the dantian on the inhale. Once your hands are tingling with electricity and you can't stand it any more, raise your hands above your head and swing them downwards hard several times while bending your knees in order to disperse the accumulated qi.

This is a great exercise for loosening and opening up the joints, muscles and meridians in the shoulders and arms. It also increases blood flow to the hands and where the blood goes the qi tends to follow and vice-versa.

[Wong Ying Home]

as per the last post, when stretching the arms out and shoulders, don't lift the shoulders up more allow the scapula shoulder blades to open outwards while maintaining sung or sinking in the shouder sockets, this will open the facia more.

The chi won't be moved only lead

Yi Chi Hei

Lead follow breathe

the Yi leads the Chi and the breath combines

[Mortal1]

What does it mean if your hot all the time? Girlfriends complain I'm like sleeping with a hot water bottle. Too much yang maybe?

[Wong Ying Home]

Sounds like you need to release on a regular basis some of your yang chi to warm her up eh :D

[Rockwood]

Free style sparring is the short cut to getting chi into every part of the body. Find some friends/classmates and spar using spontaneous techniques. Hit full to the body and arms but don't punch the face hard. Or not too hard. After about a minute of spontaneous fighting your hands will be warm. Then go ahead and practice forms. Repeat whenever your hands get cold and before too long they will be warm and stay warm.

That's what's worked for me and my friends, never failed yet, even for the skinny guys.

-Jess O

[onyomi]

Free style sparring is the short cut to getting chi into every part of the body. Find some friends/classmates and spar using spontaneous techniques. Hit full to the body and arms but don't punch the face hard. Or not too hard. After about a minute of spontaneous fighting your hands will be warm. Then go ahead and practice forms. Repeat whenever your hands get cold and before too long they will be warm and stay warm.

That's what's worked for me and my friends, never failed yet, even for the skinny guys.

-Jess O

Qigong is not the same thing as getting warmed up. As I said, where the blood flows the qi will tend to follow and vice-versa, but just getting blood to flow to your muscles is not the same as getting significant qi flowing through your meridians.

[spiralstair]

Try wearing gloves during the beginning of your practice. It will help your hands warm up fast. Once warm, take them off.
Sounds silly, works wonders.
Good luck.