Tai Chi Ball, where a ball or sphere is held in the hands, is recognised as a traditional method of training Tai Chi Chuan and was usually reserved for advanced students who had reached a higher level of competency in their practice to supplement and deepen their Kung Fu training. The origin of Tai Chi Ball, as with the origin of Tai Chi Chuan generally, is unclear. It is likely that the use of a ball to supplement Kung Fu training emerged initially, both as a weapon and a training exercise. Originally known as “knead/rub circle work” (rou yuan gong 揉圆功) or “reunion work” (tuan yuan gong 团圆功) or “rub ball work” (rou qiu gong 揉球功), these exercises became popular training drills for Tai Chi Chuan in the 20th century, and several different sets of exercises can be seen today.
Shifu Wang Yunkuo (王云阔) learned Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball training exercises, as foundation training for Tai Yi Tai Chi Chuan (太乙太极拳), a rare and seldom seen internal Kung Fu style, in his native Shandong Province and as part of his training to become a generational lineage-holder of this style. In 2015, in a visit to Shifu Wang’s academy in Sydney, Australia, Mr. Gao Xiaojun (高小軍), former President of the Chinese Wushu Association estimated that there were about 80 styles of Kung Fu, including rare styles of Tai Chi Chuan, that were unknown to the broader Kung Fu community and a number of these had been lost to China in the diaspora before, during and after the Cultural Revolution. Some of these rare styles are extinct, some are said to be still practiced in China, while a number including Tai Yi Tai Chi Chuan and Ball forms, are now part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Tai Chi that are taught by lineage-holders living outside of China.
From these Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball foundation exercises, Shifu Wang developed sets of Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball forms, which combine the use of footwork, dantian (丹田) and hand movements corresponding to the internal energy (qi - 氣) circulation in the body and follow the movements of the Tai Yi Tai Chi Chuan forms, so that one complements the other. These foundation exercises and forms allow practitioners to strengthen the sensations of their upper and lower energy centers (dantian), and coordinate and connect the entire body from the soles of the feet to the tips of the finger as a single, whip-like unit. In this way, the ball is regarded as an extension of the body, and it is possible to develop skills of generating qi in a shorter time, by visualizing and experiencing the projection of the sensation of the rotating ball, internally. The ball and the body act as one.
For martial artists, generally, Tai Chi Ball practice will improve the foundations of strength, flexibility and power and help to understand the applications of Kung Fu (wushu 武术), fighting (sanda 散打), pushing hands (tui shou 推手), grappling (qinna 擒拿) and weapons (wuqi 武器) skills. For the Tai Chi Chuan enthusiasts, it can deepen an understanding of qi and the methods for applying the eight principles of ward-off (peng 捧), roll-back (lu 捋), push (ji 挤), press (an 按), grab (cai 采), break (li 挒), elbow-strike (zhou 肘), and shoulder-strike (kao 靠).
Origins and Traditions of Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball
Tai Chi Ball exercises are thought to have developed in China in the Song dynasty (960-1279 CE) by Daoist monks who practised techniques to promote longevity and better health. In Shandong province, Shifu Duan Yang (端阳) was a famous martial artist who possessed a masterful level of skills and combined the principles of traditional Chinese medicine and yin-yang (taijitu 太极图) theory to pass on to a young Wang Yunkuo four forms of Tai Yi Tai Chi Chuan, the basis of which led to the later development of four forms of Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball. In history, this passing down of Tai Chi ball skills occurred over generations through oral transmissions from master to student, often during closed-door training to ensure a competitive edge in combat situations.
Shifu Wang Yunkuo recalls his master’s teachings about the origins of the style and from his own research believes that this style has its ancestry in the Daoist tradition from writings in the I-Ching (易經), yin-yang (陰陽) theory, Bagua (八卦), Wu Xing (五行), and Hetu (河圖) and Luoshu (洛書) charts of ancient times. Following yin-yang theory (taijitu), Shifu Wang says that “…holding a ball in both hands and using the dantian as the hub, while tracing the steps of the Bagua, reflects the ancient Chinese concepts of holding the universe in your hands”.
In traditional Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball training, as with many of the Daoist martial arts, there are two main types of training methods: yin and yang training. In Tai Chi Ball practice, yin training uses a light ball with slow movements, whereas yang methods use a heavier ball with fast, movements using force, including throwing and catching the ball. Traditionally, male practitioners of Tai Chi ball mainly used yang training methods involving the application of force, whereas female practitioners used yin training methods, sometimes with an inflated pig’s bladder which was tied at each end and allowed slow soft movements with a ‘ball’, that required more internal use of the dantian. Male practitioners traditionally used a clay ‘ball’ that was hollow and often filled with soybeans to add weight and enhance force generation. During training, the soybeans often fell out of the ball onto the ground which made training more difficult as students needed to have a lower posture, stronger legs and better grip to train on the slippery floor, thus enhancing their skills.
Shifu Wang Yunkuo began his training in martial arts at age 6 in his village in Shandong Province under the direction of his grandfather a famous local master of Xingyiquan and Kung Fu. His grandfather loved opera (jingju 京剧) and often played a “painted face” and other similar characters (hualian deng jeuse 花脸等角色) displaying his Kung Fu prowess in these roles. After many years of showing his dedication to daily training and working hard on the village collective farm, Shifu Wang was sent by his grandfather to train with a high-level master and doctor of Chinese medicine in Shandong (Shifu Duan Yang) where he began his training in the rare style of Tai Yi Tai Chi Chuan. This training was completely different to any that he had previously done, and he describes his master’s movements as “…sometimes as soft as cotton, like a spring breeze blowing willows or flowing water, and sometimes as strong as a hammer hitting a stone, and fast like lightning and thunder”. He recalls as a young man seeing Shifu Duan Yang training one night in the moonlight in his white cotton gown, and that his “…fist was truly breathtaking, like one of the Daoist immortals (shenxiang 神仙) descending to earth”.
Shifu Wang recalls training with Tai Chi balls of different materials and sizes in his master’s house, including those of metal, wood and stone, and that even at 70 years of age, his master was training each day with a 60-pound metal Tai Chi ball. Shifu Duan Yang encouraged the young Wang Yunkuo to train in other Kung Fu disciplines and introduced him to other masters in Shandong, where he continued his training in a range of Shaolin martial arts, Xingyiquan, other wushu forms and eventually under the direction of Shifu Chen Dejing (5th generation - 陈德敬) to become a 6th generational lineage-holder of Seven Star Praying Mantis (qixing tanglanquan 七星螳螂拳), the famous Shandong style. Shifu Wang Yunkuo’s dedication to Kung Fu, later led him to be selected for training in the Chinese army as a “scout” or “special forces” soldier where he excelled and soon became an army instructor in unarmed combat, as well as training in Western and Chinese medicine and working in various hospitals in China, but that is a story for another time.
Health Benefits of Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball
Regular practice of Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball offers a whole mind-body training system. It enables those who practice, a chance to gain a combination of innate, natural breathing prominent in Daoist concepts to cultivate qi internally, with the coordination of the three external training components of joints, muscles and bones, and offers a higher level of training for fitness, general health, martial arts and self defence applications. Some of the health benefits of Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball practice follows:
Ten Fingers Linking the Heart and Mind to Muscles and Bone Strength:
Regular practice of Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball requires the hands and fingers to control the ball as it rotates in the hands. This requires flexibility and strength in the tendons, muscles and joints of the fingers and hands to coordinate the fine motor movements required to move the Tai Chi Ball with the body. There are over 100 acupuncture points in the hands and rotating the ball in the hands in these exercises provides a means of massaging these acupuncture points and enhancing the development of qi in the body.
It also requires good upper and lower body posture and developing the direction of force from the feet through the knees, hips, waist (dantian), and spreading to the shoulders, elbows, hands and fingers to rotate the ball. By following the circular movements of the ball, the muscles, tendons, joints and bones work in a curved, spiralling direction in the body. Through regular practice and by gradually increasing the weight of the ball, you can increase muscle strength, joint stability and flexibility. Careful practice of Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball with an appropriate weight is needed to prevent injury.
Harmonizing the Inner Organs
Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball is an effective overall training method that involves all of the body’s physiological systems, including respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, nervous and skeletal systems. In traditional Chinese medicine, rotating the Tai Chi Ball in the hands while breathing naturally and following the principles of yin-yang theory and meridian qi flow will allow the five internal organs to have great vitality and longevity.
In Western terms, rotating Tai Chi Ball in the hands enhances cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory function by strengthening the heart, blood vessels and lung function and in the interactions between the cardiac, respiratory, hepatic, and nervous systems. Through improved blood flow, Tai Chi Ball exercises also improves liver function, muscle, joint and ligament function, and in conjunction with improved endocrine functioning, aids immune system responses. Other organs to gain benefit from Tai Chi Ball exercises include the spleen, kidneys, stomach and digestive system, and the reproductive organs which makes it a comprehensive exercise package for all ages.
Precautions for Practising Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball
In order to practice Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball, it is important to choose the right ball, so that you engage qi and not rely on brute force. A ball that is too large in diameter and/or weight can cause injury and a ball that is too small will not provide a sufficient training effect. For the young, physically active exerciser a ball weighing between about 7 to 22 pounds, with a diameter between about 11 to 12.5 inches is suitable. The size of the ball can also be determined by measuring the distance from the lower dantian and middle dantian, so that the ball is neither too small nor too large to rotate. Proficiency in Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball requires a minimum practice of six times per week beginning with 60 repetitions of exercises. When you begin to introduce footwork into your Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball practice, take nine steps back and forth initially adding an extra step after each 2 weeks of practice. With continued practice the Tai Yi Tai Chi Ball Forms provides a great training workout.
