I find there are interesting correlations between skateboarding and taiji. After taking a break from boarding over the winter months (I truly hate the cold and the wet) I’ve been trying to pick it back up again for the past few weeks. The first week was pretty amazing and it was like I’d never left, I was properly chuffed. The next two weeks were abysmal failures as reality hit and I found I was luck to still be able to stand up on the board. This week it clicked (fingers crossed) and I *think* I noticed why.
When doing the nei gung it’s necessary to sink into relaxed legs, almost like you’re perched on the edge of a high stool, and it’s the same with skateboarding too. For the past few weeks my legs have been far too straight and that leads to a certain amount of tension that shouldn’t be there.
The other thing that’s really big in taiji is having the intent lead the action. It’s exactly the same with skateboarding too. You have to have the intent to turn before you can start the turn and you have to commit to the turn especially when you’re on a bank.
Most of the time I truly suck but there are moments when everything comes together and the turn is just sublime. They’re the moments that keep me going.
The relaxation in the legs is a really easy thing to miss, especially as a beginner, but that relaxed softness is essential to both arts. Now that I can see it again hopefully I can start to work with it again.