The video linked below is located on YouTube.
Tai Chi and The Single Cylinder View of the Human Body Part 01
A written duplicate of the video is also provided for those who prefer to read and for more leisurely study.
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This video is about The Single Cylinder View of the Human Body and it’s relationship to the practice of Tai Chi
Understanding the behavior of the complex human body is difficult. It is easier to understand how the human body works if just one area of the body, or a certain type of movement or behavior is focused on by itself.
The Single Cylinder View of the Human Body is a theoretical model that replaces the complex human body with a simple cylinder located as shown in this picture.
The diameter of the cylinder is approximately the width of the pelvic bones at the waist.
The next picture shows an overhead view from the side of the cylinder/human body combination.
Then a picture of the profile view of the two objects.
Next is a directly overhead view.
This is followed by an overhead angled view of the rear of the two objects.
And finally a picture of the rear of the Single Cylinder View of the Human Body.
What is the basis or justification, for the validity of the Single Cylinder View of the human body in modeling the behavior of the human body?
Here is a front view of the rib cage and pelvis of a human being to help answer that question.
The bones of the rib cage form a closed circle as shown in this angled view.
The next picture is an overhead view of the rib cage with a circle drawn around it to emphasis it’s circular nature.
According to Happeh Theory, the Single Cylinder View of the Human Body is based on the natural cylinder formed by the rib cage and pelvic bones.
As a Tai Chi man, why do you care about the Single Cylinder View of the Human Body?
Because The Single Cylinder View of the Human Body can be used to explain what some of the goals of the practice of Tai Chi are, and why some of the movements of the Tai Chi form are performed the way they are.
According to Happeh Theory, one of the goals of Tai Chi is to create and strengthen the single cylinder of the Single Cylinder View of the Human Body.
How does the practice of Tai Chi create and strengthen the single cylinder of the Single Cylinder View of the Human Body?
According to Happeh Theory, the movements of Tai Chi are designed to make the muscles, tendons, etc push the rib cage and pelvic bones into the proper circular alignment needed to create the single cylinder of the Single Cylinder View of the Human Body.
Repeatedly pushing the rib cage and pelvic bones into the proper alignment via repeated practice of the Tai Chi form, acts on the muscles just like repeatedly lifting up a weight at the gym.The muscles holding the rib cage and pelvic bones in the shape of a cylinder get stronger.
According to the laws of physics, the more aligned and circular the rib cage and the pelvic bones are, the more power the Tai Chi practitioner will be able to generate and deliver.
How the Single Cylinder View of the Human Body can be used to explain the purpose behind some of the movements of Tai Chi, will be demonstrated in the next video of this series.
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