Anyone who learns Tai Chi knows it requires participation. In fact, sitting down during regular Tai Chi class is considered disrespectful unless there are mitigating circumstances, at least in part because you are there to learn how to stand and move in a more harmonious manner and to sit down is to lose the opportunity to do so.

So what does it mean to “please take a seat” since it’s not about literally sitting down? There is a metaphor involved, representing a crucial aspect of Suspending the Headtop. As described in that Thought (which if you haven’t read yet I suggest you go read now; I’ll wait 🙂), the idea of “Suspended Headtop” includes relaxing and aligning the entire torso from the crown of the head all the way through the sacrum.

Typically, someone standing will have a gentle ‘s’ curve in their neck and spine when viewed from the side. There is an inward (concave) curve of the neck (cervical) vertebrae, an outward (convex) curve in the thoracic region of the spine, and an inward (concave) curve in the lumbar region.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

When we do Tai Chi, we want to organize our body differently. Keeping the head gently erect and with space between all vertebrae, we look to relax the neck and torso allowing the pelvis to rotate. In Tai Chi this is often referred to as “sitting down”, even though we are standing on one or both legs. When done fully, the ‘s’ curve is essentially gone and the vertebrae are aligned vertically on top of the sacrum (the top of the pelvis). The headtop remains upright (gazing straight ahead with no tilt) and the entire spine becomes open, the torso relaxed.

This idea of ‘sitting’ is so important that Cheng Man-ch’ing, in his Cheng Tzu’s Thirteen Treatises on T’ai Chi Ch’uan, calls it out repeatedly; this is quite unusual. When Cheng wrote his treatises for a Chinese audience the norm was to mention an idea once and expect the reader/student to remember and apply it from then on. Instead he mentions it many times:

• Describing Preparation Posture: “Bend the leg slightly and sit on it.”¹
• Describing the transition from Preparation Posture to Wardoff Left Side: “I immediately sit down on my left leg;”²
• Continuing the transition into Wardoff Left Side: “The left leg steps forward in a straight line, the knee bent, and I sit on it.”³
• Describing Wardoff Right Side: ”[…] while the right knee bends and I sit on it.”⁴
• Describing Single Whip: “Then shift the weight to the right leg and sit on it.”⁵
• Continuing the transition into Single Whip: “Then the left leg lifts and takes a step to the left front. Bend the leg and sit on it.”⁶
• Describing Brush Knee, Left: “I shift the weight to the left leg and sit on it.”⁷
• Describing Withdraw and Push: “Push forward and sit on the left leg.”⁸

Today, many instructors will describe it as “use your ‘sit’ muscles” or “sit on your leg(s)”, as well as “sit down”. This is a key part of Suspending the Headtop. And as Wolfe Lowenthal wrote⁹: ”[Cheng Man-ch’ing] once said you could practice for 30 years but if you did not pay attention to the top of the head suspended from heaven, your practice would be wasted.”

Don’t be fooled; suspending the headtop is not just about the top of the head, it requires we “take a seat”.

1 Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on T'ai Chi Ch'uan; page 114
2 Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on T'ai Chi Ch'uan; page 118
3 Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on T'ai Chi Ch'uan; page 120
4 Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on T'ai Chi Ch'uan; page 120
5 Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on T'ai Chi Ch'uan; page 128
6 Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on T'ai Chi Ch'uan; page 128
7 Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on T'ai Chi Ch'uan; page 136
8 Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on T'ai Chi Ch'uan; page 142
9 There are No Secrets; page 54
† If you have questions about Chinese terms used, you may find About Chinese Terms helpful.