Exercise four moves the body down and then up, repeatedly building great strength in the legs, and the entire body. With each downward movement the ruler circles downward at a comfortable arms’ length away from the body, and then with each upward movement the ruler moves upward staying very close to the body.
1.
Begin by stepping 45 degrees to the left and getting a ruler’s distance
between the heels. Inhale slowly and shift the weight forward so that the left
knee comes over the toes, and raise the ruler to eye level.
2.
Next exhale, bend both knees and slowly lower the entire posture all the
way down to a squatting position and simultaneously roll the ruler outward and
the lower it down through your field of vision, to the level of your front knee
and the dantian. Keep your back straight and upright as you lower your posture.
As you sink downward, allow the heel of the rear foot to come up off the ground
while keeping your front foot flat. Your weight subtly shifts from 100% on the
rear leg while in the standing position to 60% on the front leg at the lowest
kneeling position. At the lowest position in this exercise, your buttocks are
barely touching, but not resting on the heel of the rear (right) foot.
Coordinate the entire sinking action with one exhalation through the mouth.
3.
Once you have reached the lowered position and have reached the limit of
your exhalation and abdominal contraction, slowly inhale and straighten the
legs, raising the posture back towards the standing position. As you start to
rise, do not take quick, uncontrolled gulps of air. Keep the back vertical as
you rise. Do not lean forward, as that is the most common error. Coordinate the
entire standing action with one inhalation. Move as slowly as possible without
losing control of your breath. Keep your eyes focused on the ruler and hands. As
you rise to the standing position, your weight shifts fully back to the rear
(right) and the ruler is brought to the upper chest and throat level. This
completes one cycle on the left side.
4.
Now begin a second cycle by slowly shifting forward and rolling the ruler
outward and up to eye level. Then begin to exhale, bend the knees, and sink
downward again. Complete this second cycle by rising slowly with the inhalation.
5.
For each subsequent repetition, remember to exhale on the
sinking-squatting action, and inhale-imagine inflating and lifting yourself with
each rising-standing action. Anchor your mind in the dantian region (lower
belly), and imagine that the expansion and contraction of chi in the dantian is
what lifts and lowers your movement. Keep the back vertical throughout the
exercise.
6.
Beginners should try to do the sinking action with an exhalation of no
less than four seconds, and come up to the standing position, with an inhalation
of four seconds. Do not strain in any way in attempting to extend the time of
your breaths and movements. After several months of daily practice without
strain, you will find that your breath capacity has naturally expanded, so that
you can do each exercise with inhales and exhales of ten seconds, or more. It is
the expansion of both ends of the breath cycle that qualifies the T’ai Chi
Golden Ruler as an art of Qigong.
7.
After completing eight repetitions on the left leg, proceed to the right
leg and repeat the exercise eight more repetitions.