Stepping in Tai Chi & Qigong

James Drewe
Nov 1
4 min read

Updated: Nov 6

This blog continues the previous one in October '25.

In Tai Chi & in Qigong, we are always moving forward, backward, left and right.

If you can understand the differences and similarities between 'ordinary' walking, and Tai Chi & Qigong walking, it makes learning those arts easier.

How you step one pace forward when walking

You place (e.g.) the right heel and move the weight forward towards the ball of the right big toe.
As the weight transfers forwards on to the ball of the right foot, the body elongates on a vertical axis. This frees up the rear left foot, which is needed for the next step.
As the point of balance tips forwards, you very slightly bend the knee of the right leg, simultaneously placing the left heel as it comes through for the next step.

This way, you get a natural 'spring in our step'.

How you step one pace forward in Tai Chi & Qigong

Almost the same, but not quite.

To step forward and place (e.g.) the right heel, you bend the left leg and lower the centre of gravity.
Having placed the right heel (* also see (1) below), you move forward on to the sole of the right foot, with the heel still on the ground. You do not go as far forward as on to the ball of the right foot (which would make the right heel come off the ground).
As the weight moves forward on to the sole of the right foot, the spine elongates on a vertical axis. In other words, you stand up, either fully or partially, depending upon the movement that follows.
When you are ready to take the next step forwards with the left foot (** also see (2) below), you sink into the sole of the right foot first, simultaneously bending the right knee and freeing up the rear (left) foot.

This way, the 'spring in your step' is reduced, but you are more stable or grounded.

*1) In some styles of tai chi, you will turn the toes of the stepping foot outwards as you shift the weight over the foot. **2) In some styles, particularly the modern ones, you will 'sit back' (to varying degrees) into the rear foot first, before moving into the second step.

Body 'elongation'

Both of the above methods of movement involve an elongation or spring-like quality in the body, but there is a difference. When we walk 'normally', the entire body gently stretches from the ball of the weighted foot to the crown of the head. When we 'tai chi/qigong' walk, you could think of the body as being divided at the pelvis. The pelvis and below connects to the earth, and the spine and up to the crown of the head connect to the 'heavens/universe' (for want of a better way of putting it). Strictly speaking, the middle of the sacrum is the central point in the spine between up and down, rather than the pelvis, which definitely belongs to the earth.

Elongation & spinal health

The above is key to the over-all health of the spine, because by learning how to release (elongate) the spine, without forcing it, we gain one tool to improve over-all bodily health.

This isn't a skill of doing, it's a skill of un-doing.

Misusing the body

Anyone who has had lower back problems will know that feeling when the lumbar vertebrae grip up when the surrounding muscles go into spasm. The expression: 'as though the stuffing has been knocked out of you' is very apt.

In my late 20s and early 30s I had a lot of experience of this, and am very familiar with the pain of a 'bad back'.

Looking back at it now, I realise that a number of factors contributed to my problem - I'm sure there are other factors too such as lifting something incorrectly etc.:

Misuse of my back
Being extremely stressed
Very little understanding of how my body worked (in spite of doing Tai Chi and Kung Fu, meditation, yoga, and eating a macrobiotic diet)
Poor posture generally
The strange idea that my body could, at that age, cope with anything I threw at it.

Stress & the spine

Stress is such a key factor in health.

Stress is contraction, it's the shrinking or closing down of the body.

When our muscles contract, they are pulling the body in on itself - in effect, collapsing it internally.

It is the equivalent of someone sitting on your chest whilst you try to breathe.

However, with stress, every part of the body is affected, and at the end of the day, it's YOU fighting yourself.

When you're stressed, your autonomic nervous system is out of balance; the parasympathetic nervous system partially slows, and the sympathetic system starts to go wild...

Your breathing is affected; the heart and blood flow & pressure changes, (as does the functioning of all the organs); the gut tightens, and the digestive system slows and partially shuts down; the muscles and tendons increase their tension and therefore the pressure on all the joints increases.

If you think about the spine, which consists of 33 vertebrae, there are a LOT of joints involved, and your spine is the main shipping lane which supplies all the organs, including your brain.

Let the spine release

So when out walking, or when doing tai chi & qigong, it's a good way to start observing how your spine behaves. It's not going to happen instantly, and it's probably too much to observe every step that you take.

However, you begin walking normally and observe just one step. Then walk a few more steps and, several paces later, observe another one.

Learning how to relax is one of the hardest things as it means unlearning many of your learnt responses.

Initially though, we have to stop 're-acting'.

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James Drewe teaches Tai Chi and Qigong in both London and in Kent and online.

Details of weekly classes both live and online can be found on the website, and there are classes for 2-person Tai Chi on one Saturday a month.There is also learn both tai chi & qigong through a monthly subscription, and there are many free videos on YouTube.