One of the first things I learned in Tai Chi was how to move my feet and legs correctly.
The feet and legs do more than simply support the body. They receive the body’s weight, allow the center of gravity to shift, and connect the movement of the entire body. The quality of movement changes according to how the feet relate to the ground.
From Master Kang Su-won at Balgunvit, I learned that Tai Chi footwork develops through three stages. He described each stage through an image of moving in water.
In the first stage, the feet remain firmly planted, as though they were embedded in mud at the bottom of the water. With the feet anchored, the movement of the legs travels into the pelvis, creating movement within the body. This is an essential foundation for the stages that follow.
Master Kang described the pelvis as “the ground within the body.” That image stayed with me. The ground beneath our feet supports us, but there is also an inner ground that shapes how we move and what we experience.
In the second stage, the whole body moves as though it were swimming in deep water. The feeling of moving through water becomes something we experience within ourselves. Energy travels from the legs through the torso to the hands, and the movement becomes connected throughout the body.
In the third stage, the feet move as though we were lightly stepping across the surface of the water. They are no longer fixed to the ground. Master Kang described this as heaven and earth switching places: the hands take on the grounding role of the feet, while the legs become light, as though they could fly.
This explanation helped me understand that stability in Tai Chi does not mean pressing the feet firmly into the ground at all times. True stability is the ability to remain centered while still being free to move.
The third stage is what we are working toward. But we cannot reach it simply by copying movements that look light and graceful. Master Kang emphasized that we first need to establish a solid foundation through Ohaengbo, the Five-Phase Stepping practice. Without that foundation, the movements remain an imitation of their outward form.
The feet should be rooted, but not trapped. The body should move smoothly, as though it were floating through water, while each step remains light and responsive.
These images made me think about stability differently. Being grounded may not always mean keeping both feet firmly planted. Perhaps it also means being able to remain centered as we move.
Perhaps Tai Chi is a practice of learning how stability and freedom, rootedness and lightness, can exist at the same time.
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