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Gosh, I’m finding that leg movement difficult! Any tips would be gratefully received. I keep thinking about a tiger moving in a soft continuous way, I’m remembering the 70% rule and I’m practising the legs alone to get it really effortless. Perhaps there is something else that I’ve forgotten because it’s still hard to get enough leg movement at a slow speed so that the arm movement co-ordinates. There was a small shift in the right direction last night when I spread my toes with bare feet – and that is a new for me because I usually practice qigong in plimsolls. Any commiseration or ideas would be great.
Hi Sue, Julie from Adelaide SA I hope you are finding the flow. Iwas getting my sister to try this and she was lifting her knees, but checking notes tiger walking is using the feet only, rising up and down of feet.
Thats why this stuff is so great, so challenging and so subtle. Happy practice.
Hi Sue,
Welcome to the puzzle of tiger walking. The movement is easy in the sense it’s not that complicated. But to really move in a soft, continuous way as you suggested, that’s not easy at all. But the more you and explore and play with it, the more you’ll figure out what works for you.
Two things might be helpful:
1. Try causing each foot to be lifted by bringing its knee forward, and inviting the foot – along with the entire leg – to relax as it flexes and its heel rises. Lower the heel by relaxing the leg and letting your knee settle back to where it started. In other words, don’t lift the foot and heel, essentially roll it forward and back by moving your knee forward and back with as little muscular tension as possible.
2. Think of your foot movement as like a small gear linked the bigger gear of your arm motion. So a small movement of your leg and foot is tied to the bigger motion of your arm and hand. The subject of “body gears” is a big one in D&T, and is usually explored at later stages of practice and refinement. But if you can catch a sense of this right from the beginning, more power to you.
Bottom line, you’ll figure out over time as you learn and practice more and more. So don’t be too concerned about getting it “right” right now. Just play with it now and it will become smoother and smoother – and more powerful – over time.
I hope this helps. And I hope others of you share what’s worked for you. Everyone finds their own solutions to the puzzle, and yours may help someone else find theirs.
Bill
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