Can Tai Chi Improve Your CrossFit? Part 1: Tai Chi Posture

I came to CrossFit looking to improve my conditioning for Kung Fu (and it has), but I have found that the benefits between the activities run both ways. In fact, I have discovered that the softest style of Kung Fu that I practice, Tai Chi, has benefited my CrossFit the most. Perhaps others might also find it helpful to incorporate some basic Tai Chi principles into their workouts.

My students may get tired of hearing it, but I strongly believe that the most important component of Tai Chi practice is cultivating good Tai Chi posture. Good Tai Chi posture is essentially little different from good posture generally. The key points are:

Equal distribution of weight in the feet

Knees in line with toes

Feet/knees/hips/shoulders/head “stacked” on top of each other

Neutral spine lifted from the crown of the head with the tailbone dropping slightly toward the floor

Allowing the shoulders to drop away from the ears

Now, I understand that in some CrossFit movements some of these principles won’t apply. For example, in some lifts you want to shift the weight into the heels at least in the initial stage of the movement. But still, as a general matter, I think that these principles hold.

But why is good posture important? I believe that good posture in Tai Chi or any other physical activity allows a person to move with greater stability. It also increases efficiency in movement since proper alignment decreases reliance on muscular effort alone. Take, for example, the lunge. Keeping weight equally distributed in the front foot, with bent knee in line with the toe, hips and shoulders stacked, spine neutral and head lifted, should result in a more stable, safer, and more efficient lunge. If a person cannot maintain good posture in the lunge, say by leaning forward, this is likely a sign of mobility issues. So posture principles also act like a kind of diagnostic tool.

In my Tai Chi practice, I try to continually assess whether I am maintaining good Tai Chi posture as I move through various movements. It is very much a process of taking inventory of the body, moving from feet to head or vice versa, to see whether I am adhering to the key posture principles. I have imported this inventory technique into my CrossFit workouts. I have found that when I exhibit good posture, I move with less struggle. Of course, as the body tires, there is a natural tendency for posture to degrade. But when I fight that tendency, making myself upright and aligned, it is like I am sending a signal that my body can overcome the feelings of exhaustion and keep going a bit more.