I teach Yang tai ji and all the instructors were training the other day. The head teacher pulled me aside and said that I need to practice more because of my bad tai ji posture. He said my posture is good for other forms of Kung fu like Chen Style but for Yang style I need to tuck my tailbone under and cave my chest a little.

The guy is my boss so I don't want to argue with him. I basically told him that I had two different teachers where one said to tuck and the other said not to. He asked who told me not to and I said Tim Cartmell but he didn't know who that was. The funny thing is he used to fight full contact karate and Dan da. He has a blackbelt in tae kwon do

I asked him if he tucked his butt under while kicking other people's arses and he said, "No, but we're teaching yang style for health and we have to teach proper posture."

I guess I'm just going to have to fake it in front of him. Are there any videos on YouTube where an instructor is favoring a more natural tai ji posture that I cools slow as proof?

You might tell your boss to read any credible book on postural alignment and athletics.

I'd recommend "Becoming a Supple Leopard" (Kelly Starrett)
as well as "Natural Posture for Pain Free Living" (Kathleen Porter) as good places to start.

Any decent book on power lifting will also help.

Some teachers who advocate this spine tuck walk like ducks.I guess if you do something long enough it stays with you....

Tim,

Is there any reason or purpose to the "tailbone tucking"? As in, is there any justifiable reason for its existence?

This article is quite interesting.

http://www.chi-arts.com/the-myth-of-tucking-the-tailbone-mainmenu-16.html

Every internal arts teacher I have met except for Tim has told me to tuck my tailbone. Here is the reason it was cited:

If your lumbar spine(low back) you will lose force when doing anything. For example, if you throw a punch and your back is all loose it will not be a hard punch. What they are advocating is straightening the lumbar spine all the way getting rid of any curve. I understand the thinking behind this at the moment of punch impact but it limits mobility. I must also add that the internal teachers who advocated this didn't do sport martial arts or sparring at the time I was training with them. My boss did these things in the past and he said it's different for all styles. When he got his tkd blackbelt he didn't tuck. Tucking in Yang Style Tai Ji was to align the body correctly to allow the proper qi flow.

I had a cocky student in my old ba gua class tap my back and tell me to tuck my tailbone once when we were circle walking.

On the other hand....I met a guy who is an internal martial artist AND a strength and conditioning coach. Here is his take on the situation. He said that the tailbone tuck, lumbar curve straightening thing was ONLY meant to be used during hsing i forms training. His teachers never advocated to fight that way or even tuck that way during real life.

"He said that the tailbone tuck, lumbar curve straightening thing was ONLY meant to be used during hsing i forms training. His teachers never advocated to fight that way or even tuck that way during real life."

This makes no logical sense on any level.

Tim,
Did Sun Lutang teach butt tucking? Or did his daughter?

Here's another teacher that teaches butt tucking.

Skip to the 7:00 mark.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7ElQgPiGh18

Here is I one reason tai ji teachers teach their students to tuck.

"Tucking in the pelvis aligns the Hui Yi with the lateral line across
from both K1 bubbling well pts at the bottom of feet. In theory,
energy can/will travel in alignment up from K1 thru CV1 up thru lower
- middle - upper dan tian and bai hui atop the head."

The problem with quoting Chinese medicine is that these people usually don't know anything about it. The qi flows brought these invisible pathways anyway. Otherwise, the health of babies would suffer since they can't stand up and tuck their tailbones. People would be dying by the billions since most people don't tuck their tailbones.

I was never taught anything about tucking. But tucking seems useful for sitting meditation as opposed to standing.

The tucking happens automatically when seated.

"Did Sun Lutang teach butt tucking? Or did his daughter?"

No.

I think the words "Butt Tucking" are starting become overused in this thread.

Tell us a better term, you butt tucker

I know the secrets.

Butt Tuckers rise up and pound your sunken chests in a terrifying display of mediocrity!

(Before anyone tries to take credit for inventing terminology.... I recommend you do a search on this site and then.... You're welcome)

I had similar concerns. My taiqi (yang) teacher never talks about butt tucking, but some of his senior students had told me to tuck my butt.

I asked both Tim and my teacher. You can guess Tim's answer. My teacher's answer was 'Don't worry about it, just keep practicing'.

Why do the seniors advocate if if their teacher never taught it? It sounds like there is dissension in the ranks at your school.