What is the Waist?

When you start Tai Chi there is a lot of advice to turn the waist. We are told the waist is not the same as what we think of as the waist but then no one tells you what it is.


So you think of turning from the hips but that's not it. Nor is it turning from the Dan Tien. I remember my late teacher John Kells telling us in class that "what is the waist" was a burning question for him. Eventually he came to the realisation that it was the lumbar spine, like an iron bar and that you turned from there.

Since then a lot of Chinese writings on tai chi have been translated which give detailed information about the waist. which is defined as the Yao. This encompasses the lumbar spine as well as the muscles and tissues around it and this is the area that you turn from, but not like a brick.