There is a concept in Tai Chi that often translates to “Central Balance.” The principle is called Zhongding, and in T’ai Chi it is also one of the five directions, or the center from which all other directions are derived. If you stand straight up and down and turn the point around your own center line to look left or right, you have established four new directions. So you are not just moving from this place. Zhongding is also where you organize your directions, your distance from everything around you, and all the space around you.
Vertical alignment – horizontal wheel
To have this thing called Central Balance, you have to know how to keep the center intact. The absolute center is your own vertical center line, the vertical middle of your body from the top of your head to the bottom of your sole. You have to always keep that center line in mind.
The Tai Chi classics say:
"Stand still like a balanced scale, move freely like a turning wheel."
All of your movements, whether forward, sideways, pushing or striking, involve maintaining your vertical centerline when using a horizontal spinning wheel.
When you first start practicing Tai Chi, you need to learn how to move and walk vertically, how to feel your own center and how to maintain it at all times. And you should try to feel how to maintain your vertical alignment while spinning around your body like a “freewheel.” Then, when you understand the basics of keeping the centerline intact, you can start moving more freely with a freer form. If your body is balanced, you will find that you can maintain the centerline even when bending or moving the spine to store and release jin.
Practically, from a fighting perspective, you must always know how to maintain the integrity of the center and how to get back to that center immediately if you lose it. Holding the center is one key. Knowing how to get back to it is another.
Keeping it central so you don't have to go back to it.
Think of playing badminton or imagine running around a tennis court. For every ball you hit and return, you should think about the center of the court and return to it. If you have to run to the edge of the court to meet the ball, you should think about returning to the center of the court as fast as your racket meets the ball. It is easier and faster to move in different directions from the center. If you move too far away from the corners, it will take longer and be harder to reposition you.
Something similar applies to Tai Chi. Whether you're playing hand-to-hand or fighting, it's the same: You have to always think about your own center, your own physical center and your inner center, and understand how the movements come from there.
In Tai Chi you should never stray from your own center.
You must learn to hold it at all times so that you can be free and move in any direction at any point and at any time.
But if you have to compromise the integrity of your balance. or your center, you should think about getting it back as soon as possible. If you reach too far with your limbs or lean too far with your body, if you lose control of your centerline, you should still be aware of that and get control of your own centerline as soon as possible. Then again, you can have mobility in all five directions. The moment you have to leave your center, you should think about getting back to it. By maintaining control of your balance and your centerline no matter what, you can have mobility whenever you need it and in whatever direction you need it to be.
The characteristic to be developed through body-mind-spirit practice of "Zhongding - Central Balance" in Tai Chi Chuan and Qigong is as follows:
Maintain an upright posture, lift your head, tuck your chin, keep your back straight;
Keep the head, torso, and hips in a relatively straight "plumb" line;
Maintain dynamic stability, be fixed in it, be centered, be settled;
Develop an enhanced proprioceptive awareness of the skills required for the specific activity;
Be calm, still, and settled in one's mind and emotions;
Allow the person's body to sink and settle to the ground;
In seated positions, keep the kneecaps in the middle of the foot;
Direct bodily energy ( Qi, Chi ) downwards to the earth;
Relax, loosen up and open the joints of the body;
Avoid swaying, being out of balance or straining.