Opening and Closing vs Expanding and Contracting

Opening and closing are not the same as expanding and contracting. Opening and closing describe physical movements that we can see, such as opening the arms or bringing them closer together. Expansion, on the other hand, involves internal changes within the body.

In some movements we OPEN our arms, as in Slant Flying, White Crane Spreads Its Wings, or Repulse Monkey. In others, we CLOSE by bringing the arms closer together, as in Ward Off, Hands Strums the Lute, Lift Hands, or Brush Knee. Some postures involve both opening and closing, such as Cloud Hands, Part the Horse's Mane, or Step Forward, Block, Parry, Punch. Regardless of the posture, throughout the form the arms are continually opening, closing, or doing some combination of the two.

Opening and closing are most obvious in the arms, but they are much more than arm movements. In tai chi, the arms should never move as isolated parts of the body. We want to actuate the movement from inside the body rather than simply moving the arms by themselves. Opening and closing therefore begin within the body and are expressed outwardly through the arms.

Consider Repulse Monkey. The feet initiate the movement, the body follows, and the movement is then expressed through the arms. This reflects one of the fundamental principles of tai chi: movement starts from the feet, radiates through the body, and is expressed through the arms and hands.

Expansion

Expansion is different. Expansion is an internal separation and lengthening of the joints and throughout the body. Unlike opening and closing, which describe two complementary states, tai chi emphasizes expansion rather than contraction. The goal is not to close the joints or collapse the spaces within the body, but to maintain internal space and connection throughout the structure.

This may seem strange at first. After all, we normally think of everything as having yin and yang. Why, then, would we emphasize expansion without talking about contraction?

The answer is that expansion itself contains both yin and yang. Every joint has two sides: one connecting toward the center of the body and another extending away from it. When a joint expands, these relationships change simultaneously. One side moves away from the center while the other relates toward it. We can think of the movement away from the body's center as yang and the movement toward it as yin. Both are necessary for expansion.

For example, when we expand through the shoulder joint, the upper arm moves away from the trunk while the shoulder girdle simultaneously settles and organizes toward the center. Similarly, when we open the elbow joint, the forearm extends away while the structures closer to the body maintain the internal relationship that allows the joint to remain open rather than simply becoming rigid.

This principle occurs throughout the body. Teachers constantly remind students to lower their shoulders because a raised shoulder is often an indication of tension and that the shoulder joint has become contracted and closed. Lowering and expanding or opening the shoulder is not merely a matter of making the posture look better; it helps restore space and connection within the body.

Another way to understand expansion is to consider the whole body. We can expand through the spine by lifting the head while allowing the tailbone to sink. Is there ever a time during the form when we deliberately abandon this relationship? No! Expansion is not something we turn on for one posture and turn off for another. It is an ongoing internal condition.

Most teachers have probably told their students to imagine that they are holding an egg under each armpit. The image keeps the arms from collapsing against the body and creates space in the shoulder joints. But notice something interesting: does anyone ever say, “Remove the eggs; in this posture they are not needed anymore”? Of course not. The space should always be there.

Roll Back

Roll Back is an excellent movement to illustrate our point. When going from Ward Off to Roll Back, the arms are closing. But as they close, do you still have the eggs under your arms?   If the eggs are not there, it is very easy for someone to evade your Roll Back and move into your space, upsetting your balance. However, if the eggs are still there, and your body is expanding and open, you become more like a ball that can easily redirect an attack.

This is an important point. Closing the arms does not mean closing the body. The arms can come together while the body remains expanded and open. In fact, maintaining this expansion is what allows the closing movement to remain connected to the whole body rather than becoming an isolated movement of the arms.

Expansion is therefore an essential part of understanding tai chi as a martial art.

Expansion and Health

Expansion is also important for health. Expanding the trunk allows for deeper and smoother breathing. Opening the joints allows for freer movement throughout the body and supports circulation and fluid movement. Within traditional Chinese medicine, maintaining openness and connection is also associated with the unobstructed flow of qi through the body's meridians. Expansion also contributes to balance and stability. Most importantly, it is instrumental in creating the internal connections that make tai chi what it is.

This is the important distinction:

The arms may open and close, but the body should continue to expand.

Opening and closing are movements within the expanded structure; expansion itself should not disappear simply because the arms change position. An expanded and open body is the constant state of the body.

Tai chi is an internal art because it relies on internal connections to create our frame and connect all parts of the body into a unified, cohesive structure. Those connections function best when the joints remain open, relaxed, and expanded. This internal organization is fundamental not only to the health benefits of tai chi but also to its martial applications.

We are not simply learning where to put our arms. We are learning how to maintain an interconnected body while the external shape continually changes.

The postures open and close; the body expands.