At Thoughts on Tai Chi, there was recently a post exploring "naturalness" and what is meant by this in taijiquan specifically, but it applies to martial arts in general. An excerpt is below. The full post may be read here.
Introduction: Naturalness in Tai Chi
In Tai Chi Chuan, as well as in several other Chinese martial arts, the concept of being “natural” (ziran, 自然) or of performing “natural movement” is frequently mentioned.
It is therefore surprising that even some well-known teachers question this term, or appear unfamiliar with its actual meaning. Some of these teachers are highly prolific and often speak at length about concepts such as “qi,” yet their dismissal of naturalness suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of what ziran refers to in classical Chinese traditions.
Statements such as “nothing we do in Tai Chi is natural,” “everything is unnatural,” or “if Tai Chi were natural, it would be easy to perform” are commonly heard. Such remarks reveal a lack of understanding of the classical meaning of ziran and of what is considered “natural” within internal martial arts, Daoist body practices, and related Chinese traditions.
At its most basic and simplified level, “natural” or ziran refers to what is originally inherent to the human body – movement and organization as it is meant to function when it is not disturbed or overridden by artificial or forced control.
The Problem of Unnatural Movement
The crucial point is that most of us are not natural in the classical sense. The way we move and use our bodies is largely learned rather than inherent.
Most people walk, sit, and perform everyday tasks while carrying unnecessary tension in the body: a stiff neck, elevated and shallow breathing, and a tense, restless mind. Movements are often clumsy, and awareness of one’s own body is limited.
When people walk, they frequently hold themselves upright through tension in the upper body, maintaining balance by constantly shifting weight across small, unstable points in the feet, rather than allowing the body’s structure to support itself. Speech is often strained and high-pitched, and movement lacks coordination and ease.
Much of the day is then spent sitting, often without awareness of how these habitual patterns of tension reinforce themselves, gradually making movement even more restricted and inefficient. In this sense, what we commonly regard as normal human behavior is in fact artificial: tense, fragmented, and far removed from naturalness.
These patterns are not innate; they are learned behaviors that run counter to what is natural for the human body.
My late Chinese teacher often pointed out that small children are energetic, resilient, and rarely seem to tire. Over time, however, social conditioning teaches children that much of what they do is wrong: how they sit, move, walk, or behave. In schools, they are expected to sit still, remain quiet, and suppress spontaneous movement.
According to my teacher, this process gradually replaces natural movement with artificial patterns. He emphasized that this observation is not new but reflects insights that have existed in Chinese thought for thousands of years. Animals move with smoothness and ease, and young children do as well. Adult humans, in contrast, often do not.
