You, Your Feet and Shibashi
3 Things You Need to Know to Help You in Your Tai Chi Qigong Practice
People often arrive at Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi practice expecting something slow and relaxing. Then they start practising and realise the body has quite a few opinions about what is going on.
That is partly because Shibashi exposes posture very quickly. When movements are slow and controlled, the body cannot hide poor alignment for long. Small imbalances that might pass unnoticed during faster exercise become much more obvious. The feet and legs tend to report back fairly honestly.
Before teaching Shibashi I spent many years teaching Pilates and specialising in corrective exercise and foot mechanics. I am used to assessing gait, posture and alignment and identifying problem areas, putting pieces of the puzzle together. When I watch someone practising Shibashi, I am usually paying more attention to what the feet are doing than what the arms are doing.
The reason is simple. The feet are the foundation of the entire structure. If that foundation is unstable or poorly aligned, the rest of the body compensates in order to stay upright.
Most people rarely think about their feet unless something hurts. They spend the day standing, walking, climbing stairs, carrying bags, balancing on uneven ground and moving through daily life with very little awareness of what their feet are doing. Yet every step we take begins there.
When movements slow down, as they do in Shibashi practice, the body has far less opportunity to disguise the patterns that have developed through years of habit, footwear and posture. What becomes clear very quickly is just how important the feet are in supporting the entire body.
Understanding how the feet function, how footwear influences them and how standing posture affects walking can make a significant difference not only to your Tai Chi Qigong practice, but to how your body moves every day.
Strong, functional feet are essential for stability and balance
The human foot contains twenty-six bones, thirty-three joints and a network of muscles and connective tissues that support the arches and control the ankle. These structures are held together by fascia and work together to stabilise the body during standing, walking and movement.
Every time you stand up, take a step, walk up a hill or balance on one leg to put on a shoe, your feet are doing a remarkable amount of work. They absorb impact, adapt to uneven ground and transfer forces through the body with every step.
When the muscles of the feet are working well they provide a stable platform for the rest of the body. The ankle remains aligned above the foot, the lower leg muscles engage appropriately and balance becomes easier to maintain.
However, when the muscles of the feet become weak or inactive, this stability is reduced. The arches may collapse or become rigid, the ankle may drift inward or outward and the foot may struggle to adapt to changes in load or position.
Strong, functional feet provide stability for the ankles, knees, hips and spine. When foot function is reduced, whether through weakness, footwear or habitual standing patterns, the rest of the body compensates.
These compensations rarely remain isolated to the foot itself. The knees may rotate, the hips may shift position and the pelvis may lose its natural balance. The spine then adapts in order to keep the body upright.
Over time these patterns influence how we move through daily life. People may notice reduced balance, discomfort when walking long distances, or a sense that standing for long periods becomes tiring. Often the symptoms appear somewhere else in the body, which is why the feet are rarely suspected as the starting point.
In reality, every step we take relies on the feet functioning well. When the feet are strong and responsive, the entire structure above them benefits.
Footwear is the Problem not the Solution
Modern footwear has a significant influence on how the feet function. Many shoes are designed with strong arch support, thick cushioned soles and elevated heels. These features are often intended to make shoes feel comfortable or supportive. However, they also reduce the amount of work the muscles of the feet need to do.
When a shoe provides external support for the arch, the muscles that normally support the arch become less active. Over time those muscles can weaken because they are no longer being used as they were designed to be.
The same principle applies to heavily cushioned soles. Thick cushioning reduces the sensory feedback the foot receives from the ground. The small stabilising muscles in the foot and ankle rely on that feedback to help control balance and respond to changes in surface or position.
Raised heels introduce another structural issue. Even a small elevation at the heel alters the alignment of the ankle, knee and hip joints by shifting body weight forward. The pelvis tilts and the spine adjusts in order to maintain balance.
These changes influence how the muscles of the lower body work together. Muscle activity shifts, joint loading changes and movement patterns gradually adapt to the new alignment.
The result is that many people spend years walking with feet that are not working as effectively as they could be. Problems such as plantar fascia irritation, bunions, recurring ankle injuries or poor balance can develop gradually over time.
Most people never connect these issues with footwear habits, yet the feet spend the majority of the day inside shoes. When the muscles of the feet are given an opportunity to work again, they often respond surprisingly quickly.
How you stand effects how you walk
Standing posture sets the pattern for how the body moves during walking and exercise. Small changes in foot position can alter the alignment of the entire lower body.
A very common habit is allowing the feet to turn outward when standing. This position changes the relationship between the ankle, knee and hip joints and influences how the muscles of the lower body contribute to movement.
When the feet rotate outward, the glute muscles are placed in a less effective mechanical position. At the same time the muscles at the front of the thigh begin to dominate movement. Over time this can influence how the knees track during walking and how the pelvis stabilises the body.
This pattern can gradually contribute to imbalances between the quadriceps and hamstrings, reduced contribution from the glute muscles and increased strain on the lower back.
Foot direction also affects how weight travels through the foot itself. When the feet are aligned more evenly, weight can distribute more effectively through the heel, midfoot and forefoot. This allows the stabilising muscles around the ankle and hip to work together more efficiently.
Most people stand many times throughout the day without thinking about it. Waiting in a queue, standing in the kitchen, brushing teeth, talking to someone in the street. These moments seem insignificant, yet they form the foundation of how the body moves.
If the feet spend hours each day turned outward or poorly aligned, the body gradually adapts to that pattern. Over time it becomes the normal way of standing and walking.
Developing better awareness of how the feet connect with the ground can gradually improve posture, balance and movement across the entire body.
The feet are often overlooked when people think about posture or movement, yet they form the base of the entire structure.
Every step we take begins there. Whether we are walking across a room, climbing stairs, standing in the kitchen or moving through an exercise class, the feet are constantly supporting and guiding the body.
Strong, functional feet provide stability for the ankles, knees, hips and spine. When the feet are working well, the body above them is able to align more naturally and move with greater efficiency. When foot function is reduced, the rest of the body quietly compensates.
These compensations may not be obvious at first. The body is very good at adapting. However, over time they can influence posture, balance and movement patterns throughout the body.
This is why the feet matter far beyond an exercise class. They influence how we stand, how we walk and how the body supports itself during everyday life.
Practices such as Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi simply slow the body down enough for these patterns to become visible. When movement becomes slower and more controlled, the stabilising muscles of the feet and lower legs have an opportunity to do the work they were designed for.
Over time this can improve balance, posture and overall movement efficiency.
The important point is that the work of the feet does not begin and end in a class.
It happens every day.
Every time we stand.
Every time we walk.
Every single step we take.
If you’d like to explore further, I share more detailed teaching inside The Inner Sanctuary Online, my online space for Shibashi practice.
You can find out more here
The Inner Sanctuary Online
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