Meeting Abstract

P1.100  Tuesday, Jan. 4  Maintaining stability: The biomechanics of rooting during interactive t’ai chi push-hands practice LINN, F.C.*; KANG, J.C.Y.; MERSEY, B.; Univ. of California, Berkeley; Univ. of California, Berkeley; Univ. of California, Berkeley felicialinn@berkeley.edu

Martial artists, particularly practitioners of the Chinese art of t’ai chi chuan, have been shown in past studies to better maintain balance and postural control when perturbed by oncoming forces than non-practitioners. Previous t’ai chi studies have focused on individual performance of selected movements and forms—sets of movements meant for regular practice. Here, we examine an interactive, sparring type of paired practice called push-hands. In this exercise, partners attempt to guide their opponents off balance (characterized in this study by the inability to keep both feet planted on the ground) while maintaining their own balance; this provides practice for reacting to unexpected situations where a likely outcome is losing balance and falling. Experienced push-hands practitioners commonly cite a difficult-to-define technique called “rooting.” To study the underlying mechanism of rooting, experienced t’ai chi practitioners as well as individuals without martial arts training were subjected to simplified bouts of push-hands. The patterns and relative magnitudes of measured ground reaction forces were not significantly different between practitioners and non-practitioners, but video recordings clearly indicated that practitioners employed different upper body maneuvers and are not pushed off balance as often. By using this system to gain a more complete understanding of human control over posture and balance during paired contact tasks, we hope to improve models of balance in bipedal entities for both therapeutic and engineering purposes.