Discover how Lu energy in Tai Chi teaches softness, yielding, and calm adaptability through relaxed, connected movement.

Last time I explored the expansive, supportive power of Peng. The next principle we meet this time is its perfect partner: Lu. If Peng is like spring and buoyancy, Lu is the quiet art of yielding and redirecting.

The word Lu is often translated as “rollback.” It doesn’t mean retreating or collapsing. Instead, Lu teaches us to absorb incoming force and guide it away without strain.

Imagine water flowing around a rock in a stream. The rock doesn’t fight back, yet the water doesn’t lose its strength, it simply finds another way. That’s the essence of Lu, strength through softness.

In the form, you see this clearly in Grasp the Sparrow’s Tail during the rollback movement. In class, I often highlight softness and sensitivity, and in pushing hands practice, these skills deepen even more.

With Lu, you learn that yielding isn’t weakness. It’s balance in motion.

Together, Peng and Lu form the foundation of Tai Chi’s energy. Peng gives us support and buoyancy, while Lu teaches us adaptability and calm. One expands, the other receives. Both are essential for harmony, the yin and yang of life.

As you practise, cultivate and go deeper into how Lu feels in your body, you are developing it not just as a technique but as both a skill and a mindset. Imagine carrying this ability into your daily life, meeting challenges with calm, redirecting stress into flow, and discovering strength through softness.

That’s the gift of Lu.

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Bob Chiang teaches Tai Chi classes and workshops in the Peak District, Derbyshire. If you’d like to improve your balance, posture, strength, and overall wellbeing through gentle, mindful movement, you can find out more at: www.dynamictaichi.co.uk

We’re going to deep dive into an important concept in Tai Chi.

One of the surprising things Tai Chi teaches us, as we continue practicing, is that it isn’t only about choreography or memorising movements. Tai Chi is just as much about sensitivity—about feeling how energy moves through the body.

One of the first principles we meet is called Peng, and once you truly feel it, your practice will never be the same.

In Chinese, Peng means “ward off.” At first, that sounds defensive. But in Tai Chi it’s something far richer—a buoyant, springy, alive quality in the body. Imagine standing inside a softly inflated ball that supports you from every angle. No matter what comes toward you, you don’t collapse or resist. You yield, absorb, and return—soft yet unshakable.

You’ve probably touched this feeling before without naming it:

The way your posture feels when you’re standing tall and balanced.

That effortless lightness when floating in water.

Or the gentle, secure way you hold a child without strain.

That’s Peng.

When we cultivate it in Tai Chi, it changes everything. Movements stop being “arms and legs going through a routine” and become rooted, expansive, alive. Suddenly you’re not pushing, pulling, or muscling through—you’re connected, whole, and resilient.

This is why Peng is considered the root of every Tai Chi move. Without it, the forms are empty shapes. With it, they come alive.

In my classes and in the online course I emphasise Peng especially in the Ward-Off postures. It’s not just a technique; it’s an experience you carry into daily life. Imagine feeling this buoyant stability not only in Tai Chi, but when you walk, work, or simply breathe. This is why with consistent practice in Tai Chi, you start to feel the power and strength of your body.

That’s the power of Peng.

For more details about Tai Chi sessions and workshops – https://www.dynamictaichi.co.uk