Lots of people experience pain in their knees when doing Tai Chi, especially beginners. But even though this is common, it isn't "normal" or "healthy". Here are some tips on how to deal with it.

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Marleen from South Africa:
"This is probably a question you have been asked many times, but I hope you will have time to explain it again. Why do so many Tai Chi students land up with sore knees?"

Thank you for your question, Marleen. There are as many reasons for knees to go bad in the practice of Tai Chi as there are practitioners with bad knees.

Some of the more common reasons are a tilting the front knee inwards in the postures instead of keeping it vertical. Another is letting the back knee hang too low, too soon.

Some people have weak knees and they should consult a physician and use a knee brace.

These problems can be addressed in several ways. First, consult a physician and see if you have any structural problem that may need surgery.

If not, then you can do one or more of several things. You might try a knee brace. You also should definitely take higher stances. if your teacher wants to correct you lower, you need to stop him/her and tell him/her of your problem. Do not take correction blindly, but always in the context in which it is given, including if you think you will hurt your self taking the corrections.

While pain is not a good thing, it has been said that pain in a muscle is good and pain in a joint is not. So even those advocating pain, know that you are weakening a joint when you hurt it, even if it is possible that you are strengthening a muscle when you hurt it.

Please be careful in your practice and try not to hurt anything, or anyone.

In Tai Chi,
Bill

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William C. Phillips began his study of the martial arts in 1965. He currently holds a 7th degree black belt in Karate, and a 5th degree black belt in Ju Jitsu. He began his studies of Tai Chi in l967, studying with Prof. Cheng Man-Ch'ing from '70-'75. He became the most junior student ever to become a teacher in Cheng Man Ch'ing's New York school, the Shr Jung. Sifu Phillips became interested in the field of holistic health in the early 1970's, when a lifelong allergy problem was alleviated with Chinese herbal medicine. Since then, he has studied widely in that field as well. Sifu Phillips is available for seminars, lectures and demonstrations. He has produced two very successful Tai Chi DVDs, and is currently working on a book on Tai Chi form and a third DVD.For more information...

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