TJQ employs 7 requirements for posture: (1) Xu Ling Ding Jing (the crown of head elongates the neck), (2) Han Xiong Ba Bei (chest softens and back expands), (3) Chen Jian Zhui Zhou (clavicles expand laterally and elbows drop), (4) Zheng Yao Luo Kua (waist holds straight and pelvis sits evenly on top of femurs), (5) Shou Fu Lian Tun (abs and glutes engage), (6) Song Xi Diao Dang (knees relax, inner thighs and pelvic floor draw up and in), and (7) Yong-quan Tie Di (feet are parallel root to the ground).
虚领顶劲、含胸拔背、沉肩坠肘、正腰落胯、收腹敛臀、松膝吊裆、涌泉贴地
However, it is very hard to ask a new Taiji practitioner to comprehend the true meaning of these requirements. In the original Chinese phrases, these descriptions are very abstractive. The practitioner can only interpret the meaning by their limited understanding. It usually ended up with a even worse body alignment. For example, the Requirement #2 - 含胸拔背 chest softens and back expands. A lot of people ended up with forwarded shoulders and a hunch back.
I believe the Western anatomy is a good tool to explain these posture requirements. The first thing the TJQ teacher should do is to check the new student's posture, identify the poor aligned spots, and guide the student to improve by doing some specially designed exercises. This is what I would explain about the Requirement #2:
Han Xiong Ba Bei (含胸拔背, Chest softens and back expands)
This phrase simply means that the chest is softened inward and the back fills with Qi. Imagine standing at the edge of a very high cliff, looking down. You want to see the bottom, but you need to protect yourself from falling. The ribcage lifts slightly up and rotates forward. This rotation of the ribcage (Han Xiong) is critical, as it facilitates the Qi dropping from the chest to the abdominal cavity. As this rotation happens, the thoracic spine moves slightly back (Ba Bei) as the back expands. The purpose of Ba Bei is to allow the Qi and Jing to flow along the spine in the Du meridian. Remember that in Ba Bei we don’t arch the back. Instead, there is a slight dropping of the tailbone as the back of the neck straightens. The overall result of Han Xiong Ba Bei will be a softened chest, shoulders connected on a full back and a relaxed, yet alert, “flag-pole” spine.
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