“Tensegrity, tensional integrity or floating compression is a structural principle based on a system of isolated components under compression inside a network of continuous tension, and arranged in such a way that the compressed members do not touch each other while the prestressed tensioned members delineate the system spatially.”Wikipedia
What the Heck does that Mean?
Well, it really is how the more external part of our body operates. There is an internal continuous connectivity that basically holds us together. In Tai Chi there is an old adage: ” When one part of the Body Moves, the Whole Body Moves”. In the following clip of the opening movements we can see how we are trying to create a continuous flow, from ground through the whole body and out the fingers. Then back again. We are attempting to connect with and activate this internal component.
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Qigong Opening Movement.mp4 from Richard on Vimeo.
Fascia
A sheet or band of fibrous connective tissue enveloping, separating, or binding together muscles, organs, and other soft structures of the body.
In the following video we can see how this actually works withing our bodies.
My Hero Buckminster Fuller, who coined the word Tensegrity understood these concepts in outer structural terms and believed this :”that Tensegrity was the underlying principle of all his work and the Universe itself.” https://www.bfi.org/about-fuller/big-ideas/tensegrity/
I believe he and the ancient Chinese masters were right. Practicing Qigong/Tai Chi is about reconnecting and strengthening this internal world in many ways. These practices are like giving yourself a Myofascial Release treatment. You deserve it.
Back in the mid 1980″s I built a Fuller Geodesic Dome for my family. A 45 ft in diameter 5/8 sphere pictured below. My goal was to be in alignment with nature though tensegrity in my inner and outer world.
