T'ai Chi is Swimming in Air

(image credit)

Early on I also learned that T'ai Chi was like swimming in air.  That is, in practice, we are to move slowly and imagine that we are underwater.  Our movement is smooth and unhurried.  The more we fight the water, that is, if we veer from T'ai Chi principles, the more the water resists our force and tension.  So swimming in air was also a call to center and relax.