As long as they perpetuate this error, their T'ai Chi will lack the very quality that brings maximum benefits to the body for health and martial arts training. Genuine T'ai Chi Ch'uan has a vibrancy that can be both sensed and seen. The movements have been described as appearing like moving silk or flowing water. When the form is performed well, the movements are full, smooth, and continuous. The practitioner seems to be playing with some invisible force in space.
People watching actually experience the feeling of fluid motion and find it very enjoyable.
T'ai Chi who are too stiff or too loose because that dynamic quality is not there. The problem is that, in either case, there is a lack of energy within the posture. When practice is rigid, the student is using muscle tension for support, which is expending energy but not circulating it. This is why it is so exhausting. Muscles are held tight, squeezing blood vessels, pinching nerves, and compressing the spaces between the joints, effectively blocking the flow of energy.