Hubo got me thinking - all the joints in the body are rotational. There are no sliding all lateral joints. Moving in a straight line therefore requires at least two joints to work together. You cannot achieve linear movement with individual joints. The more joints you connect together the more degrees of freedom you have, and the degrees of freedom possible in the human body are quite staggering.
The whole body connectivity of the internal arts are seeking to exploit this fact. In order to achieve useful movement multiple, parts of the body have to work together, and the more parts you can utilise simultaneously, the more freedom of movement (or opportunities) you have. The more you can bring together the more you can "flow" your movements.
There is a great parable about the Tai Chi master who is practicing standing meditation when a tiny bird lands on his hand. As it does so every joint and muscle in his body shifts a tiny amount to compensate for the extra weight of the bird. This sort of all over body coordination reflects a very fundimantal part of Tai chi.
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