[Path to Mastery 6/2/10 – Wk38 D3 (Str 9.12.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
Continuing the story on my journey with the Small Heavenly Circle meditation from last week:
Years later, I was sitting cross-legged and working on my Dan-Tien breathing. This was a good day. I had just completed Taoist Yoga and my body felt loose and relaxed. I felt the heat comfortably accumulate in my Dan-Tien. At some point I started feeling the heat coming down my central channel down the front, and then it naturally started overflowing from my Dan-Tien out and up my spine. The Taoists say that water rises to the head, and the fire descend to your Dan-Tien. The teachings say that when your Dan-Tien is warm and your head feels clear and cool, your energy is balanced and circulating well. That is exactly what happened. I started out this practice by moving my attention from my crown chakra (crown of my head) to my upper Dan-Tien (third eye), and then to my throat, then to my heart, then to my stomach and eventually to my Lower Dan-Tien. When I moved my attention from the crown to my third eye (middle of forehead) I felt the denseness in my head moving down. When I moved the attention again, I felt the denseness again moving down to my throat. It was both weird and a really cool sensation. When I say denseness, it basically felt like this energy cloud of haze moving down my center. By the time this dense sensation moved down to my Dan-Tien, my head cleared and my Dan-Tien was warm. When I exhaled, the heat rose up my back, but by the time it reach my head, it was cool and refreshing. Afterward, as I was breathing, I felt the heat accumulating and circulating down from head to my Dan-Tien clearing and emptying my head, and I felt cool energy climbing up my back to my head refreshing my head in a continuous cycle.
To be continued.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1) Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
2) Breathe naturally (Covered 4/20)
3) No sound breath (Covered 4/21)
4) Crow Bridge (Covered 4/22)
5) Dan-Tien Breathing (Covered 4/23)
6) Directed Breathing (Covered 4/26)
7) Small Heavenly Circle (Covered 5/25 ~ )
8) Great Heavenly Circle
9) Reverse Breathing
10) Whole Body breathing
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Small Heavenly Circle
[Path to Mastery 5/25/10 – Wk37 D2 (Str 9.12.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
“Small Heavenly Circle” breathing.
The purpose of practicing “Small Heavenly Circle” breathing is to open up your energy channel that runs through the vertical center line of the front and back of your torso. In case you want a visual aid, just type in Du Mei channel on the internet, you will see what I am talking about. Small Heavenly Circle is another name for the Du Mei channel.
So, unless you have some knowledge of energy practice, you are probably wondering why you should try to open the central channel through “Small Heavenly Circle” breathing. I mean Tai-Chi is a martial art, so it has to benefit martial arts somehow, right? But how does breathing and getting the energy channels to open up help your martial arts? Here is how. When the central channel opens, you gain access to an uninhibited and unlimited source of energy. This means you gain access to unlimited source of power. Even when you start achieving this partially, you start gaining seemingly superhuman powers.
When you study meditation and enlightenment across the different schools of thought across the different parts of the world, there are some differences, but there is an underlying theme that is common to almost all of them. You will notice then that opening the central line so the energy can flow freely through your central line is the key to enlightenment. It allows all the necessary energy to induce a state of enlightenment to flow into your mind. Also, according to Acupuncture theory, all your 12 meridians (pathways that distribute energy through your whole body) are connected to your central line. This means that the energy opens up to the rest of your body and brings an unending supply of energy, which is the key to a fully healthy body. If you think about it, a healthy body in conjunction with a fully open mind is the equation for reaching your full potential. The idea of using breathing to open your central channel: not so exciting. Reaching your full potential so you can have super human abilities: very exciting. This is the reason why so many monks and martial artists sit and do this boring breathing exercise day in and day out.
When I first started learning Small Heaven Circle Breathing, I of course started with the Dan-Tien Breathing covered on 4/23. Now, learning Dan-Tien breathing for me was not a pleasant experience. I was having all kinds of gas issues. I was working too hard, controlling my breath too much. My first Taoist teacher told me that I should not try to get real air there, but just the chi. That made no sense to me back then, but I had moments where I experienced my Dan-Tien getting warm and filling with the energy. Then I would get over zealous and then try to force the breath down there to get it even hotter, which would result in just more gas and stomach aches! But those smaller moments gave me hope and I kept practicing. I think another reason I kept practicing is because I saw what was possible from witnessing the feats of my senior martial arts brothers and my teacher that seemed just super human to me. Then, I had this experience that hooked me for life. It was in the middle of winter. It was a cold snowy day, and my brother and I had decided to go out to get something. I had been practicing earlier before we decided to go out and for one reason or another, it was working. Each time I inhaled, my Dan-Tien would fill up with warmth and radiate out to the rest of my body, and when I would exhale my hands and feet would radiate heat. I don’t know what got into me, but I decided to go out in my T-shirt, running pants, and sandals. My brother packed himself in winter wear completely covering his whole body. While we were walking, the world seemed completely different to me. It was beautiful. It seemed balmy and the snow seemed like flakes of cotton falling. I looked over to my brother and I caught eyes that looked at me as if I was crazy. He had his hands in his pockets and was shivering from cold. He took out his hands and grabbed mine and to his surprise and mine, my hands were very warm, his hands were really cold. This is the day I realized what happens when the energy channel in your body opens up.
To be continued.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1. Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
2. Breathe Naturally (Covered 4/20)
3. No Sound Breath (Covered 4/21)
4. Crow Bridge (Covered 4/22)
5. Dan-Tien Breathing (Covered 4/23)
6. Directed Breathing (Covered 4/26)
7. Small Heavenly Circle (Covered 5/25 ~ )
8. Great Heavenly Circle
9. Reverse Breathing
10. Whole Body Breathing
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
“Small Heavenly Circle” breathing.
The purpose of practicing “Small Heavenly Circle” breathing is to open up your energy channel that runs through the vertical center line of the front and back of your torso. In case you want a visual aid, just type in Du Mei channel on the internet, you will see what I am talking about. Small Heavenly Circle is another name for the Du Mei channel.
So, unless you have some knowledge of energy practice, you are probably wondering why you should try to open the central channel through “Small Heavenly Circle” breathing. I mean Tai-Chi is a martial art, so it has to benefit martial arts somehow, right? But how does breathing and getting the energy channels to open up help your martial arts? Here is how. When the central channel opens, you gain access to an uninhibited and unlimited source of energy. This means you gain access to unlimited source of power. Even when you start achieving this partially, you start gaining seemingly superhuman powers.
When you study meditation and enlightenment across the different schools of thought across the different parts of the world, there are some differences, but there is an underlying theme that is common to almost all of them. You will notice then that opening the central line so the energy can flow freely through your central line is the key to enlightenment. It allows all the necessary energy to induce a state of enlightenment to flow into your mind. Also, according to Acupuncture theory, all your 12 meridians (pathways that distribute energy through your whole body) are connected to your central line. This means that the energy opens up to the rest of your body and brings an unending supply of energy, which is the key to a fully healthy body. If you think about it, a healthy body in conjunction with a fully open mind is the equation for reaching your full potential. The idea of using breathing to open your central channel: not so exciting. Reaching your full potential so you can have super human abilities: very exciting. This is the reason why so many monks and martial artists sit and do this boring breathing exercise day in and day out.
When I first started learning Small Heaven Circle Breathing, I of course started with the Dan-Tien Breathing covered on 4/23. Now, learning Dan-Tien breathing for me was not a pleasant experience. I was having all kinds of gas issues. I was working too hard, controlling my breath too much. My first Taoist teacher told me that I should not try to get real air there, but just the chi. That made no sense to me back then, but I had moments where I experienced my Dan-Tien getting warm and filling with the energy. Then I would get over zealous and then try to force the breath down there to get it even hotter, which would result in just more gas and stomach aches! But those smaller moments gave me hope and I kept practicing. I think another reason I kept practicing is because I saw what was possible from witnessing the feats of my senior martial arts brothers and my teacher that seemed just super human to me. Then, I had this experience that hooked me for life. It was in the middle of winter. It was a cold snowy day, and my brother and I had decided to go out to get something. I had been practicing earlier before we decided to go out and for one reason or another, it was working. Each time I inhaled, my Dan-Tien would fill up with warmth and radiate out to the rest of my body, and when I would exhale my hands and feet would radiate heat. I don’t know what got into me, but I decided to go out in my T-shirt, running pants, and sandals. My brother packed himself in winter wear completely covering his whole body. While we were walking, the world seemed completely different to me. It was beautiful. It seemed balmy and the snow seemed like flakes of cotton falling. I looked over to my brother and I caught eyes that looked at me as if I was crazy. He had his hands in his pockets and was shivering from cold. He took out his hands and grabbed mine and to his surprise and mine, my hands were very warm, his hands were really cold. This is the day I realized what happens when the energy channel in your body opens up.
To be continued.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1. Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
2. Breathe Naturally (Covered 4/20)
3. No Sound Breath (Covered 4/21)
4. Crow Bridge (Covered 4/22)
5. Dan-Tien Breathing (Covered 4/23)
6. Directed Breathing (Covered 4/26)
7. Small Heavenly Circle (Covered 5/25 ~ )
8. Great Heavenly Circle
9. Reverse Breathing
10. Whole Body Breathing
Monday, May 24, 2010
Hello my beloved fans!!!!
I am back! Ok, while I was away, in my cave, I was in deep contemplation. I have been pondering how I could make this writing more helpful. After much research, talking to people, reading books, and letting it marinate, I think it gelled.
Melanie, my beloved wife, found me this quote yesterday and I realized this was the answer:
“Good writing does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to convince you, but on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else’s head” – Malcom Gladwell
I have decided to start the journey to engage you more and give you more of a glimpse into my head (I know, scary, I know). I won’t be writing everyday, like I used to. I tried to finish “Small Heavenly Circle” today, but it is not quite done yet, so please have patience! I will aim to provide quality versus quantity. I aim to have the article done by Tuesday!
Now in the mean time, Joe wrote his experience with Tai-Chi in the Spiritual blog section! Go check it out!!! http://dojokitchenspiritual.blogspot.com/
Sang
Monday, May 10, 2010
Hello to everyone who’s been reading the blog!
Thank you for your interest and hopefully we’ve been able to aid in your progress of practicing Tai-Chi! We are currently going through some restructuring of our presentation and how we can more effectively present our material. We will be taking a temporary break while that is happening. In the mean while, please visit our Fan page on our Facebook. We have been putting video instructions on Facebook for your information. You can get to our Facebook through the new updates on our website. We will be back and running on 5/24!!!!
Thank you for your patience!!!!
Sang
Thank you for your interest and hopefully we’ve been able to aid in your progress of practicing Tai-Chi! We are currently going through some restructuring of our presentation and how we can more effectively present our material. We will be taking a temporary break while that is happening. In the mean while, please visit our Fan page on our Facebook. We have been putting video instructions on Facebook for your information. You can get to our Facebook through the new updates on our website. We will be back and running on 5/24!!!!
Thank you for your patience!!!!
Sang
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Road Trip!!
I will be driving to Atlanta with the family for a wedding this weekend. We had to get ready for the trip and didn't get the chance to get the writing up. Will be right back on line next week! Road trip!!!!!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Directed Breathing
[Path to Mastery 4/27/10 – Wk33 D2 (Str 9.12.09)(Ph2 11.15.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
Directed breathing is where you lead the energy with the breath. Traditionally, this concept is also called Hen Ha.
You could almost argue that in the end, we learn all this in order to learn how to breathe. If you know how to breathe, then you accomplish everything with just breathing. You can accomplish alignment with breathing, you can accomplish movement with breathing, and you can accomplish relaxation with breathing.
So, here is how you practice Directed Breathing.
Some ground rules. When you inhale, you inhale through your nose, and your tongue is on the roof of your mouth. When you exhale you exhale through your mouth, and your tongue is either relaxed, or on the bottom of your mouth, behind your bottom teeth, but not touching. (In the beginning the tongue is not as important, but as you get better in your ability to direct your breath the tongue will naturally come into play)
Now relax the center of your palm, and imagine you are exhaling out the finger tips. You will feel as if your hand is filling up on the inhale and then emptying on the inhale. When you get comfortable with this, start inhaling up to the forearm where you are filling the breath coming in through your fingertips to the forearm and then out. Do this while your arms are dangling. Then breathe in to the rest of your arm. You will feel as if your arms are filling up and floating.
Now for this practice you may make sound with your breathing, especially when you exhale. When you exhale, keep your mouth relatively closed and exhale as if you are blowing into a balloon. When you exhale, imagine that you are exhaling into and out of your limbs instead of out of your mouth. A good way to imagine it is as if your limbs or wherever you are directing your breath is the balloon and you are blowing into that part of the body. Make sure you are relaxed, and that you are leading with your breath.
In the beginning, this breathing will bring warmth and fullness into your body. Then it will relax deeper, and it will help you heal and get rid of any tension in your body. Try it. If you have tension in your shoulders, breathe into that area, fill it up, and exhale that fullness out through your hands.
Eventually, this will become power. When you do this breathing, you feel your limbs and your body filling up with air and being supported from within. Eventually, it starts moving you and pumping you. For instance, if you practice this breathing during push ups, you will notice that on the exhale, the breath pushes you up, and in the inhale, the breath lets you down.
As mentioned in the very beginning of this chapter directed breathing leads into Hen Ha breathing. Hen Ha breathing is explosive energy breathing. In the western concept, directed breathing is also pressurized breathing. I will explain this further tomorrow!
For today, play with breathing into different parts of the body.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1. Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
2. Breathe Naturally (Covered 4/20)
3. No Sound Breath (Covered 4/21)
4. Crow Bridge (Covered 4/22)
5. Dan-Tien Breathing (Covered 4/26)
6. Directed Breathing (Covered 4/27)
7. Small Heavenly Circle
8. Great Heavenly Circle
9. Reverse Breathing
10.Whole Body Breathing
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
Directed breathing is where you lead the energy with the breath. Traditionally, this concept is also called Hen Ha.
You could almost argue that in the end, we learn all this in order to learn how to breathe. If you know how to breathe, then you accomplish everything with just breathing. You can accomplish alignment with breathing, you can accomplish movement with breathing, and you can accomplish relaxation with breathing.
So, here is how you practice Directed Breathing.
Some ground rules. When you inhale, you inhale through your nose, and your tongue is on the roof of your mouth. When you exhale you exhale through your mouth, and your tongue is either relaxed, or on the bottom of your mouth, behind your bottom teeth, but not touching. (In the beginning the tongue is not as important, but as you get better in your ability to direct your breath the tongue will naturally come into play)
Now relax the center of your palm, and imagine you are exhaling out the finger tips. You will feel as if your hand is filling up on the inhale and then emptying on the inhale. When you get comfortable with this, start inhaling up to the forearm where you are filling the breath coming in through your fingertips to the forearm and then out. Do this while your arms are dangling. Then breathe in to the rest of your arm. You will feel as if your arms are filling up and floating.
Now for this practice you may make sound with your breathing, especially when you exhale. When you exhale, keep your mouth relatively closed and exhale as if you are blowing into a balloon. When you exhale, imagine that you are exhaling into and out of your limbs instead of out of your mouth. A good way to imagine it is as if your limbs or wherever you are directing your breath is the balloon and you are blowing into that part of the body. Make sure you are relaxed, and that you are leading with your breath.
In the beginning, this breathing will bring warmth and fullness into your body. Then it will relax deeper, and it will help you heal and get rid of any tension in your body. Try it. If you have tension in your shoulders, breathe into that area, fill it up, and exhale that fullness out through your hands.
Eventually, this will become power. When you do this breathing, you feel your limbs and your body filling up with air and being supported from within. Eventually, it starts moving you and pumping you. For instance, if you practice this breathing during push ups, you will notice that on the exhale, the breath pushes you up, and in the inhale, the breath lets you down.
As mentioned in the very beginning of this chapter directed breathing leads into Hen Ha breathing. Hen Ha breathing is explosive energy breathing. In the western concept, directed breathing is also pressurized breathing. I will explain this further tomorrow!
For today, play with breathing into different parts of the body.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1. Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
2. Breathe Naturally (Covered 4/20)
3. No Sound Breath (Covered 4/21)
4. Crow Bridge (Covered 4/22)
5. Dan-Tien Breathing (Covered 4/26)
6. Directed Breathing (Covered 4/27)
7. Small Heavenly Circle
8. Great Heavenly Circle
9. Reverse Breathing
10.Whole Body Breathing
Monday, April 26, 2010
Dan-Tien Breathing
[Path to Mastery 4/26/10 – Wk33 D1 (Str 9.12.09)(Ph2 11.15.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
Dan-Tien breathing is nothing more than breathing with your lower abdomen.
The good part of the equation is diaphragmatic breathing. But it is not all. It is a good place to start though so let’s start there. Relax your rib cage, and imagine that your lungs move (diaphragm) moves down as you inhale instead of your chest expanding outward. You will notice that your breath sinks down and low. You will also notice that the lower abdomen expands as you do this breathing.
The lungs don’t have much space to expand outward because of your rib cage. However, the lungs are well designed to move downward. When you inhale downwards, you will notice that you can take a much deeper breath. Not only that, as your lung moves downward, it creates movement in your intestines. This is part of the reason why your lower abdomen expands since your diaphragm squishes your organs. This effectively creates a massage for them which promote internal organ health.
Now here is where the Dan-Tien breathing becomes a little more mysterious. On a simple level we can say that Dan-Tien breathing is diaphragmatic breathing. However, there are some differences. When you do Dan-Tien breathing properly, your lower abdomen area really heats up. You feel like a hot air balloon and your whole body is energized. It also feels as if you have a little pump about 3 finger widths below your navel that moves in and out. You pelvic floor feels lifted and supported. The heat that is created is not generalized either. It is a point. Another way effective way to feel Dan-Tien breathing properly is by breathing in from your Ming-Men towards the Dan-Tien. Imagine the air is coming in through your lower back towards your Dan-Tien.
Before you start do a intestine warm up exercise, where as you exhale, you draw your lower abdomen in, and push it out as you inhale. Do that about 30 times before you attempt this breathing. When you do this exercise, draw in or pushing out as much as you can without causing tension in your body. This will help you to feel loose before you practice this. Don’t force anything. Stay relaxed and it will come.
Enjoy!
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Meditation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1. Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
2. Breathe Naturally (Covered 4/20)
3. No Sound Breath (Covered 4/21)
4. Crow Bridge (Covered 4/22)
5. Dan-Tien Breathing (Covered 4/26)
6. Directed Breathing
7. Small Heavenly Circle
8. Great Heavenly Circle
9. Reverse Breathing
10. Whole Body Breathing
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
Dan-Tien breathing is nothing more than breathing with your lower abdomen.
The good part of the equation is diaphragmatic breathing. But it is not all. It is a good place to start though so let’s start there. Relax your rib cage, and imagine that your lungs move (diaphragm) moves down as you inhale instead of your chest expanding outward. You will notice that your breath sinks down and low. You will also notice that the lower abdomen expands as you do this breathing.
The lungs don’t have much space to expand outward because of your rib cage. However, the lungs are well designed to move downward. When you inhale downwards, you will notice that you can take a much deeper breath. Not only that, as your lung moves downward, it creates movement in your intestines. This is part of the reason why your lower abdomen expands since your diaphragm squishes your organs. This effectively creates a massage for them which promote internal organ health.
Now here is where the Dan-Tien breathing becomes a little more mysterious. On a simple level we can say that Dan-Tien breathing is diaphragmatic breathing. However, there are some differences. When you do Dan-Tien breathing properly, your lower abdomen area really heats up. You feel like a hot air balloon and your whole body is energized. It also feels as if you have a little pump about 3 finger widths below your navel that moves in and out. You pelvic floor feels lifted and supported. The heat that is created is not generalized either. It is a point. Another way effective way to feel Dan-Tien breathing properly is by breathing in from your Ming-Men towards the Dan-Tien. Imagine the air is coming in through your lower back towards your Dan-Tien.
Before you start do a intestine warm up exercise, where as you exhale, you draw your lower abdomen in, and push it out as you inhale. Do that about 30 times before you attempt this breathing. When you do this exercise, draw in or pushing out as much as you can without causing tension in your body. This will help you to feel loose before you practice this. Don’t force anything. Stay relaxed and it will come.
Enjoy!
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Meditation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1. Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
2. Breathe Naturally (Covered 4/20)
3. No Sound Breath (Covered 4/21)
4. Crow Bridge (Covered 4/22)
5. Dan-Tien Breathing (Covered 4/26)
6. Directed Breathing
7. Small Heavenly Circle
8. Great Heavenly Circle
9. Reverse Breathing
10. Whole Body Breathing
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Crow Bridge
[Path to Mastery 4/22/10 – Wk32 D4 (Str 9.12.09)(Ph2 11.15.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
Crow Bridge refers to connecting the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth. There are a lot of explanations as to why this should be done.
Crow Bridge is named after the legend of a couple that were separated from each other and could only meet once a year when crows would form a bridge for them to meet. The tongue is supposed to bridge a natural Chi pathway that is disconnected from the roof of the mouth to the throat. It is believed that by placing the tongue on the roof of the mouth, you complete the Chi pathway the travels through the center of the front of the body.
It is also said that the mild tension on the tongue necessary to create the bridge allows the white blood to flow through your mouth to prevent your mouth from getting dry, meaning your mouth will salivate. I didn’t understand the importance of this until I started studying relaxation a bit deeper. Apparently, when the mouth is dry, the body will not relax. When the mouth is salivating it is a signal of relaxation. Also, when you place the tongue on the roof of your mouth, your jaw cannot tighten. According to western science, the body cannot relax unless you have a relaxed jaw. So, the Tai-chi people figured out that by placing the tongue on the roof of the mouth, you salivate and create a slack jaw that brings you into deeper relaxation.
Pretty cool huh?
So, when you remember, gently place your tongue on the roof of your mouth and relax your jaw, and you will feel much more relaxed. It also helps you regulate your breath as well.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1.Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
2.Breathe Naturally (Covered 4/20)
3.No Sound Breath (Covered 4/21)
4.Crow Bridge (Covered 4/22)
5.Dan-Tien Breathing
6.Directed Breathing
7.Small Heavenly Circle
8.Great Heavenly Circle
9.Reverse Breathing
10.Whole Body Breathing
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
Crow Bridge refers to connecting the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth. There are a lot of explanations as to why this should be done.
Crow Bridge is named after the legend of a couple that were separated from each other and could only meet once a year when crows would form a bridge for them to meet. The tongue is supposed to bridge a natural Chi pathway that is disconnected from the roof of the mouth to the throat. It is believed that by placing the tongue on the roof of the mouth, you complete the Chi pathway the travels through the center of the front of the body.
It is also said that the mild tension on the tongue necessary to create the bridge allows the white blood to flow through your mouth to prevent your mouth from getting dry, meaning your mouth will salivate. I didn’t understand the importance of this until I started studying relaxation a bit deeper. Apparently, when the mouth is dry, the body will not relax. When the mouth is salivating it is a signal of relaxation. Also, when you place the tongue on the roof of your mouth, your jaw cannot tighten. According to western science, the body cannot relax unless you have a relaxed jaw. So, the Tai-chi people figured out that by placing the tongue on the roof of the mouth, you salivate and create a slack jaw that brings you into deeper relaxation.
Pretty cool huh?
So, when you remember, gently place your tongue on the roof of your mouth and relax your jaw, and you will feel much more relaxed. It also helps you regulate your breath as well.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1.Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
2.Breathe Naturally (Covered 4/20)
3.No Sound Breath (Covered 4/21)
4.Crow Bridge (Covered 4/22)
5.Dan-Tien Breathing
6.Directed Breathing
7.Small Heavenly Circle
8.Great Heavenly Circle
9.Reverse Breathing
10.Whole Body Breathing
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
No Sound Breath
[Path to Mastery 4/21/10 – Wk32 D3 (Str 9.12.09)(Ph2 11.15.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey
Today’s blog is going to be short. No Sound breath or silent breath.
When you practice Tai-Chi or Chi-Gong do it so that you cannot hear your breath. Gabriel used to say that you should breathe so that nobody can tell you are breathing. The test is if you put a feather under your nose, the feather wouldn’t move as you are breathing.
Now I can’t do that, at least not for any length of time. But the longer I train, I feel my breath deepen and lengthen, and I feel the flow of Chi increases with this breathing. It also creates more pressure, but it is gentle.
There is breath with sound that we practice, but that will be covered later. For now, enjoy practicing the silent breath and remember, no matter what happens relaxation comes first!
Have fun!
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1.Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
2.Breathe Naturally (Covered 4/20)
3.No Sound Breath (Covered 4/21)
4.Crow Bridge
5.Dan-Tien Breathing
6.Directed Breathing
7.Small Heavenly Circle
8.Great Heavenly Circle
9.Reverse Breathing
10.Whole Body Breathing
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey
Today’s blog is going to be short. No Sound breath or silent breath.
When you practice Tai-Chi or Chi-Gong do it so that you cannot hear your breath. Gabriel used to say that you should breathe so that nobody can tell you are breathing. The test is if you put a feather under your nose, the feather wouldn’t move as you are breathing.
Now I can’t do that, at least not for any length of time. But the longer I train, I feel my breath deepen and lengthen, and I feel the flow of Chi increases with this breathing. It also creates more pressure, but it is gentle.
There is breath with sound that we practice, but that will be covered later. For now, enjoy practicing the silent breath and remember, no matter what happens relaxation comes first!
Have fun!
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1.Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
2.Breathe Naturally (Covered 4/20)
3.No Sound Breath (Covered 4/21)
4.Crow Bridge
5.Dan-Tien Breathing
6.Directed Breathing
7.Small Heavenly Circle
8.Great Heavenly Circle
9.Reverse Breathing
10.Whole Body Breathing
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Breathing Naturally
[Path to Mastery 4/20/10 – Wk32 D2 (Str 9.12.09)(Ph2 11.15.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
There are breathing concepts, breathing techniques and breathing exercises. But before any of that, you have to just let your breath be and observe it.
When I first joined my teacher Gabriel my mind was filled with the idea of different breathing techniques that would make my Kung-Fu (Martial Cultivation) more powerful. I was excited to learn the secrets of breathing. With anticipation I asked, so while doing the form, how do I breathe. He said, “Just breathe.” I was in semi shock. I said, “I thought you were supposed to exhale while you extend and inhale while you retract. Am I not supposed to do some kind of breathing.” He replied eloquently, “No.”. He had a talent for anticlimactic answers.
Later, as I practiced it became clear to me that the form teaches your body to breathe. As you do the form, your breathing naturally changes to about 5~6 breaths per minute as your body calms and relaxes. Also, if you are relaxed enough, you notice how your breathing naturally starts correlating to the moves. I realized much later all the breathing methods taught are just a summary of what happens naturally when you practice the form over time with awareness on your breath.
There are breathing exercises and techniques taught outside the form, but it is not taught while doing the form until later. This is because trying to coordinate your breath and movement consciously is unnatural and often creates a disharmony between the breath and your movements. The breathing exercises allow you to practice the different aspects of breathing so you can learn the distinctions of what all can be done with breathing and until your control gets better and it all starts coming together. Once your breathing is natural, and your control of your breath is natural, you can start incorporating breathing methods to enhance the explosive power of your form.
However, in the beginning the only thing you need is awareness to notice the unconscious tension in your body as you go through the movements of the form and let go of them. You may have experienced holding your hand in a tight fist unconsciously and only letting go of it after noticing it. It is very much the same concept. You cannot let go of that which you don’t know you are holding on.
See how you want to breathe naturally. How is your throat, your shoulders, your chest, your rib cage while doing the form? Are they all moving with the breath? Are they soft and relaxed? How does it want to breathe? Now extend this awareness not just during the form, but while typing on your computer, while sowing, while doing your dishes or whatever else it is your doing. There are not too many things I know that you can do without breathing.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1. Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
2. Breathe Naturally (Covered 4/20)
3. No Sound Breath
4. Crow Bridge
5. Dan-Tien Breathing
6. Directed Breathing
7. Small Heavenly Circle
8. Great Heavenly Circle
9. Reverse Breathing
10. Whole Body Breathing
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
There are breathing concepts, breathing techniques and breathing exercises. But before any of that, you have to just let your breath be and observe it.
When I first joined my teacher Gabriel my mind was filled with the idea of different breathing techniques that would make my Kung-Fu (Martial Cultivation) more powerful. I was excited to learn the secrets of breathing. With anticipation I asked, so while doing the form, how do I breathe. He said, “Just breathe.” I was in semi shock. I said, “I thought you were supposed to exhale while you extend and inhale while you retract. Am I not supposed to do some kind of breathing.” He replied eloquently, “No.”. He had a talent for anticlimactic answers.
Later, as I practiced it became clear to me that the form teaches your body to breathe. As you do the form, your breathing naturally changes to about 5~6 breaths per minute as your body calms and relaxes. Also, if you are relaxed enough, you notice how your breathing naturally starts correlating to the moves. I realized much later all the breathing methods taught are just a summary of what happens naturally when you practice the form over time with awareness on your breath.
There are breathing exercises and techniques taught outside the form, but it is not taught while doing the form until later. This is because trying to coordinate your breath and movement consciously is unnatural and often creates a disharmony between the breath and your movements. The breathing exercises allow you to practice the different aspects of breathing so you can learn the distinctions of what all can be done with breathing and until your control gets better and it all starts coming together. Once your breathing is natural, and your control of your breath is natural, you can start incorporating breathing methods to enhance the explosive power of your form.
However, in the beginning the only thing you need is awareness to notice the unconscious tension in your body as you go through the movements of the form and let go of them. You may have experienced holding your hand in a tight fist unconsciously and only letting go of it after noticing it. It is very much the same concept. You cannot let go of that which you don’t know you are holding on.
See how you want to breathe naturally. How is your throat, your shoulders, your chest, your rib cage while doing the form? Are they all moving with the breath? Are they soft and relaxed? How does it want to breathe? Now extend this awareness not just during the form, but while typing on your computer, while sowing, while doing your dishes or whatever else it is your doing. There are not too many things I know that you can do without breathing.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1. Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
2. Breathe Naturally (Covered 4/20)
3. No Sound Breath
4. Crow Bridge
5. Dan-Tien Breathing
6. Directed Breathing
7. Small Heavenly Circle
8. Great Heavenly Circle
9. Reverse Breathing
10. Whole Body Breathing
Monday, April 19, 2010
Awareness of Breathing
[Path to Mastery 4/19/10 – Wk32 D1 (Str 9.12.09)(Ph2 11.15.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
Breathing is the most important part of Tai-Chi. I would say that Breathing is the most important thing period especially considering the amount of time it takes to have an immediate impact in your life. You don’t need a formal education to figure out that it doesn’t take long at all from the time you stopped breathing until it has a deep and profound impact in your life.
I often tell people that breath is the most important diet in their lives. Energy has different states. At its lowest vibration level, it is solid. You heat it up a little, it becomes liquid. Yet, you heat it a little more, it becomes gas. Then it becomes plasma, and I am totally blanking out on the other stages, but with my limited scientific understanding at some point it becomes light. Sunlight. I have often read that all food we eat is a variation on sunlight. Sunlight gets stored in the plants, and then animals eat so that they can get the sunlight through the plants.
Besides light, air, a gaseous state, is one of the purest forms of the elements that you can ingest that is always readily available. How significant of a diet air is I feel is grossly underestimated. I also think people don’t understand how much of an immediate difference breathing can make to your physical and psychological state. I think one way of looking at things is from the perspective of impact to life. If you stop eating food, on average you have about 3 weeks before you die. If you stop drinking, you have about 1 week. If you stop breathing, you have about a few minutes. There is brain damage when it is oxygen deprived for more than 1 minute. Brain damage with just one minute!!!!
A lot of people are not aware of this, but when oxygen gets scarce, the priority is the brain. The brain is an oxygen hog. It weighs about 2~3lb but it consumes about 20% of your oxygen. This means that during stressful times when your brain is working overtime and is consumed with negative thoughts, and is running very inefficiently, it is draining you of much more oxygen than usual, and that oxygen has to come from somewhere. Most of the time stress causes shallow breathing. So, less air coming in, a lot of oxygen being consumed very inefficiently, and less oxygen going to the rest of the body. No wonder we feel sapped and tired when we are stressed.
Another interesting fact about breathing is that it is the gateway to your unconscious. This is very interesting, at least to me. Most organs are autonomic. That means that without your awareness, they run by themselves. You don’t have to consciously do anything. All except your lungs. Your lungs are semi autonomic. They run by themselves, but you can control them as well. You can consciously hold your breath or change their rate and their depth. Not only that, through breathing you can consciously and effectively change the rate of your heart. Your heart by itself is autonomic. You cannot control your heart directly. But your heart rate is directly connected to your way of breathing. So, through your breathing, your heart can be controlled. Thus, your breathing is the gateway to your autonomic system, the part of you that is unconscious. The state of your body is the expression of your unconscious mind. So, by learning how to breathe can help you change your state of mind. For instance, they have found that the ideal rate of breath rate is about 5~6 breathe per minute. Interestingly, when this happens, you hit a clear state of mind and euphoria that you can experience during meditation. Interestingly, it is also the only known physical action you can take that effectively allows you to control the effects of fear such as tunnel vision, freezing, complex motor skills, and conscious thinking just by reducing your heart rate.
For today, let us start with Awareness. You cannot change that which you are not aware that you are doing. Observe your breath through your day. Notice when you hold your breath. Notice where you hold your breath. Notice how that makes you feel, and how it affects your energy level. Then notice the rate of your breathing. Notice these things especially during stressful situations. You will have a fascinating day.
More tomorrow.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1. Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
5. Dan-Tien Breathing
6. Directed Breathing
7. Small Heavenly Circle
8. Great Heavenly Circle
9. Reverse Breathing
10. Whole Body Breathing
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
Breathing is the most important part of Tai-Chi. I would say that Breathing is the most important thing period especially considering the amount of time it takes to have an immediate impact in your life. You don’t need a formal education to figure out that it doesn’t take long at all from the time you stopped breathing until it has a deep and profound impact in your life.
I often tell people that breath is the most important diet in their lives. Energy has different states. At its lowest vibration level, it is solid. You heat it up a little, it becomes liquid. Yet, you heat it a little more, it becomes gas. Then it becomes plasma, and I am totally blanking out on the other stages, but with my limited scientific understanding at some point it becomes light. Sunlight. I have often read that all food we eat is a variation on sunlight. Sunlight gets stored in the plants, and then animals eat so that they can get the sunlight through the plants.
Besides light, air, a gaseous state, is one of the purest forms of the elements that you can ingest that is always readily available. How significant of a diet air is I feel is grossly underestimated. I also think people don’t understand how much of an immediate difference breathing can make to your physical and psychological state. I think one way of looking at things is from the perspective of impact to life. If you stop eating food, on average you have about 3 weeks before you die. If you stop drinking, you have about 1 week. If you stop breathing, you have about a few minutes. There is brain damage when it is oxygen deprived for more than 1 minute. Brain damage with just one minute!!!!
A lot of people are not aware of this, but when oxygen gets scarce, the priority is the brain. The brain is an oxygen hog. It weighs about 2~3lb but it consumes about 20% of your oxygen. This means that during stressful times when your brain is working overtime and is consumed with negative thoughts, and is running very inefficiently, it is draining you of much more oxygen than usual, and that oxygen has to come from somewhere. Most of the time stress causes shallow breathing. So, less air coming in, a lot of oxygen being consumed very inefficiently, and less oxygen going to the rest of the body. No wonder we feel sapped and tired when we are stressed.
Another interesting fact about breathing is that it is the gateway to your unconscious. This is very interesting, at least to me. Most organs are autonomic. That means that without your awareness, they run by themselves. You don’t have to consciously do anything. All except your lungs. Your lungs are semi autonomic. They run by themselves, but you can control them as well. You can consciously hold your breath or change their rate and their depth. Not only that, through breathing you can consciously and effectively change the rate of your heart. Your heart by itself is autonomic. You cannot control your heart directly. But your heart rate is directly connected to your way of breathing. So, through your breathing, your heart can be controlled. Thus, your breathing is the gateway to your autonomic system, the part of you that is unconscious. The state of your body is the expression of your unconscious mind. So, by learning how to breathe can help you change your state of mind. For instance, they have found that the ideal rate of breath rate is about 5~6 breathe per minute. Interestingly, when this happens, you hit a clear state of mind and euphoria that you can experience during meditation. Interestingly, it is also the only known physical action you can take that effectively allows you to control the effects of fear such as tunnel vision, freezing, complex motor skills, and conscious thinking just by reducing your heart rate.
For today, let us start with Awareness. You cannot change that which you are not aware that you are doing. Observe your breath through your day. Notice when you hold your breath. Notice where you hold your breath. Notice how that makes you feel, and how it affects your energy level. Then notice the rate of your breathing. Notice these things especially during stressful situations. You will have a fascinating day.
More tomorrow.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1 – 4/14)
8. Principles Governing Breathing
1. Awareness of Breath (Covered 4/19)
2. Breathe Naturally
3. No Sound Breath
4. Crow Bridge3. No Sound Breath
5. Dan-Tien Breathing
6. Directed Breathing
7. Small Heavenly Circle
8. Great Heavenly Circle
9. Reverse Breathing
10. Whole Body Breathing
Friday, April 16, 2010
Feedback
[Path to Mastery 4/16/10 – Wk31 D5 (Str 9.12.09)(Ph2 11.15.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
I was talking to my buddy Alexis, a very enlightened individual, and I learned a lot.
We talked about the different aspects that bring about the enlightened state of mind, the mind that is free and full of light. In a sense this is the state of mind we all are trying to get to, whether it is through success, money, meditation, prayer or stealing your sister’s candy. We do things so we can be free, so we can all get to a place where we are happy.
While we were discussing this, we were discussing how important it is to create a reliable system that would allow people to consistently get to that place of the mind and body where there was fulfillment.
Then it dawned on me. The Tai-Chi system is a system of feedback.
We learn through feedback. Without feedback, we cannot learn. Our senses are nothing more than the feedback the brain receives so it has data to take another action appropriate for the next situation. If your interpretation of the feedback is incorrect, you could be in a lot of trouble. If you were looking at a wild animal, and you thought it was smiling but really it was baring teeth, you could end up with a lot of teeth marks.
People often have this mistaken idea that the system is there so you can learn a bunch of techniques. Well, that would make a very limiting system. What if you come across a situation where the technique doesn’t apply? You cannot enough techniques to account for all situations. Instead, it would be more helpful to have an understanding a guidance system that allows you to navigate through the changes and allow you to come up with techniques that suit the situation. This way, you don’t need to rely on memory. Instead, you can let the moment guide you.
Then why is there a Tai-Chi system with forms and 2 person forms, which are basically techniques? The form has 2 functions:
First, it helps you get into an ideal state of mind and body, where emotionally you are feeling free and in awe, as if you are looking at the world from the top of the mountain. Physically you are feeling relaxed and powerful, as if you just woke up from a nap in the Bahamas and you are feeling energized and refreshed. Techniques are not as useful when you try to make them happen in a natural environment where things are constantly changing. But if you set up the environment to be ideal for the technique then you limit the variables, and you can have an ideal experience through the technique without distractions. For instance, it is good for a basketball player to practice free throws. It gives them the feel of an ideal shot. But then the player has to practice shooting the ball from all kinds of different angles while the other players are coming at them while maintaining that same feel. The form is for practicing an ideal state of mind and body like a basket player practices free throw for the feel of an ideal throw.
Second, you start using the form as a feedback system to check whether you are in your state or not. Since you become more and more familiar with your ideal state while doing the form or 2 person forms you learn to carry over that state into your daily life. In the beginning, the durations are short, but as you increase the amount of times you are in it, it becomes natural. According to Alex, in Tibetan Buddhism, they express this thought by saying “Short duration many moments”. Once you are thoroughly familiar with how the form is supposed to feel, you have an accurate feedback system to get you into that state by yourself without anybody’s help.
By the way the ideal state is nothing special. Ideal state is a state of mind when you are natural, and you are happy. For instance, it is any state where your emotions and physical sensations are positive. For instance, you could be involved in drawing a painting and you are so absorbed that you have lost all sense of time, or you could be playing music and you are the music, you are out in nature and just caught up by the beauty, or you just enjoy the simple pleasure of the breeze and you are present enough to enjoy it. In some ways, you could say that this ideal state is nothing more than you not being so caught up in your thoughts and mind that you don’t know that life is passing by you. I wanted to mention this because I have seen so many people make this experience so grand and so great that it is unattainable. The great pleasures in life are inevitable. When you learn to appreciate the simple pleasures, then there are many more great pleasures.
Now that you know the system is to act as a feedback mechanisms, I would like to give some pointers for your training. We all have an innate inborn wisdom. Nobody taught us what grace is, but even people who have never seen Tai-Chi when they see it they think it is graceful. Not only that, but if we have a novice and a master practicing together, they all know who the master is, even if no one told them. How do we know? How do we know what looks good and what looks bad? Somehow we just know. That doesn’t mean you will know what to do, but when you do something right, you will be able to recognize it because it looks better than it did before.
Using this concept, when you practice, do it in front of a mirror. You will see the discrepancy between what you are actually doing and what you think you are doing. It is a great teacher. A barber can cut his own hair. He just needs lots of practice, patience and a mirror.
Last, when doing the form you are not sure whether you are doing it correctly or not, imagine that the gravity increased 10 times. This will help with the sense of gravity and will give you a much better sense on what your alignment should be.
These 2 tools should become of great treasure to you if you use them. Have a great weekend!
[Path to Mastery 4/16/10 – Wk31 D5 (Str 9.12.09)(Ph2 11.15.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
I was talking to my buddy Alexis, a very enlightened individual, and I learned a lot.
We talked about the different aspects that bring about the enlightened state of mind, the mind that is free and full of light. In a sense this is the state of mind we all are trying to get to, whether it is through success, money, meditation, prayer or stealing your sister’s candy. We do things so we can be free, so we can all get to a place where we are happy.
While we were discussing this, we were discussing how important it is to create a reliable system that would allow people to consistently get to that place of the mind and body where there was fulfillment.
Then it dawned on me. The Tai-Chi system is a system of feedback.
We learn through feedback. Without feedback, we cannot learn. Our senses are nothing more than the feedback the brain receives so it has data to take another action appropriate for the next situation. If your interpretation of the feedback is incorrect, you could be in a lot of trouble. If you were looking at a wild animal, and you thought it was smiling but really it was baring teeth, you could end up with a lot of teeth marks.
People often have this mistaken idea that the system is there so you can learn a bunch of techniques. Well, that would make a very limiting system. What if you come across a situation where the technique doesn’t apply? You cannot enough techniques to account for all situations. Instead, it would be more helpful to have an understanding a guidance system that allows you to navigate through the changes and allow you to come up with techniques that suit the situation. This way, you don’t need to rely on memory. Instead, you can let the moment guide you.
Then why is there a Tai-Chi system with forms and 2 person forms, which are basically techniques? The form has 2 functions:
First, it helps you get into an ideal state of mind and body, where emotionally you are feeling free and in awe, as if you are looking at the world from the top of the mountain. Physically you are feeling relaxed and powerful, as if you just woke up from a nap in the Bahamas and you are feeling energized and refreshed. Techniques are not as useful when you try to make them happen in a natural environment where things are constantly changing. But if you set up the environment to be ideal for the technique then you limit the variables, and you can have an ideal experience through the technique without distractions. For instance, it is good for a basketball player to practice free throws. It gives them the feel of an ideal shot. But then the player has to practice shooting the ball from all kinds of different angles while the other players are coming at them while maintaining that same feel. The form is for practicing an ideal state of mind and body like a basket player practices free throw for the feel of an ideal throw.
Second, you start using the form as a feedback system to check whether you are in your state or not. Since you become more and more familiar with your ideal state while doing the form or 2 person forms you learn to carry over that state into your daily life. In the beginning, the durations are short, but as you increase the amount of times you are in it, it becomes natural. According to Alex, in Tibetan Buddhism, they express this thought by saying “Short duration many moments”. Once you are thoroughly familiar with how the form is supposed to feel, you have an accurate feedback system to get you into that state by yourself without anybody’s help.
By the way the ideal state is nothing special. Ideal state is a state of mind when you are natural, and you are happy. For instance, it is any state where your emotions and physical sensations are positive. For instance, you could be involved in drawing a painting and you are so absorbed that you have lost all sense of time, or you could be playing music and you are the music, you are out in nature and just caught up by the beauty, or you just enjoy the simple pleasure of the breeze and you are present enough to enjoy it. In some ways, you could say that this ideal state is nothing more than you not being so caught up in your thoughts and mind that you don’t know that life is passing by you. I wanted to mention this because I have seen so many people make this experience so grand and so great that it is unattainable. The great pleasures in life are inevitable. When you learn to appreciate the simple pleasures, then there are many more great pleasures.
Now that you know the system is to act as a feedback mechanisms, I would like to give some pointers for your training. We all have an innate inborn wisdom. Nobody taught us what grace is, but even people who have never seen Tai-Chi when they see it they think it is graceful. Not only that, but if we have a novice and a master practicing together, they all know who the master is, even if no one told them. How do we know? How do we know what looks good and what looks bad? Somehow we just know. That doesn’t mean you will know what to do, but when you do something right, you will be able to recognize it because it looks better than it did before.
Using this concept, when you practice, do it in front of a mirror. You will see the discrepancy between what you are actually doing and what you think you are doing. It is a great teacher. A barber can cut his own hair. He just needs lots of practice, patience and a mirror.
Last, when doing the form you are not sure whether you are doing it correctly or not, imagine that the gravity increased 10 times. This will help with the sense of gravity and will give you a much better sense on what your alignment should be.
These 2 tools should become of great treasure to you if you use them. Have a great weekend!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Chi Sinks to Dan-Tien
[Path to Mastery 4/14/10 – Wk31 D3 (Str 9.12.09)(Ph2 11.15.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
Now that we have discussed the Dan-Tien from an energetic view, let’s cover it from the physical perspective, the opposite perspective, the Tai-Chi way! This will be the last principle we cover on Relaxation.
We covered the physical location of the Dan-Tien previously when I covered ‘Chi Sinks to Dan-Tien’ in principles regarding the lower body in the alignment chapter (Covered on 3/16). Now let me add a little more detail. Besides, being 3 finger widths below the belly button, and a third of a distance from the front inside the body, the Dan-Tien is located between the 3 points, the Ming Men (across your belly button on your lower back), and your Kwa (the crease where your thighs meet your pelvis). Of course it is not in the center of these 3 points, but it feels like the Dan-Tien sits on a point where these 3 points converge. I jokingly refer to it as the holy trinity because these 3 points always have to move together as one.
Gabriel told us that when you move, your movement starts from the Ming Men. I asked him “What about the Dan-Tien?” since every book on the market said that you had move from the Dan-Tien. He said the Dan-Tien was where the weight was, and what kept the body centered and stable. It was like an anchor.
When your Ming-Men moves, since it is your spine, your entire body moves immediately. Now for the entire body to move in unison, the spine needs to move in coordination with the 2 ball joints where your femur (thigh bone) adjoins the socket in your pelvis. As you are reading this, you should try moving your 2 ball joints from your Ming-Men. Now try moving one ball joint in order to the other ball joint and your Ming-Men. Switch between the sides. You will notice that your shifting and rotation is a lot easier and your movements will be a lot smoother. This kind of stable movement causes relaxation, and you will feel your lower abdominal (Dan-Tien) area relaxing deeper and getting a fuller feeling. Most likely one of these 2 methods will work better for you depending on your make up and where you are in your training.
The key here is that you move all 3 in unison and awareness. This brings about relaxation and the relaxation sinks to your lower abdomen, which means that they actually settle to your pelvis. Traditionally, Dan-Tien means the field where Chi can be cultivated (For details, review the Lower Body principles in the Alignment Chapter, when we were covering ‘Chi Sinks to Dan-Tien’ (Covered on 3/16)). So, the Dan-Tien is like a storehouse for Chi. Now, translating that into physical terms, feeling that your Dan-Tien is full of Chi would mean that your organs are relaxed, your guts are full of blood from the relaxation, and your guts are settled in your pelvis so your lower abdomen feels full. This fullness secures the spine and allows it to move against a stable environment. Of course since the spine is supported and secured, the whole body can relax deeper as well. So in summary, the relaxation fills the Dan-Tien, and the Dan-Tien secures the spine, and that in turn relaxes the body even further. It feels like a pole that is secured to the center of a tire. If the tire is not full and heavy, the pole is going to be wobbly.
As a minor point, when you relax, and the tension goes away, you can feel how the body is connected to the Dan-Tien and your waist in a kinetic chain, a chain of muscles that work together. You feel how all movements come out from the Dan-Tien and the waist.
Chi Sinks to Dan-Tien can be approached from different angles. You can produce it through using the mind, and you can also achieve it through moving from the holy trinity. You have also learned how to do it using alignment from previous chapters. In the end all these are variations on how to relax the body enough so that the energy flows and the body reaches a resting point. Only then can you produce powerful movements that come out like a wave from the Dan-Tien. This concludes our discourse on Relaxation Principles.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1)
1) Mind Body Release Relax (Covered 4/6)
2) Use mind not use strength (Covered 4/7)
3) Internal external mutually integrate (Covered 4/8)
4) Dropping the Weight (Weight Underneath) (Covered 4/9)
5) Extend into infinity (Covered 4/12)
6) Chi Sinks to Dan-Tien (Covered 4/13~4/14)
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
Now that we have discussed the Dan-Tien from an energetic view, let’s cover it from the physical perspective, the opposite perspective, the Tai-Chi way! This will be the last principle we cover on Relaxation.
We covered the physical location of the Dan-Tien previously when I covered ‘Chi Sinks to Dan-Tien’ in principles regarding the lower body in the alignment chapter (Covered on 3/16). Now let me add a little more detail. Besides, being 3 finger widths below the belly button, and a third of a distance from the front inside the body, the Dan-Tien is located between the 3 points, the Ming Men (across your belly button on your lower back), and your Kwa (the crease where your thighs meet your pelvis). Of course it is not in the center of these 3 points, but it feels like the Dan-Tien sits on a point where these 3 points converge. I jokingly refer to it as the holy trinity because these 3 points always have to move together as one.
Gabriel told us that when you move, your movement starts from the Ming Men. I asked him “What about the Dan-Tien?” since every book on the market said that you had move from the Dan-Tien. He said the Dan-Tien was where the weight was, and what kept the body centered and stable. It was like an anchor.
When your Ming-Men moves, since it is your spine, your entire body moves immediately. Now for the entire body to move in unison, the spine needs to move in coordination with the 2 ball joints where your femur (thigh bone) adjoins the socket in your pelvis. As you are reading this, you should try moving your 2 ball joints from your Ming-Men. Now try moving one ball joint in order to the other ball joint and your Ming-Men. Switch between the sides. You will notice that your shifting and rotation is a lot easier and your movements will be a lot smoother. This kind of stable movement causes relaxation, and you will feel your lower abdominal (Dan-Tien) area relaxing deeper and getting a fuller feeling. Most likely one of these 2 methods will work better for you depending on your make up and where you are in your training.
The key here is that you move all 3 in unison and awareness. This brings about relaxation and the relaxation sinks to your lower abdomen, which means that they actually settle to your pelvis. Traditionally, Dan-Tien means the field where Chi can be cultivated (For details, review the Lower Body principles in the Alignment Chapter, when we were covering ‘Chi Sinks to Dan-Tien’ (Covered on 3/16)). So, the Dan-Tien is like a storehouse for Chi. Now, translating that into physical terms, feeling that your Dan-Tien is full of Chi would mean that your organs are relaxed, your guts are full of blood from the relaxation, and your guts are settled in your pelvis so your lower abdomen feels full. This fullness secures the spine and allows it to move against a stable environment. Of course since the spine is supported and secured, the whole body can relax deeper as well. So in summary, the relaxation fills the Dan-Tien, and the Dan-Tien secures the spine, and that in turn relaxes the body even further. It feels like a pole that is secured to the center of a tire. If the tire is not full and heavy, the pole is going to be wobbly.
As a minor point, when you relax, and the tension goes away, you can feel how the body is connected to the Dan-Tien and your waist in a kinetic chain, a chain of muscles that work together. You feel how all movements come out from the Dan-Tien and the waist.
Chi Sinks to Dan-Tien can be approached from different angles. You can produce it through using the mind, and you can also achieve it through moving from the holy trinity. You have also learned how to do it using alignment from previous chapters. In the end all these are variations on how to relax the body enough so that the energy flows and the body reaches a resting point. Only then can you produce powerful movements that come out like a wave from the Dan-Tien. This concludes our discourse on Relaxation Principles.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1)
1) Mind Body Release Relax (Covered 4/6)
2) Use mind not use strength (Covered 4/7)
3) Internal external mutually integrate (Covered 4/8)
4) Dropping the Weight (Weight Underneath) (Covered 4/9)
5) Extend into infinity (Covered 4/12)
6) Chi Sinks to Dan-Tien (Covered 4/13~4/14)
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Chi Sink Dan-Tien
[Path to Mastery 4/13/10 – Wk31 D2 (Str 9.12.09)(Ph2 11.15.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
When you know how to ‘Dropping the Weight’, and ‘Extend into Infinity’, then you have ‘Chi Sink Dan-Tien’.
When you have one principle, then you have all the others. It is important to mention on many occasions and to stress that all these principles are really describing the same thing. If you will these principles are check points to see how well you have any one of the principles. It is a reality check. If you have one principle, but not another, then you know that you don’t really have either. There is lack of understanding somewhere.
Many years ago I read a book called ‘The book of Ki’, by Koichi Tohei. I recommend this book to anyone. It is a great book to study Chi. In this book he mentions 4 principles of Ki (Japanese way of saying Chi):
1) Relax
2) Extend
3) Weight Underneath
4) Keep one point
The 4th principle, keeping one point is what we call the Dan-Tien. In this book, it mentions that by brining awareness to your one point (your Dan-Tien), you bring you body to being centered. Your body relaxes, and your body extends out from your Dan-Tien, and you feel the weight underneath. When one is present, then all the others are present. Another thing that I thought really helped was how to find the Dan-Tien. If the Dan-Tien is the center of your body, extend your mind out equally in all direction. As you expand out, you will feel your center becoming more clear. Extend it out until you start going out of the atmosphere, and start expanding your mind out into the universe. Since the universe is infinite, you are the center of the universe from this perspective. As you bring your mind out further and further, you will notice that your center becomes warmers, more centered and clearer. You will notice when you do this, you are extending, you will automatically feel relaxed, and you will the weight underneath. All of the principles are present. This is one of the many ways to find your Dan-Tien.
Tomorrow, I will discuss another.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1)
1) Mind Body Release Relax (Covered 4/6)
2) Use mind not use strength (Covered 4/7)
3) Internal external mutually integrate (Covered 4/8)
4) Dropping the Weight (Weight Underneath) (Covered 4/9)
5) Extend into infinity (Covered 4/10)
6) Chi Sink Dan-Tien (Covered 4/12)
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
When you know how to ‘Dropping the Weight’, and ‘Extend into Infinity’, then you have ‘Chi Sink Dan-Tien’.
When you have one principle, then you have all the others. It is important to mention on many occasions and to stress that all these principles are really describing the same thing. If you will these principles are check points to see how well you have any one of the principles. It is a reality check. If you have one principle, but not another, then you know that you don’t really have either. There is lack of understanding somewhere.
Many years ago I read a book called ‘The book of Ki’, by Koichi Tohei. I recommend this book to anyone. It is a great book to study Chi. In this book he mentions 4 principles of Ki (Japanese way of saying Chi):
1) Relax
2) Extend
3) Weight Underneath
4) Keep one point
The 4th principle, keeping one point is what we call the Dan-Tien. In this book, it mentions that by brining awareness to your one point (your Dan-Tien), you bring you body to being centered. Your body relaxes, and your body extends out from your Dan-Tien, and you feel the weight underneath. When one is present, then all the others are present. Another thing that I thought really helped was how to find the Dan-Tien. If the Dan-Tien is the center of your body, extend your mind out equally in all direction. As you expand out, you will feel your center becoming more clear. Extend it out until you start going out of the atmosphere, and start expanding your mind out into the universe. Since the universe is infinite, you are the center of the universe from this perspective. As you bring your mind out further and further, you will notice that your center becomes warmers, more centered and clearer. You will notice when you do this, you are extending, you will automatically feel relaxed, and you will the weight underneath. All of the principles are present. This is one of the many ways to find your Dan-Tien.
Tomorrow, I will discuss another.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1)
1) Mind Body Release Relax (Covered 4/6)
2) Use mind not use strength (Covered 4/7)
3) Internal external mutually integrate (Covered 4/8)
4) Dropping the Weight (Weight Underneath) (Covered 4/9)
5) Extend into infinity (Covered 4/10)
6) Chi Sink Dan-Tien (Covered 4/12)
Monday, April 12, 2010
Extend Into Infinity
[Path to Mastery 4/12/10 – Wk31 D1 (Str 9.12.09)(Ph2 11.15.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
The principle of extension is a key concept to succeeding in Tai-Chi. Extension is the Yang, if letting go and relaxing is the Yin. Extension balances limpness. Without extension, you cannot relax properly.
The actual concept of extension is ‘Extend Into Infinity’. I think the name explains it for itself. Not much mystery.
Here is a key concept in Tai-Chi that is integral to understanding all of Tai-Chi, if not life itself. Opposites are actually the same thing. They are not two separate things opposing each other. The two sides of a coin cannot exist without each other. That is Yin and Yang. Here is another example. Confidence without Humility is Arrogance. You cannot be truly confident unless you are humble. Without humility, it becomes imbalanced and you become arrogant. Now you can imagine what humility without confidence becomes. This is a very useful concept in considering your life. Let me give one more example to nail it to bed. Courage cannot exist without fear. I heard this quote, “True courage is not the absence of fear, but doing the right thing in spite of the fear”.
It seems we miss out on so much of life, because we have the wrong picture of the world and thus we miss what we are looking for even when it is staring us in the eye because we don’t recognize it.
So, we want relaxation, but we can’t have it without extension. Extension is support. Without support we cannot relax. One of the reasons people lay down when they want to rest is because their body is supported through out their whole back and thus there is a wider area of support. When you are standing on one leg it is wobbly because you are standing on a wobbling surface, you are not going to be able to relax. If your standing leg has support, your body becomes stable, and the body can let go.
All the principles can be explained using extension and dropping (letting go/weight underneath). These are the 2 fundamental principles that come out of the original principle Yi Chi Li (Mind leads Chi, Chi leads Muscle/strength). For instance, ‘Empty Spirit Summit Strong’ is a principle of extension to the crown of the spine. By leading the mind to extend from your crown upwards, your whole spine extends and the rest of your body hangs from it. ‘Settle Shoulder Drop Elbow’ is a principle of dropping. Extension is the principle of leading with mind to direct your energy. Letting go/dropping/weight underneath is when you let go with your mind and move your mind away from doing anything with that part of the body. When you have extension, then you have letting go on those parts where you are not extending. As a whole we call this combined state of extension and dropping ‘Relaxation’.
Now, that you have the yin and yang of a relaxed state, play hard with it, have fun, and you will master it!
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Meditation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1)
1) Mind Body Release Relax (Covered 4/6)
2) Use mind Not Use Strength (Covered 4/7)
3) Internal External Mutually Integrate (Covered 4/8)
4) Dropping the Weight (Weight Underneath) (Covered 4/9)
5) Extend Into Infinity (Covered 4/10)
6) Chi Sink Dan-Tien
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
The principle of extension is a key concept to succeeding in Tai-Chi. Extension is the Yang, if letting go and relaxing is the Yin. Extension balances limpness. Without extension, you cannot relax properly.
The actual concept of extension is ‘Extend Into Infinity’. I think the name explains it for itself. Not much mystery.
Here is a key concept in Tai-Chi that is integral to understanding all of Tai-Chi, if not life itself. Opposites are actually the same thing. They are not two separate things opposing each other. The two sides of a coin cannot exist without each other. That is Yin and Yang. Here is another example. Confidence without Humility is Arrogance. You cannot be truly confident unless you are humble. Without humility, it becomes imbalanced and you become arrogant. Now you can imagine what humility without confidence becomes. This is a very useful concept in considering your life. Let me give one more example to nail it to bed. Courage cannot exist without fear. I heard this quote, “True courage is not the absence of fear, but doing the right thing in spite of the fear”.
It seems we miss out on so much of life, because we have the wrong picture of the world and thus we miss what we are looking for even when it is staring us in the eye because we don’t recognize it.
So, we want relaxation, but we can’t have it without extension. Extension is support. Without support we cannot relax. One of the reasons people lay down when they want to rest is because their body is supported through out their whole back and thus there is a wider area of support. When you are standing on one leg it is wobbly because you are standing on a wobbling surface, you are not going to be able to relax. If your standing leg has support, your body becomes stable, and the body can let go.
All the principles can be explained using extension and dropping (letting go/weight underneath). These are the 2 fundamental principles that come out of the original principle Yi Chi Li (Mind leads Chi, Chi leads Muscle/strength). For instance, ‘Empty Spirit Summit Strong’ is a principle of extension to the crown of the spine. By leading the mind to extend from your crown upwards, your whole spine extends and the rest of your body hangs from it. ‘Settle Shoulder Drop Elbow’ is a principle of dropping. Extension is the principle of leading with mind to direct your energy. Letting go/dropping/weight underneath is when you let go with your mind and move your mind away from doing anything with that part of the body. When you have extension, then you have letting go on those parts where you are not extending. As a whole we call this combined state of extension and dropping ‘Relaxation’.
Now, that you have the yin and yang of a relaxed state, play hard with it, have fun, and you will master it!
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Meditation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1)
1) Mind Body Release Relax (Covered 4/6)
2) Use mind Not Use Strength (Covered 4/7)
3) Internal External Mutually Integrate (Covered 4/8)
4) Dropping the Weight (Weight Underneath) (Covered 4/9)
5) Extend Into Infinity (Covered 4/10)
6) Chi Sink Dan-Tien
Friday, April 9, 2010
Weight Underneath
[Path to Mastery 4/9/10 – Wk30 D5 (Str 9.12.09)(Ph2 11.15.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
‘Weight Underneath’ was more or less covered yesterday when I discussed Soong. But I find this concept to be very useful, and of value in its own right, so I would like to discuss why it is specifically named ‘Weight Underneath’.
First, stand as if you are at the edge of a swimming pool, and you are about to jump in. Let both of your arms hang from the side, and you are probably leaning slightly forward and your weight is on the balls of your feet because you are ready to jump. This is the ideal position to feel the weight of your arms just hanging from your shoulders. Now when you let your arms hang like this, and just work at letting go, you will feel your arms getting heavier and heavier, getting further and further relaxed.
The issue is when you start raising your arm. You can relax as long as you keep your arms dropped, but it gets more difficult when you start moving.
Here is where ‘Weight Underneath’ comes in handy. From the position of your arms dropped, feel the weight of the arms. Feel how the heaviness is underneath your limbs, as if meat was hanging from the bone (that is actually exactly what is happening to your muscles, hanging off your bone!). Now, imagine that you are a puppet and that your wrists are being raised by the strings. While your wrist is being pulled up by a string, maintain the feeling of the weight underneath your limb. You will notice the shoulder stays settled, and the elbows stay dropped. You will also notice you arm stays heavy and relaxed. You may use the balloon underneath the arm, but I like providing different visualization exercises because they allow you to use your mind differently. It is often the case that the student will find one visualization method more effective than another. Also, the different visualization brings different effects and becoming sensitized to these differences is important.
Some people like calling this dropping or sinking weight, because the visualization of continuously dropping as if you were a sack of potatoes being dropped or as if you were sinking through mud slowly helps them better.
This is a great simple principle of a relaxation method if you want to just focus on training relaxation! Have fun playing with this principle!
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Meditation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1)
1) Mind Body Release Relax (Covered 4/6)
2) Use Mind Not Use Strength (Covered 4/7)
3) Internal External Mutually Integrate (Covered 4/8)
4) Dropping the Weight (Weight Underneath) (Covered 4/9)
5) Extension
6) Chi Sink Dan-Tien
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
‘Weight Underneath’ was more or less covered yesterday when I discussed Soong. But I find this concept to be very useful, and of value in its own right, so I would like to discuss why it is specifically named ‘Weight Underneath’.
First, stand as if you are at the edge of a swimming pool, and you are about to jump in. Let both of your arms hang from the side, and you are probably leaning slightly forward and your weight is on the balls of your feet because you are ready to jump. This is the ideal position to feel the weight of your arms just hanging from your shoulders. Now when you let your arms hang like this, and just work at letting go, you will feel your arms getting heavier and heavier, getting further and further relaxed.
The issue is when you start raising your arm. You can relax as long as you keep your arms dropped, but it gets more difficult when you start moving.
Here is where ‘Weight Underneath’ comes in handy. From the position of your arms dropped, feel the weight of the arms. Feel how the heaviness is underneath your limbs, as if meat was hanging from the bone (that is actually exactly what is happening to your muscles, hanging off your bone!). Now, imagine that you are a puppet and that your wrists are being raised by the strings. While your wrist is being pulled up by a string, maintain the feeling of the weight underneath your limb. You will notice the shoulder stays settled, and the elbows stay dropped. You will also notice you arm stays heavy and relaxed. You may use the balloon underneath the arm, but I like providing different visualization exercises because they allow you to use your mind differently. It is often the case that the student will find one visualization method more effective than another. Also, the different visualization brings different effects and becoming sensitized to these differences is important.
Some people like calling this dropping or sinking weight, because the visualization of continuously dropping as if you were a sack of potatoes being dropped or as if you were sinking through mud slowly helps them better.
This is a great simple principle of a relaxation method if you want to just focus on training relaxation! Have fun playing with this principle!
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Meditation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1)
1) Mind Body Release Relax (Covered 4/6)
2) Use Mind Not Use Strength (Covered 4/7)
3) Internal External Mutually Integrate (Covered 4/8)
4) Dropping the Weight (Weight Underneath) (Covered 4/9)
5) Extension
6) Chi Sink Dan-Tien
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Internal External Mutually Integrate
[Path to Mastery 4/8/10 – Wk30 D4 (Str 9.12.09)(Ph2 11.15.09)]
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
‘Internal External Mutually Integrate’ is an important principle in the externally focused society that we live in. This principle is how to coordinate the feelings of the internal part of your body with the external look of your form. This principle basically says that Tai-Chi is not only about how it looks from the outside, but the movements are coordinated with how it feels from the inside.
When you do Tai-Chi, you should feel as if your upper body is a cork that is floating on water. As the waves come and go, you just float and ride out the wave. You should feel as if anything above the pelvis is floating above the water. This sensation doesn’t come because your body is bobbing up and down, but it is created because it feels like your pelvis is floating above your legs. As you shift your weight to the front or the back, you feel the pumping of your legs and even though from the outside it looks flowing and level, it feels like the legs are pumping your whole body.
You also feel the heat pushing up from your legs up your spine and out your hands as your legs are pumping. This creates a sensation as if you are a hot air balloon, and you feel your body getting warm and you feel as if there is warm lava flowing around. Things that were tight inside loosen up and start moving and eventually feel as if it gets absorbed into the rest of the body.
It is said you should feel as if you have no corners. In Chinese the word corner is used for sharp angles like the corner of a square desk. In short, while doing the Tai-Chi form, you should feel as if there are no sharp corners, no abrupt angles in the body. You should feel rounded and easy like a ball.
Your spine should feel suspended, energized, and straight. You should feel that each side of your body is a column on its own and is standing by itself. When you get this sensation, you will naturally feel that the spine is suspended by itself.
The word Soong (Relax) here is significant. If you get the sensations above, you have Soong. It is to describe the sensations of letting go and sinking (you keep feeling as if you are being pulled down. You can feel the weight of your body. It is also referred to as feeling the weight underneath. ). Yet it is also light and ready to move, comfortable and springy that comes from fullness such as that of a full balloon.
If you have Soong, then it doesn’t matter whatever form you are doing. You are doing Tai-Chi. You could be doing a Shaolin Form, but it will still be Tai-Chi since you have the internal principles of Tai-Chi working within you. Changing the external so you can have Soong, and doing things with Soong is to have ‘Internal External Mutual Integration’.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Meditation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1)
1) Mind Body Release Relax (Covered 4/6)
2) Use Mind Not Use Strength (Covered 4/7)
3) Internal External Mutually Integrate (Covered 4/8)
4) Dropping the Weight (Weight Underneath)
5) Extension
6) Chi Sink Dan-Tien
Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:
‘Internal External Mutually Integrate’ is an important principle in the externally focused society that we live in. This principle is how to coordinate the feelings of the internal part of your body with the external look of your form. This principle basically says that Tai-Chi is not only about how it looks from the outside, but the movements are coordinated with how it feels from the inside.
When you do Tai-Chi, you should feel as if your upper body is a cork that is floating on water. As the waves come and go, you just float and ride out the wave. You should feel as if anything above the pelvis is floating above the water. This sensation doesn’t come because your body is bobbing up and down, but it is created because it feels like your pelvis is floating above your legs. As you shift your weight to the front or the back, you feel the pumping of your legs and even though from the outside it looks flowing and level, it feels like the legs are pumping your whole body.
You also feel the heat pushing up from your legs up your spine and out your hands as your legs are pumping. This creates a sensation as if you are a hot air balloon, and you feel your body getting warm and you feel as if there is warm lava flowing around. Things that were tight inside loosen up and start moving and eventually feel as if it gets absorbed into the rest of the body.
It is said you should feel as if you have no corners. In Chinese the word corner is used for sharp angles like the corner of a square desk. In short, while doing the Tai-Chi form, you should feel as if there are no sharp corners, no abrupt angles in the body. You should feel rounded and easy like a ball.
Your spine should feel suspended, energized, and straight. You should feel that each side of your body is a column on its own and is standing by itself. When you get this sensation, you will naturally feel that the spine is suspended by itself.
The word Soong (Relax) here is significant. If you get the sensations above, you have Soong. It is to describe the sensations of letting go and sinking (you keep feeling as if you are being pulled down. You can feel the weight of your body. It is also referred to as feeling the weight underneath. ). Yet it is also light and ready to move, comfortable and springy that comes from fullness such as that of a full balloon.
If you have Soong, then it doesn’t matter whatever form you are doing. You are doing Tai-Chi. You could be doing a Shaolin Form, but it will still be Tai-Chi since you have the internal principles of Tai-Chi working within you. Changing the external so you can have Soong, and doing things with Soong is to have ‘Internal External Mutual Integration’.
History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Meditation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands
Interactive training after we went public with the blog.
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)
Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)
Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body: (Covered 3/23)
6. Principles Governing Movement #1~5 (Covered 3/24 – 3/31)
7. Principles Governing Relaxation – General Concept (Covered 4/1)
1) Mind Body Release Relax (Covered 4/6)
2) Use Mind Not Use Strength (Covered 4/7)
3) Internal External Mutually Integrate (Covered 4/8)
4) Dropping the Weight (Weight Underneath)
5) Extension
6) Chi Sink Dan-Tien
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