To me, standing Qigong is possibly the most important thing to start your journey in the internal martial arts. And yet it the part most people spend the least time training in, because it’s too hard, and boring. Whether you’re more interested in the healing or the martial side of the arts, standing Qigong is the place to start.
Everything else in your training, Tai Chi form, push hands, fighting form etc. will all be only external movements in the beginning.
You can not get internal Qi activation in these things until you have taking them to a high level, which takes many years for most.
Through that time, you’re working on perfecting the physical movements, gaining fitness flexibility and strength etc.
THE BEGINNING
Your Qigong however will start working on your Qi right from the start, as it’s just a stance, as long as you have someone put you in it right, then you’ll get Qi activation from it. Where is in forms etc it takes years to get right, and only then will you start to get some Qi flow. Qi will also flow better the less active your mind is, so if you’re stressed out and thinking about loads of things, you won’t get the Qi flowing.
So again, with forms, if you’ve not perfected the movements, then you’ll be thinking about how to do them. But with Qigong all you have to do is stand there, and so is much easier to get into a no mind state.
Your mind uses more Qi than just about anything else, so to switch it off means that all that Qi can be used to circulate through the body, cleansing and healing.
HOW IT WORKS (view picture below)
Standing Qigong works by having the knees bent, to create heat under the Dan Tien. This stimulates the Qi to rise up from the Dan Tien and flow through the body. The structure then held by the body and arms helps to open up the meridian Channels through out the body. Qi is always flowing through your body, by doing Qigong we’re only opening up the channels and enhancing that flow.
The three main things standing Qigong will do for you, is to build, balance and unblock your Qi. Most people will have some form of Yin or Yang imbalance. The Qigong stance is a physically perfect balance of left and right, and Yin and Yang. So by holding it, your Qi will follow what you’re doing, and so it will re-balance to a normal level. You may notice while standing, one hand might drop lower than the other, this is a left and right imbalance, so correct the physical, and your Qigong will follow.
Creating a higher than normal Qi flow, through bringing up Qi from your Dan Tien, and also from the earth, will one, fill your body with more Qi, so you will feel full of energy. And two, by doing this you will unblock your meridians.
Think of a blocked up hose, if it’s full of gunk, and you just let a bit of water trickle through it, the gunk will never clear. But blast a high current of water through and all the gunk will be cleared.
So when you put a high current of Qi through your body, the same thing happens, you clear out the channels. So in everyday life, you will have a smooth and clear flow of Qi through out your body.
This is why you shake when doing Qigong as a beginner – it is the Qi trying to break through the blocked areas.
HOW LONG AND WHEN TO PERFORM QIGONG
You should do your Qigong for at least 20 minutes morning and night for the first 5 years of your training. When I got serious about my training at age 14, I would with out fail stand for at least 20 to 30 minutes morning and night till I was about 19. From then I felt very balanced and strong, and my other training had come to a level where I was able to build Qi from it – But I still did my Qigong quite regularly.
Now, age 25, my form has become very internal, small frame, and I can get out of my form what I use to only get from my Qigong, and even more so, as moving Qigong such as the Tai Chi form is a higher level of Qigong.
But I still do my standing, as I feel it is such a great strength and Qi building method.
If you’re serious about your Internal energy development for what ever reason, get into standing three circle Qigong!
WRITTEN BY: ELI MONTAIGUE. (HEAD OF WTBA)
{visit the WTBA website by clicking pic below}
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FOR ANY QUESTIONS ON QIGONG, TAIJIQUAN OR FOR ELI MONTAIGUE
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The 5 Animal Frolics (五禽戲, Wu Qin Xi) is a complete qigong system, and the most ancient qigong system still practiced today. According to Kenneth Cohen, author of The Way of Qigong,”As story has it (Daoist Legend) Hua Tuo [110-207 AD/CE] received this text as well as instruction in Five Animals from two recluses living in a cave on Mount Gong Yi.” The “more recent” teachers whom are credited with spreading qigong (and Five Animal Qigong, in particular) are Madame Guo Lin (1906-1984) and Feng Zhiqiang (who learned this from his teacher, Hu Yao-zhen)*. The series of exercises that comprise the Five Animal Frolics not only help to keep the body sprightly and strong, but it engages both the mind and spirit as well. The Five Animal Frolics helps to create depth to your practice by allowing your body to communicate in different ways.
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