macky
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Post by macky on Apr 17, 2020 1:09:11 GMT
Zhan Zhuang : Static Posture Chi Kung
Something else has come to mind that is equally applicable to ZZ as it is to Ping Shuai and Baduanjin, is seated training. Here is a youtube with some detailed instructions on seated ZZ
I've seen another youtube with a Chinese master showing part of the video as seated, also with subtitles and will post it as soon as I find it again.
This can be applied to many who would otherwise be exempt from chi kung training of ZZ. There are also youtubes of seated Baduanjin floating around and can be found quite easily. As such, any person in a wheelchair or able to sit up in bed can perform Wai Dan chi kung, both moving and static, for most of the Baduanjin drills, and certainly all of the five basic postures shown in Lam Kam Chuen's books. There are elderly Chinese who sit on kitchen chairs (no arms) and swing their arms Ping Shuai-style (no double-dip, obviously) for exercise, and full documentary research in China demonstrates the overall value of such practices.
This one is the closest I've seen to actual standing Baduanjin, there are many others with all sorts of beneficial techniques in a seated position.
As well, someone like me who is only a beginner in ZZ and trying to get the standing not feeling like having legs either on fire, or filled with concrete, some sitting drill sessions that practice the whole five in say 100-200 seconds each can set one's "top half" up for when the time comes (which may be months away) when they can start the more difficult arm positions standing up, as they progress through Lam Kam Chuen's sequence.
I often do a seated round of Baduanjin as I'm watching it on youtube, (you can do it standing too, of course as you watch) and there are so many styles and serious practitioners of this 1000 year-old set, it's hard not to find a style which suits you, for this sort of thing.
In addition, it is easy to substitute one drill, say, Lift The Sky from one style and keep the rest of another style, because at the last, it's all chi kung and though the physical certainly must be taken into consideration, the Mind on the energy gently focused on the lower dantien is one of the keys to making the practice more than just gentle calisthenics, somewhat beneficial as they may be.
Someone who is more or less permanently seated can easily do the upper half (physically) of Zhan Zhuang postures, engaging in a protocol widely reputed to be the original static forms of moving kung fu/tai chi drills thousands of years old. Some masters like Bruce Frantzis cite 200 postures of ZZ, others even more. It's not hard to imagine that before movement, there was stillness, and a form could be practiced in a static fashion, the power developing in the drill until it was time for it to be either used as a healing technique, or for a martial art purpose. Ancient people's were not stupid and they must have had plenty of time (or opportunity) to notice that trees are essentially static, but they grow from within, their roots deep, their strength immense.
The healing side of ZZ can readily be seen in Mark Cohen's book on ZZ, also downloadable from the link in my other post. Without progressing into movement, ZZ forms are used for different maladies in order to heal. Many are used in some Chinese hospitals today. It should also be remembered that many Chinese do not understand, or believe in, chi kung.
In the case of seated persons who are not able to get to their feet, ZZ forms can be practiced regularly and often, I believe with great benefit. The reason for this is that what seems a physically pointless exercise (e.g.) someone sitting there holding their arms in a hoop position, or out to the sides) is in fact benefitting the whole body, whether paralyzed or not, the energy moving along with the blood to all parts of the body, mobile or immobile.
That is the real benefit of chi kung training, and can easily be felt doing (say) Ping Shuai either seated or standing, where the nerves, blood flow, energy (bio-electricity) is stimulated by swinging the arms back and forth (gently, no weight in the hands) and after 300-500 reps which take about 7 - 12 minutes, quietly standing and feeling the energy moving up and down the arms, through the shoulders and into the most important parts of the body, the organs.
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pierinifitness
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Post by pierinifitness on Apr 17, 2020 3:26:21 GMT
I’ll add one more - the program has got to match the testosterone. For me, I found after years of karate dojo sparring, there came a time when I just didn’t feel like mixing it up with an “exchange of courtesies” during dojo sparring sessions like before. I’m sure that a declining T-tank contributed if I’m honest.
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macky
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Post by macky on Apr 17, 2020 9:43:11 GMT
I've known at least two persons (workmates 30 years apart) who ate drank slept martial arts and one morning, suddenly didn't feel like doing it any more, and they didn't.
One was a 4th Dan in Kyukoshin karate under John Jarvis, a particularly tough sensei who never gave out any more than one belt a year. Some of his long-time karateka never achieved a Black, "only" a Brown with black tips. The result was typically demonstrated by a visiting karate school of the same style from Geelong in Australia, and John's Green belts were cleaning up the visiting Blacks without much trouble.
The guy in discussion however, simply didn't turn up one morning shortly after attending the World championships (full contact I think) as a competitor and stopped altogether shortly after returning, taking up Barbershop singing of all things. The other guy was a Black in Taekwando for many years and simply got up one morning and never touched it again.
Without being disrespectful, that to me is not so much about the systems not being effective combat (we know they certainly are) but more like "incomplete" inasmuch as there is not enough attention placed on the "internal" aspects of the martial art, healing of injuries, meditation (I mean real meditation not just a few minutes of quiet moments before a class) etc.
It's all very well being taught how to fight (and there's nothing wrong with that) but fighting should be a part of the martial art in my opinion, not the whole. Any such MA that doesn't have depth e.g. historical knowledge taught as part of the system, healing techniques, philosophy pertaining to said art, internal chi development etc can hardly qualify as a lifetime pursuit, surely.
I know there's been a few karate Masters who have carried on into their later years but their unbalanced "hard" breathing and tensed-muscle techniques soon saw them off in their 70's. Mas Oyama himself passed from this life at 70. I could be wrong about all that, only that my wife died early (62), in part from such training, she being a Kyukoshin Brown with Black tip.
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macky
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Post by macky on Apr 24, 2020 9:07:26 GMT
The Zhan Zhuang standing continues. Although I had been doing it for about 10 days prior to the 16th when I posted the details, I've taken the 14th as my first day proper, and on 22nd July will have completed 100 days, the usual time advocated among chi kung and martial art circles to notice real improvement.
In fact I've already noticed quit a difference in appetite and deportment. And four days ago I felt a definite surge of power coming from the ground up and filling the body and arms which began to gently shake.
This while gratifying has not been repeated and in any case should not be looked for during one's session. There will be other occurrences that may happen, but one should not expect them, nor be disappointed if nothing ever seems to happen. I will post them if and when they happen, for forum interest.
An old friend of mine once told me that in matters of energy work, during the times one thinks that nothing is happening, that's actually when one can be improving the most. He wasn't expressly referring to ZZ, but ZZ would still be included in this mind trip.
The 300 reps of Ping Shuai and sideways arm swinging is still serving as warmup, and along with the two 20-25 minute sessions of standing a day, have been almost all I've been doing. Now and again I'll run through a round of Baduanjin, but not everyday.
This is definitely different to anything else I've ever done re chi kung, and some internal effects are noticeable even at this early stage. What looks like an extremely boring exercise that doesn't seem like an exercise at all has in fact been quite hard to keep on with.
Lack of belief has been a hindrance,( despite a considerable number of sites online praising ZZ as the original base for any kung fu,) brought on I expect from exercise-memory over six decades of moving "conventional" exercise (apart from the overcoming isometrics) where demonstrable results were evident in the muscles and the mild soreness the next day, often a re-coup day in any case.
From a chi kung point of view, the lack of mind-directing chi activity is also different from most other chi kung drills, the mind kept as free as possible from stray thoughts (without straining) and merely being aware of the lower dantien/belly area rather than a fixated focus.
Standing as motionless as possible twice a day every day for 20-25 minutes each hardly looks like exercise at all, but one finds very quickly that it certainly is, especially for the mind. I'll keep on with it.
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macky
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Post by macky on May 3, 2020 12:56:53 GMT
At the beginning of May I had begun to notice night cramps in the calf and quite sore thigh the next day after my evening round of Zhan Zhuang. For the last four days I have taken to seated "ZZ" (which it isn't really because I'm not standing) but sitting fairly upright on the edge of the stool, holding the same arm positions as I was standing.
Although this seems to be a watered down chi kung, it is still surprisingly demanding when held for over half an hour. I've grabbed Lam Kam Chuen's book "Everyday Chi Kung" and in fact he deals with seated static postures before the standing ones. Some of the literature actually states that traditionally in some quarters, the beginning student would start at seated "ZZ" first before progressing to standing, which makes me feel a bit better at resorting to the stool.
Lam Kam Chuen's book has a series of six positions and three choices of seating, chair/stool and two varieties of cross-legs. I perform each position for a count of 300 seconds each which would normally be a half hour, but with ear trouble I can't hear the clock ticking so by the time I've come to the end of the series, I've been training for over 40 minutes, partly because I take about 100 counts with hands on the belly in between each position.
That's quite a while to be gently (that word again) concentrating on the lower dantian and the effects on standing up and mildly stretching and bending is felt all through the frame, legs included, although in a different way to the standing.
There are those that cannot stand for long in steadily demanding positions right from the start, and in gaining some experience in seated static chi kung I may be able to help those who still want to get into it. I often do a seated Baduanjin round as well, so that will round out a complete movement/static chi kung couple of sets that would last anybody who is interested in health, a lifetime.
The Mind aspect of chi kung leads one into areas of awareness that are hard to describe, as weeks turn into months and years of regular careful practice. It's possible to be even performing only one drill such as Lift The Sky (whatever style suits you) and what at first is taken on for health, can develop into a method of contacting the cosmos, something which most people would not believe, but the large amount of energy that can be induced from above to shower over one and through the body to Earth has to be directly experienced in order to treat it seriously.
Said drill can also be treated as a ZZ posture, a few moving reps, then the arms upraised to the sky stopped halfway through the drill, looking up into the blue by day, or the stars by night, holding the position while breathing quietly in and out, then finally when one has had enough drawing the arms outwards on each side down to the waist, a shower of energy like a waterfall all around.
Standing or seated.
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Post by macky on May 15, 2020 23:40:46 GMT
Carrying on with seated Zhan Zhuang, I have now progressed to longer periods of holding certain postures (out of the six I'm doing), and will be continuing with seated for at least the next two months, reason being that I want to determine where seated ZZ can take me, before I get back into standing again.
I'm not interested in martials arts, except as a bystander, and I would like to be able to help those with health/disability problems using ZZ and the other chi kung drills I've done over the years. Standing Baduanjin and Ping Shuai swinging arms are still on the daily agenda, even if briefly as a warm-up, or longer half-hour sessions.
Said longer periods of holding ZZ postures are only a natural progression on the day, not deliberately pushed-for as a training protocol. This is not progressive conventional training. You are training the Mind and the Energy directly, the body following, not the other way around.
I'm doing the same postures as Lam Kam Chuen demonstrates on here (plus one extra posture towards the end of the sequence), not quite as in the video series, but in his book Chi Kung : The Way of Power.
I feel that's a better sequence because it goes from the resting Wu Chi posture (which can still become demanding) to the Hold The Belly, THEN onto the Embrace The Tree, which seems a more ordered progression re degree of difficulty. I also perform 100 seconds (to the tick of the clock) of Wu Chi between each of the other postures.
The present seated (on a stool) session consists of : 400 seconds Wu Chi + and extra hundred for pause/comparitive rest 400 " Holding The Belly + 100 Wu Chi 250 " Embrace The Tree + 100 Wu Chi 150 " The higher posture with the hands facing away from the face + 100 Wu Chi 300 " The "floating" posture with the arms and hands out each side + 100 Wu Chi 300 " A posture not shown on Lam Kam Chuen's video but shown in his book mentioned in a previous post + 100 Wu Chi 200 " Back to Hold The Belly + 100 Wu Chi to finish.
That's about 45 minutes, at least once a day and sometimes twice. During the virus lockdown/stay-at-home period I've had plenty of time on my hands to get into all this, and organize a routine which will not impede my usual day of housework and looking after my grandchildren once the lockdown lifts.
Still, 45 minutes is a long time to spend on keeping as still as possible, and the Mind on the belly/Lower Dantian. Of course, the mind does wander from time to time, but essentially this is dynamic meditation using static postures and the Life Force to enhance Mind/Energy/Body/Spirit. Zhan Zhuang, both seated and standing is the power-base of most kung-fu styles and its continued practice, at least among the Chinese styles demonstrates its worth, paricularly in Tai Chi, Yi Quan, Hsing Yi, Bagua Chang.
Like everything else, one needs to put the time and effort into the ZZ practice, and if this is a problem then it is best not to bother with it, and pick up another form of Chi Kung such as Baduanjin or Ping Shuai that one can knock off in twenty minutes or less, but still with a lot of benefit.
As I've said, Zhan Zhuang is unlike anything else I've tried in the Chi Kung world, and even seated, I can still feel straighter in my deportment while walking around, and a certain "consolidated peaceful feeling" which is hard to describe.
There are methods which include guiding the energy around, and obviously they must be highly effective. But I feel that beginners in Zhan Zhuang should simply focus quietly on the lower belly with easy abdominal breathing, and leave it at that. Even that will be tough for some, but it is essential that everything is as relaxed as possible. Don't tense to keep on holding a posture, just stop and let your arms hang down, then have another go, or try another posture. You have to work around your body and mind constantly adjusting, evaluating, and seeking quietness in the early stages, and with me in the kindergarten stage of this protocol, that's always going to happen, I would suspect even into advanced stages.
With the standing, and even the seated forms, you will find yourself gently straightening up slightly through the session, not to a bolt-upright position, but naturally straight. Micro-adjustments can and will be made all over the body, because in this regimen, even a quarter of an inch can feel like it's six inches out of line. Seated, the feet can be slightly adjusted, the knees brought more upright, and I've found that with the last posture, my right hand can slowly drift further away from the body.
Because the eyes should not be fixed on a single point, but should certainly not be flicking around either, these micro-movements will be necessary from time to time, because you are not looking at your hands etc. After you've finished your session, don't suddenly start moving around even at a normal pace, but very slowly and gradually begin to move again, stretch gently, shake your self (or move into spontaneous chi-induced movement for a while) and then walk around a bit. Even seated, the legs are still affected and you will feel that.
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Dave Reslo
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Post by Dave Reslo on May 25, 2020 0:36:05 GMT
Might as well share a couple thoughts on ZZ, which is something of a retrospective since I hardly ever do it nowadays.
I've never engaged in qi gong before and the appeal of yiquan postures was that it wasn't qigong as such and there are no worries about visualising things. In fact, although Way of Power talks about qi, Wang Xiangzhai seems not to have believed in it. That said, I was always fond of thinking of a tree, something WoP alludes to a lot.
Sometimes I'd find that, for example, my hands were tending to turn horizontal when they should be vertical. I realised that rather than deliberately turn my hands over in such a case, I could try and get the pronation muscles to relax more, causing the hand to turn round. Likewise relaxing the chest and deltoids to let the arms slide back the way.
I've always found broadly that it helped my body recover from anything that was bothering it (both injury and just general fatigue), and it helped me sleep better. It worked for those things but I think over time I wanted to work into the rest of the book and became disheartened at my slowing progress. Having lost my drive, I only do it now sporadically when I feel restless or hurt.
If you compare Lam Kam Chuen's books with C S Tang's book or that much older book we both have a pdf of, the relaxation and health postures are only a small part of the posture training. Further to this, Lam Kam Chuen's "spear and shield" posture is wrong; that's clearly san ti shi and not spear and shield. That said, Way of Power has better instruction, and probably gives better results. And santishi is better than spear and shield anyway.
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macky
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Post by macky on May 30, 2020 9:57:23 GMT
Those are valuable insights, Dave. At the last, everybody is going to have their own unique "shades" of experiences re chi kung and Zhan Zhuang. There are going to be general similarities however, and I think that there's enough of those to make some conclusions on CK, ZZ and other related disciplines.
Re the not having to worry about visuals in ZZ, that is generally true, and I think your tree was quite valid as a mild (or otherwise) focus. I've tried to be clear on here that I'm not for guiding the energy in any way during ZZ drills, as per the other chi kung methods I've outlined.
That was borne out by another master's description of ZZ, where he emphasised that it was only necessary to have an awareness of the Lower Dantian "as all the energies of the body converge on that area" (not Point). He reckoned that after around 60 days of solid and regular ZZ, that the small microcosmic orbit would be opened anyway, without any leading by the mind, by just having a reasonable awareness on the lower belly. Not a fixated intent, because that in itself can create more tension. However he didn't say how much ZZ should be done everyday and from some of the lengths of time I've read, most people simply haven't got that much time to spend daily on ZZ, therefore one would expect to have to spend more months before the MO was opened, if ever. In saying that, I believe he is essentially right.
And there are comments from some masters that ZZ is not chi kung as such, it's nei kung, a sort of automatic internal method which is gained by simple constant checking of one's posture and releasing all tension where applicable, and said awareness.
Remember Wang Xiangzhai had studied many different forms of martial arts before beginning to strip everything down to the essentials with no "kata" involved, only primarily ZZ as base training, then basic movements of combat combined once again with static held postures. Coming from primarily a Hsing I background who are known to be pretty much only interested in "getting the job done" in the most efficient way possible, it is perhaps not surprising that he did not have much to say about chi/energy and its focus.
Lam Kam Chuen mentions consolidating the energy in the Dantian after the drills are finished, whereas other masters recommend "sinking the energy to the Dantian" and just being aware of it right from the start. I think both are true. The common thing here is the quietening of the Mind, and releasing as many "outside" thoughts as possible without tension. I too like his Way Of Power better, as the instructions are more direct, and the sequence of postures are more progressive in stages i.e Wu Chi, then Hold the Belly, THEN Embrace the Tree, not like his videos on Youtube (which are wonderful, no doubt about it) and Way Of Energy where the Embrace The Tree comes straight after Wu Chi, too much of a jump in difficulty I reckon.
As I've said, I'm not interested in martial arts as a personal discipline, but rather health aspects and the ability to enhance healing others. Or at least gaining the experience to help them with their chi kung and ZZ, so I'm not sure about the spear and shield posture.
Re the hands turning, there is the odd person I've spoken to over the years who spent a week almost spontaneously moving through floor postures, turning this way and that, and after the week, they had a sort of physical/mental/emotional "liberation" and felt much better for it.
It MAY be that your hands turning while performing a posture was a ntaural thing that perhaps should have been let happen by itself and relax into where the hands ended up. Given that there are hundreds of ZZ postures, I don't think that it would have done any harm, outright Pain of course being the moderator.
And becoming discouraged is not new to either of us. This type of training is so different from anything else, it's hard not to be discouraged when we see/feel no apparent progress.
I've started and stopped ZZ many times, just lately it's been more constant now, and I believe that with something like this that is so different than anything else, there is "A Time" for it, or not, in one's life. Even Yu Yong Nian started and stopped ZZ several times before keeping on with it as a constant form of training.
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macky
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Post by macky on Aug 9, 2020 6:32:42 GMT
For those interested in trying out some chi kung practices that are not demanding but still very beneficial, check out Jeffrey Chand www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jeffrey+chandSwags of youtubes with all sorts of simple drills with good instructions, for free. Worth having a shufti. Here's a very good drill that you can practice anytime you want to, and whether you're into conventional exercise or not, said conventional exercise preferably separated by several hours from chi kung drills. There's a whole swag of videos from Jeffrey on youtube which could constitute a full series of chi kung drills for life, if you wanted. His instructions are sound, and he is obviously an experienced practitioner of long standing. (pun intended)
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Post by macky on Oct 7, 2020 4:35:55 GMT
I've just sent Stuke a cautionary post on leading the chi/energy around the meridians, on the main board.
"There are a few youtubes with Chinese and others promoting meditating on the meridians re leading the chi/energy along them.
Do NOT do this. Unless you have a true Master that is experienced in such things PLUS knows the signs of wrong practice or stuck energy, leave it alone.
The sub/super-concious mind has been taking care of all that sort of thing, heart-beat, blood-flow etc since you were born (and before), and the monkey-mind interfering with natural process is dangerous.
If you feel energy spontaneously shooting up your spine while doing chi kung, then make sure you lead it back over your head and down the front and finish up with settling it in the lower dantian. In fact, I believe the only place for concentrating the energy on is the Lower Dantian, aided as always by abdominal breathing. Everything springs from there, it is safe, and if you produce overflow, it will be handled by the sub/super-concious mind as it always has been.
There are Masters who do not advocate anything else but Lower Dantian meditation, they regarding such leading around the body as "over-fussing". They also state what I've just said re the above.
You will find that with sufficient practice on any of the drills such as Baduanjin, Ping Shuai, Yi Jin Jing, Waidan Kung etc, focusing on the Lower Dantian, merely thinking about the hands (for example) will heat them up with added energy, without having to visualize energy flowing up the spine and round from the back into the arms and hands."
After some months performing Zhan Zhuang, where the Mind either focuses on the Lower Dantian, or no-mind, and wondering about for years really, I am at the stage where I believe that focusing the chi/energy on the Lower Dantian is all that is required during Chi Kung drills. I have posted something on visualization of the chi/energy going to the hands, or other places in the body, but the ZZ practice (which I will be finishing before long) has demonstrated an ability to heat the hands (after building up chi energy in the Dantian) up just by thinking about them. Pure intent, I believe, will dispense appropriate amounts of chi, whether in combat or healing (which I am more interested in) without visualizing chi energy flowing up the back and along to the arms and hands.
One simply hasn't got time to think of all that during combat, and an experience some months ago simply placing my hand on an aged lady's sore knee while quietly abdominal breathing produced a great deal of relief. I didn't visualize energy flowing into her, just intended that she feel relief, while we were talking about other things actually. That to me is personal proof enough, and goes with the Reiki attunement philosophy where pure intent (to heal someone) is enough to start the energy flowing, after the practitioner has been attuned at least in the first stage.
I have disagreement with Chinese chi kung masters who feel the need to "recharge" themselves after dispensing energy into a patient, lest they become ill or at least depleted of life force.
If they think like that, then that will happen. But a Reiki master who I saw performing hands-on with several patients worked all day without any apparent depletion, his mind-set quite sensibly of the idea that healing energy is NOT issuing from his own store, but that he is a channel that allows healing energy to flow through him as required, out of his conscious control.
I believe that all chi kung drills are personally beneficial, using the monkey mind to store energy in the lower abdomen for various uses according to the sub/super-conscious mind. One can choose what style of chi kung drills one likes to do, or just pick one or two and do those for more reps. Or do Swinging Arms Ping Shuai exclusively perhaps.
One can also just sit comfortably in a chair and meditate on the Hara/Dantian, although doing some physical drills will certainly produce better health, the stretching and movements beneficial to overall health.
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Post by macky on Oct 27, 2020 2:53:35 GMT
Right. About half way thru October I stopped the Zhan Zhuang altogether, after having done it for at least five months fairly consistently. As I've already posted, I did about seven postures, sitting down, with a forward stretch, face rubbing, and knocking my fingers on the back of the head (beating the drum) to finish. The postures are detailed in a said former post.
There certainly were changes both in the sitting and everyday moving around. These changes are hard to describe, and other practitioners also have had that problem. Perhaps Mark Cohen in his Inside Zhan Zhuang book explained things a lot better than anyone else has.
My sessions in the early weeks were experimental time-wise, with sometimes 20 minutes twice a day, or 40 minutes once a day, or even on one occasion three one-hour sessions in one day during the Lockdown. To say that next day was "different" while remaining much the same on the outside is an understatement, and it is my opinion that continued training in this manner for a year or more is going to bring about mental and physical changes that will be extremely profound, remembering that ZZ is a form of inner meditation with physical actions (although static) that even with the Mind on the Dantien, wandering away as it does then gently being brought back again and again to focus, expands the awareness of "the one" as an eternal "now".
(I finally settled on at least one 40-minute session a day, sometime two.)
If that sounds strange, I don't blame you, but that is about all I can say to describe it. The constant sitting with the various postures being changed from one to another as they become arduous but not outright painful, and the time ticking away to my clock on the wall while I quietly count in the back of my mind without lifting my eyes to check it as the 40 minutes comes up (usually 45 minutes by the time all the postures have been "completed") promoted an inner quietness which I will once again indulge in next year when I feel the time is right again.
I will aim next time for a larger number of months and do exactly has I have this time, sitting down with seven postures, the posture where one places the backs of the hands on the small of the back as a resting (but genuine) posture for 100 seconds, in between each change of the other six.
There is a method where only one posture is held for time, usually the Embrace The Tree which is regarded as THE posture in ZZ, but that is a "trial by fire" ordeal which I did not even attempt, the six postures (apart from the resting one) each having their own level of difficulty and which were changed when they became significantly uncomfortable.
My physical strength, although I performed very little else but ZZ, remained and now and then I felt a surge of energy in the arms when I was carrying out kitchen duties (e.g.). That as much as anything else proved to me that ZZ WILL produce great power in a practitioner, provided they practice properly, and remember that was only through sitting, not standing.
Although I did the odd Ba Duan Jin set of drills, it wasn't regular, neither the Ping Shuai swinging arms, but the Ba Duan Jin has become my regular standing and sitting set of drills (again) after stopping ZZ for the time being, with a couple of hundred swings to brush the cobwebs away in early morning while I'm waiting for the kettle to boil for a cuppa.
I will do at least one standing and one sitting set of Ba Duan Jin drills every day, mainly for the breathing (I have asthma) but also I've experienced an "uplift" from time to time with regular practice in the past, once again hard to explain.
Something else I would caution any budding ZZ practitioner to think about, is if they are engaging in conventional exercise, they will probably have to drop one or the other, because of the nature of continuously holding static stances with only their arms as "weights". That is only my opinion, Ping Shuai and/or Ba Duan Jin can be done with conventional exercises at opposite ends of the day (or night).
The reason is that if a trainer is primarily focused on the muscles as normal training usually does to one extent or another, they MAY find that ZZ is incompatible with muscle "building" in its usual sense. In ZZ you are training the Mind first, the Energy second, and the body goes along for the ride, not the other way round, and there is some literature on "muscle-change" where the muscles/tendons etc undergo a great alteration and conform therein much more closely to the "intent", if that makes sense.
Many trainers will not want to lose their muscles that they have spent years working up, and the whole idea of relaxing the muscles during stances is quite opposite to their customary habits. I'm not saying that you will become a skeleton, but you will have to accept being prepared for SOME muscle loss as a price to pay, if you engage in ZZ for any length of time. It might not happen, but in my own experience back 30 years or so, when I did the 12 Yi Jin Jing (static version) open palm postures for some months, I lost muscle off my arms (at least) while building a kind of power not normally available to most conventional trainers. It's a "spontaneous" sort of power, unexpected but available when force is required, without thinking about "power" but merely the intent on what you're doing. ZZ amplifies all that, but you may not have those fabulous big guns you've been diligently working on for years, so be warned. If any doubt, stick to Ba Duan Jin, Ping Shuai (for a few hundred) or Shibashi, if you want to sample a chi kung form while retaining your conventional training.
That again is only my opinions, based on the limited experience I have with all those forms.
It is not such an issue with Ba Duan Jin or Ping Shuai, although one will certainly notice some change in their mental/energy/physical system, but as I've already mentioned, Zhan Zhuang is so different (to me) than anything else I've tried before, either yoga, chi kung, or conventional exercise methods.
Even experienced masters such as Lam Kam Chuen with years of kung fu training under their belt were mystified at first by Zhan Zhuang. After all, how could static relaxed postures have any benefit at all, after all the dynamic forms of kung fu drills and vigorous movements that had already brought so much benefit in strength and health ?
I have several books in my files from Lam Kam Chuen, Mark Cohen, and C S Tang. If anybody wants a copy of them, send me their email address on a PM and I'll chuck them through. If anything, they are worth reading even if they are not going to be acted on (as yet).
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macky
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Post by macky on Nov 10, 2020 3:13:54 GMT
This splendid fellow and all-round happy chappie's presentation of Baduanjin. Note slight differences but essentially the same eight drills. His Shaolin training (as with most Shaolin it seems) appears to be somewhat more vigorous, and may appeal to others who want their Baduanjin to be more "physical" and/or breath-oriented, both legitimate values. Shifu Yan Xin certainly brings a cheerful and positive approach to his kung fu and qigong, and if one googles his name there are many videos of his that once again could provide an entire training routine for life (as the one above can be, just by itself). I've mentioned before that some Chinese pick a fav out of the above and do that exclusively, and no other.
Another aspect of kung fu/chi kung training involves static stances such as the Zhan Zhuang that I've posted much on, and the Shaolin prime stance is Ma Bu (horse stance) a very demanding drill which should leave one in no doubt about the Yielding Isometric nature of the exercise.
Yang Jwing-Ming in his book Qigong For Health And Martial Arts features static drills such as his Yi Jin Jing 12-posture sequences of both fist and open-palm positions, and I've outlined my experiences on the open palm set in prior posts. In addition, there are some yoga-like positions in his book as extra Chi kung drills which will be familiar to anyone who has picked up a book of yoga, even if they have never practiced it.
Our happy chappie above also presents various static drills in the video below, among them the Straight Arm Plank, a good overall body conditioner. Worth inspecting for those that want to integrate more aspects of chi kung training into their routines. These postures as well as Yang Jwing-Ming's are to be treated as chi kung, the mind kept on the abdomen, trying to relax everything but the muscles being used etc. Obviously they have more tension in them, but they provide a kind of go-between the almost total relaxation of the Baduanjin/Ping Shuai/Tai Chi sequences, and the static postures held for time. Also the bending of the straight arms in the plank to half-way through a push-up, and held there, is quite tough.
Another few things. With all the different styles of Baduanjin, (understandable given its thousand-year history), don't try too hard to perform a picture-perfect version of any style, just relax and get the general idea of the drill you're doing, and "fit yourself" into the drill, not try and get a hand just right, or particular stance at the "correct" depth.
There are some of us who have iffy knees and should not sit right down into a horse stance while performing the Bow and Arrow drill, for example. Just stand easy and put the Mind on the Dantian for the breathing, with some focus on the deliberation of drawing the bow and moving from left to right. Be careful not to stretch too far forward when you're doing the sixth drill, and if the fifth is uncomfortable, perform them sitting down. The punching drill just unlock your knees a little bit, once again being careful not to drop down too far and hurt yourself, then concentrate on the punch moving out and the fingers opening, turning, making a fist again, and withdrawing the arm.
Some styles require a degree of tension in the punch. Whatever suits you. In fact some teachers require tension through all the drills. I do not recommend this at all. You will feel the power coming through after a month or two of daily practice, with just using enough strength to do the movement and that's all. Think "relaxation". After a while if you're doing the breath-out-extend way, you may even feel the energy in your hands as you breath out and extend. Don't look for it, but enjoy when it happens. You've reached a certain level of chi kung, the sensing of the chi/energy.
Some teachers have recommended slight tension in all the movements ("don't use strength, but don't NOT use strength") as an aid to concentration and development of the Mind/Movement/Breath combination of Baduanjin. This is a worthwhile tryout for any serious practitioner as long as the tension is not allowed to intensify, but is kept low, the principle focus on the Dantian being maintained at all times. This experimentation is a wholistic pursuit of those that would value simplicity, the Baduanjin drills a complete exercise system in themselves for life, if desired.
For those who would like some stillness along with their movement, pausing at strategic moments during a drill (say with the hands overhead during the first drill, Lift The Sky) for whatever time is desired, is a good way to integrate stillness and movement into the same exercise without adding more drills from other chi kung styles. When pausing, don't hold the breath, continue breathing quietly while holding arms aloft. Others may wish to hold the fist out for time, or the bent over position with the hands on the floor (or near it). This is a technique employed by some internal masters of Hsing Yi and Tai Chi (for two), the fist held for as long as 15 minutes in a static position. The pausing of movement can be employed pretty much anywhere in movement chi kung, and it provides (once again) another area of experimentation for practitioners.
And remember these same drills can be done seated, if the legs have been injured or the practitioner cannot stand for long periods of time, or at all.
For the breathing, some Baduanjin styles require the inhale while the arms are extending overhead, such as the first and third drills, while others prefer the rule that all extensions of the arms (apart from drill six) require exhaling, with the withdrawal of the arms on the inhale. Some mix it up. Work out what suits you. For myself, continuing to breath in while extending the arms overhead on the first and third drills is too much and the focus on the abdomen is lost, but others may find it stimulating. But whatever your method, breath to 70%, not puffing yourself up.
Stay down on your feet flat if raising up on the toes is unbalancing. Consolidate yourself in the abdomen/dantian. Relax. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Five drills for lung strengthening. Two of them the second and third drills of the Baduanjin set. Pay attention to the final instructions after the finish of the set. The loud music is annoying, unfortunately.
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macky
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Post by macky on Feb 11, 2021 9:29:36 GMT
Here's a video of another style of performing the same Eight Brocade (Baduanjin) drill set that I've touched on in the previous post. The number of reps is just one, or one each side, and the arms are held static at the outstretched position for 25-30 seconds, providing a sort of Zhan Zhuang effect in combination with the usual movements of each drill.
In addition, the instruction for this version (easily found by simply googling "baduanjin youtube") calls for some tension in the outstretched position. I would recommend only moderate tension, and release on the downward movement back to neutral position, keeping the Mind on the movement as always, and being aware of the Lower Dantian breathing.
In the stretched position (not too stretched) the breathing is continued NOT held, with around four breaths making up the half-minute pause. But work to your own comfort, and do NOT push it. With the Mind on the job, these drills (like the others) are powerful and that will be verified in short order with regular practice.
Again, whatever you do, keep the breath at around a perceived 70% and the tension as well, or less. Not more. If you find your breathing becoming forced, stop and relax. Don't continue with forced breath and super-tensed muscles. The combination is dangerous. I have said it before, my belief is that karate-style (of some masters/practitioners) tensho forced breathing and tensed muscles both at once, plus the kung fu versions of same, have resulted in shorter lives suddenly terminated in heart attacks and other diseases like high blood pressure. Mas Oyama's death at 70, multiple health issues in the early 70's of my wife's sensei, my wife's death at 62 (a high ranking karate practitioner) and otherwise physically (externally) powerful martial artists including Bruce Tegner who died of a heart attack at 56, his isometric course advocating forced down held breaths while applying max iso-tension in his outlined exercises.
I have posted the above drill as an example of tension being used to some degree not evident in the video. The master is in other videos I've posted on here, and performing more reps of the same exercise set in a relaxed fashion. There cannot be entire relaxation in any drill/exercise but if the intention is there, you will certainly avoid over-tensing and breathlessness. Keep calm and try and relax as much as possible. Put a bit of tension into your punch if you feel the need, but withdraw more relaxed. You have to experiment until you get it right (for you).
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macky
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Post by macky on Feb 20, 2021 9:22:52 GMT
Ping Shuai Swinging Arms
I've written quite a bit about this utterly simple chi kung exercise in other posts on here. If there was anything that embodies "less is more" then this is that exercise.
The guy featured in these two youtubes is an ex-Israeli Navy Seal. It's also a change not to be listening to a largely unknown (in the West) chi kung exercise from a Chinese, other far eastern national, or US Chinese.
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Michael
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He cuts down trees. He wears high heels, suspendies, and a bra?!
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Post by Michael on Feb 28, 2021 14:29:39 GMT
Macky Thanks for posting this stuff, very interesting and informative. I'm doing a simple Double KB Press and Front squat routine 3 times a week right now. I think I'm going to add this Ping Shuai Swinging Arms to my everyday menu. I use to do the Eight Brocade from a book that Greg recommended years ago. Can't find the book so I don't remember the name. I stopped doing them because I pulled my back out doing one of the exercises but I can't remember which one.
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