Simple is beautiful

The practice of zhan zhuang, tai-chi, tai-chi nei gung or meditation can be dauntingly mythical. When I was a kid first learning the art, I had my fair share of initial frustration. After I did my best to manage my Jing (tai-chi internal power), my father would always frustrated me by saying: "You're too hard". In all frustrations, I tried again and be as relaxed as I could, my father would say: :"Are you sleeping, be more alert!". Now that I am teaching the stuff (not my bread-and-butter trade), I will try my best to make it simple for my students. In my case, I guess I have no choice. People come to me with problem(s), given a right attitude on their part, most of the time I will be willing to give some advice. Being not in the trade, I have to make sure that they can at least get some benefit from my advice within the first lesson (because some never have the opportunity to come for a second lesson!)  In other words, I don't have the luxury (or the financial pressure :)) to have a group of students hanging on to my side for a year or more.

As a result, in my practice, I have been trying to make things as simple as possible. And most of the time, it can be done. Having said that, sometimes I will displease certain practitioners who have taken a long time (perhaps a life time) to perfect their act. Their usual comment will be "It's not that simple" (which I agree, but things can be learned better from simplicity) with a subtext like "you're degrading the art", or worse with the subtext "you don't know the real thing yourself". Actually I don't mind them revealing their sub-text to me, although I can also understand that being polite they are too kind to cross me directly.

The most powerful simple tool is visualization. Like "holding a ball" or "embracing a tree" in zhan zhuang. It's not like really holding a ball or embracing a tree, but to fool our mind-body into believing such, and with our non-critical mind (therefore the zhan zhuang mold has to be between wake-up and asleep) guiding our mind-body to react likewise or "to do their job" now that it is needed like for real.

And like doing the 24 styles tai-chi nei gung for power building, I have come up with some novel visualizations, including weight lifting in Golden Turtle, and discus throwing in Sheep.

Recently I came across a book by a famous tai-chi master in Mainland China who praised the mythical power of non-contact combat (!). Most of his text rambled on mythical, historical and irrelevant narratives. And all of a sudden, I noticed a line in his chapter on Kua (跨 pelvic joints) opening. And he said something like this, "I am going to reveal a secret in my training method, try visualizing yourself swinging back and forth in a kid's swing".

I smiled to his good insight, "After all Simplicity is his secret!"

PS: My dear reader, can you tell me which master used similar technique (without mentioning the concept of Swing) in an English book on tai-chi nei gung?

The beauty of a simple swing

zhan zhuang and isometric exercise

Isometric exercise or isometrics are a type of strength training in which the joint angle and muscle length do not change during contraction (compared to concentric or eccentric contractions, called dynamic/isotonic movements). Isometrics are done in static positions, rather than being dynamic through a range of motion (from Wiki). The benefit of isometric exercise is that it can exercise both the extension and the contraction muscles at the same time, because of the resistance generated. It can do more training within the same time period, workout enthusiasts love it, Bruce Lee being one. The practical problem with this kind of exercise is that your muscles are only worked maximally in part of the movement range. And a second problem, more serious I should say, is that it is boring. You can perhaps search in Youtube for some free demos with left arm working against right arm or vice versa, and make a judgement on your own.

How does zhan zhuang, or more exactly combat stance zhan zhuang, compare with the usual isometric exercise for strength training?

Practitioners of Wang Xiangzai's YiChuen like to do combat stance for training. On the look of it, there is no resistance, a practitioner just stands there, perhaps with some nano movement. Quite unlike Bruce Lee, and quite unlike the Youtube demo guys. Indeed one has to learn to do combat stance with muscles contractions and relaxations in order that one can make one set of your muscles working against the other set instead of pitching your arms together like the Youtube folks did. I shall explain more about the mechanics in some future posts, here I would like to mention other benefits of doing combat stance, in addition to sound and effective muscle training of the isometric type.

Firstly, doing combat stance can open, align and strengthen one's joints, in particular one's shoulder joints. It is actually the two sides of the same coin. In order that one can work isometrically, a practitioner has to align his joints with subtle aligned force; and when one contracts one's muscles isometrically, the aligned joints will become more aligned, more opened and more strengthened.

Secondly, with combat stance, since this is a kind of zhan zhuang [and therefore a kind of chi-kung], chi will be guided to spread evenly around the whole body for both all round physical and mental training.

Last but not least, one can do combat stance with arms set at all possible directions (i.e. not limited to the standard stance, hence solving the practical problem as mentioned above. For example, when doing the Rhino (in 24 styles tai-chi Nei Gung) or Taming the Dragon (the name use in most kung fu systems), one can start with Santi (三体), and stance by stance, extend one's front arm, and finally twisting one's body to a full Dragon. The number of intermediate stance to choose shall depend upon the body condition of each individual practitioner.  This is how I teach my students doing the Rhino.

And doing combat stance is fun!

Bruce Lee doing isometric exercise

The vengeance of the Turtle

Recently I heard much about the Golden Turtle, or Tortoise, around me (24 styles tai-chi nei gung Golden Turtle stance). Some of my acquaintances complained that doing the Golden Turtle hurt rather than cure (well, they didn't learn from me). And one even say something like "How come your Indonesian maid enjoy doing the stance?" As usual, I smile in response. What can I say? People just jumped into the stance having the no-pain-no-gain attitude without knowing what they actually want to achieve, or without the patience to feel his way through the stance, or just like learning any new fad and drop it a few minutes later saying it's no good to him? The bottom line is, every practitioner finds his own way, with the Turtle or without the Turtle.

For anyone who has a few months' experience in doing basic Embracing zhan zhuang (correctly and having felt his way and learned!) can start doing the Turtle. Sometimes I would joke to my students: I don't trust the Turtle, it will bite back! What I mean is, one has to ease oneself into the stance. There are infinite number of ways to ease it in. In the old days when I learned the stance, it was a verbal tradition for the easing in, and with lots of variations, that depended on the student as well as on the teacher, I mean even within a teacher's repertoire there were variations to the basic way. And I observed (and I was an avid observer), I asked why to myself, and I figured it out and I learned, in addition to what was being taught directly to me.

Embracing is my first easing in stance. And "Junior Turtle" (i.e. with forward stretch and no full bending/squatting) is my second easing in stance. They are compulsory in my teaching repertoire, by the way, because I don't believe in no-pain-no-gain in chi-kung, it has to be enjoyable!

Now we do the Turtle proper, with a twist, like lowering a heavy ball (i.e. YiChuan style visualization). Objective: not to put too much burden on one's back. If you've a strong back, they can do away with it, but I always insist on my students doing it.

After the Turtle proper, I will do a stretch front stance, in addition to the usual stretch back (between the legs) stance. Chi generated from Turtle proper can spread more evenly to the whole of the body.

As for breathing, do normal breathing, unless you know reverse abdominal breathing, then do it, it is the ONLY way to move chi to your extremities (like finger nails). For the most advanced student, hold your arms close (touching) your rib cage, but leave it out if you feel uncomfortable, it might do harm.

Do it properly, the Turtle will love you and you will love it. Otherwise, you might have to pay a price for its vengeance, don't say I didn't warn you before hand!

To teach or not to teach?

In the preface of Wang DiXian's tai chi Nei Gung 24 styles, he wrote (my translation):

All (tai-chi) lineages have their own systems of tai chi nei gung, it is unfortunate that most didn't know about it or only practice a few styles, the reason is to "teach or not to teach".

Wang was certainly talking about a phenomenon that he observed, and he had the kind heart to publish the Wu/Chang 24 styles in good will, despite the fact that he probably did it against his master's wish. The interesting thing is that I know some guys who have been doing tai-chi for a number of years, after they have a glimpse of Wang's book, shook their head and commented "what's great about it?"

And they are right, what is great about some physical movements if one don't know how to stimulate one's internal power (nei gung) through the movements. A teacher is needed with some good instructions. The question boils down NOT to "teach or not to teach", but to "know how to teach or don't know how to teach".

Finding a good teacher is important, but, as an amateur teacher of the practice for a number of years, I have this personal revelation: "finding an intelligent student who is willing to learn is even more difficult". Which, in the final analysis, boils down to my assertion: "It is very difficult to learn tai-chi nei gung" despite the fact that one knows the bodily movement (like having access to Wang's book, or for that matter, information on other systems of tai-chi nei gung as Wang said), and secondly one gets hold of a teacher who know how to teach the internal movements and feelings.

I shall further explain the WHY towards my assertion in some future posts, stay tuned.

The myth of Iron Shirt

Iron Shirt (鉄布衫 in Chinese) simply put is the ability to take punches. The term has been mystified, and magnified, in various Chinese martial art fictions depicting a legendary martial art skill not only having the ability to take punches but also against sharp weapons (and rumors had it that some Chinese boxers died tragically through holding such belief during the Boxer Revolution against European invasions). As our knowledgeable reader Iv Cho once commented [click here], a body able to take punches is a prerequisite to do free fights in the ring. Modern day professional boxers can easily take a few hundred pounds of punch at his abdomen (please check up this earlier post by my buddy fellow blogger Rick You hit like a girl) . An interesting question: how do tai-chi practitioners in the old days being trained in the art of taking punches?

The science of taking punches at the abdomen is simple. The practitioner's abdomen has to simulate a strong elastic ball. When an elastic ball is being punched, the force will be dissipated evenly as well as partly being absorbed. The method, in the briefest sense, is inhale, focus and receive the punch. Before he is able to simulate his abdomen as such, a practitioner has to work on building his torso and abdomen strong, for the simple fact that a balloon will not be able to take any punches! The practice of tai-chi nei gung is precisely aiming at training one with a strong elastic abdominal ball. The act of conditioning this strong elastic ball with actual punches will evidently be necessary. For example, at the end of 12 Yin styles in 24 styles tai-chi Nei Gung, a practitioner is required to chi-rub his abdomen in circles(fascia conditioning), test-punch his own abdomen and do it again a few round (it is supposed to be done while standing, though doing it lying down seems to be more effective [but less convenient while doing the 24 styles]). Actual punching drills by a training partner will probably be required if one is considering stepping onto the ring for real.

Another interesting fact is that during the earlier editions of UFC, wrestlers shocked their Muay Thai and boxing counter-parts by their willingness, and ability, to take a few punches or kicks, then entered and tackled their stand-up opponents into submission. Wrestlers (in particular those in Greco-Roman wrestling with rules forbidding attacks below waist, as well as forbidding leg tripping, resulting in more spectacular throws) can indeed take much "punishment" on their bodies, oftentimes more so than boxers.

Tai-chi practitioners in the old days understood the logic behind and trained themselves accordingly. For example, according to the biography of Wu-style master Wu TuNan (吳圖南), who was led by his father to train under Wu grandmaster Wu JianQuan (吳鑑泉) when he was a boy because of poor health (the two Wus were not related), he had this break-fall training experience. Master Wu first conditioned young Wu's body through tai-chi stretching (纏絲功/松功), tai-chi nei gung(太極内功) and doing the tai-chi form(太極套路). According to young Wu, the toughest part came later. Master Wu would then do pushing hands (推手) with him, with the singular objective of throwing him on the ground so that his body would fall flat from a height, as determined by his master! In one or two unfortunate incidents, when he was accidentally dropped onto a wooden chair or table breaking it in the process, the pain was so bad that he said he felt rather wishing to die than to continue! Young Wu was trained like a modern day wrestler in taking punishment, or more so actually. Nowadays, some tai-chi schools still keep this tradition of using break-falls to condition a student's body, with tatami and no wooden chairs nor tables around!

PS: The above discussion only applies to punches at the body, and the abdomen in particular. And even then, other important techniques like rolling with the punches have not been discussed.

The mythical yin and yang in tai-chi nei gung

Tai chi is a discipline that offers highly flexible and adaptive objectives, from patients recovering from major illness (like cancer, stroke or heart attack) to athletes taking part in mixed martial art ring combat.  Yet, in all cases, there need to be a balance between yin (陰：feminine) and yang (陽：masculine) elements, defined differently according to different objectives.  In tai-chi, yin and yang are symbolized in two ways, the black and white fish AND the black and white dots within the fish in the tai-chi symbol.  In short, don't forget yin when you're doing yang, and don't forget yang when you're doing Yin.  Simple concept!

Take an example.  In 24 styles tai-chi nei gung, the first style Golden Turtle is the Yang white dot in the 12 Yin style set; whereas the last style Old Man Cultivating Golden Elixir (老叟燒丹) is the Yin dot in the 12 Yang style set.  I did some discussions of the Golden Turtle (or Tortoise) in some previous posts, I shall discuss the latter one briefly below (per a special request!):

In short, the style is divided into three parts.  The first two parts are the two directions of front back dantian roll while the third part is meditation along the central channel (中脈), one can choose the whole channel or meditate the heart chakra.  Needless to say detail explanation is beyond the scope of the blogging media.

This is an advanced style.  Having said that seasoned meditators will likely find it easy (in other words, rather basic) rolling their dantian and doing point or channel meditation even without any external movements, as the 24 styles nei gung required.

Different perspectives on tai-chi stretching

Tai-chi stretching is called silk-reeling 纏絲功 in Chen-style tai-chi, and it is also called as such in Wu-style tai-chi, which also has a more exclusive exercise called joint-opening 松功.  You may wonder isn't tai-chi all about joint-opening (松)?  In comparison with other internal martial art, tai-chi does put more emphasis on stretching. So, what is special about tai-chi stretching?

Cloud hands (云手) is a famous silk-reeling exercise and anyone interested to see the form, or different variations of the form, can search it in Youtube.  No more secret, as far as the form is concerned.  It is interesting to see that different styles of tai-chi put different emphasis on tai-chi stretching exercises in the past.  Chen-style tai-chi practitioners have an elaborated system of stretching exercise and pioneered the name: silk-reeling.  Many tai-chi styles do similar things without using the name.  Wu-style's joint-opening 松功 has not been widely known (well, and so has its 24 styles nei-gung).  The only systematic literature on the subject came from the late Wu-style master Wu TuNan (吳圖南), who held a desk-top career, didn't teach tai-chi for a living and who was not related to the Wu-family.  Wu's Tai-chi Nei-gung (published by his student Ma QingYou 馬清有) has a chapter on joint-opening 松功, presenting an abridged version of the original 18 styles tai-chi stretching.

What then is the gist of doing tai-chi stretching?  What makes it different from other stretching exercises?  A combined understanding of both Chen and Wu's approach can be of good use to the modern practitioner who is not or should not be constrained by the lineage of his teacher (though he should respect his teacher a lot, as classic Chinese martial arts would demand).

To do good Chen silk-reeling, one must be able to meditate on two points during his practice.  An example: stretching one's shoulder joint with an extended arm.  The first point to focus on is the joint connecting the middle finger and the palm (some teachers say the centre of the palm which I think not being the best).  The second point is a bit tricky.  It should be a point deep inside the ball-and-socket joint of the shoulder.  It is a big area.  One should consciously (and in focus, meditative mode) select the point which will create the maximum "resistance with comfort".  By fixing on these two points mentally, one turns the finger point clockwise and counter-clockwise, creating more sluggish feeling in the process, like drying a wet towel.

The Wu's additional trick is simple (I mean simple to describe only!).  One focuses on the two points as above but with the arm raised.  Smoothly drop the arm, with a sluggish feeling in the downward dropping process.

After practicing the above, incorporate what you have felt  in other silk-reeling or joint-opening exercises.  It's fun!

Tai-chi Silk reeling

Opening shoulders with 24 styles

In tai-chi 24 styles nei gung, there are some styles that are mirror image in nature.  One pair is Embracing One (抱一式) and Holding Golden Urn (棒金盤).  While embracing a tree is with palms facing each other, Embracing One is with palms facing down (thumbs in side) whereas Holding Golden Urn is with palms facing up (see photo below).  The stances themselves are very simple indeed.  The catch is what happens inside, as always!

The key to doing good stance or zhan zhuang is firstly visualization, and secondly Jing [or Chi] exploration (聼勁 or 摸勁).  In Embracing One, with palms facing down, the visualization is a force acting upwards (i.e with a practitioner's energy acting down to neutralize the upward force).  In Holding Golden Urn, it is just the opposite.  The result is that the shoulder joint will experience a feeling of flow (criterion of success: if you don't experience a feeling of shoulder flow, you probably does it wrongly). 

Jing exploration in the two styles aims at opening the shoulders (and consequently the shoulder blades too) in two directions.  The explorations (the nature of which is minute or nano movement) are led by the two thumbs, either bring them together towards the centre of the body or moving outwards to the two sides.

Are these two stances unique to tai-chi nei gung?  No.  In Wang XiangZhai's combat stances, there are similar stances (with 70/30 weight distribution as per combat stance Wang-style).  The benefit of 24 styles is that the important objective of shoulder and shoulder blades opening has been singled out into two stances for more focused training.

Mantak Chia doing Holding Golden Urn

The turtle's challenge

In 24 styles tai-chi, there are two advanced combat stance: Golden Turtle （金龜式) and Rhino gazing the Moon (犀牛望月).  Both are advanced stances, and should only be attempted by advanced practitioners, otherwise it will do more harm than good.  The Turtle stance has been practiced among some Wu style practitioners.  An example is a variation as taught by prominent master Wu TuaNan in his Tai-chi Nei Gong published by his student (吳圖南太極功).  The Rhino is actually the famous advanced stance practiced by many kung-fu practitioners: Taming the Dragon (see image in my last post).  The interesting question is: who should take up the turtle's (or for that matter, the rhino's) challenge?

My advice is that a practitioner should first study any of  the foundation combat stances first: essentially those with the legs less bended.  The objective is firstly learn how to lengthen one's tendons and opening one's joints (in particular one's shoulder and pelvic joints) using combat stance, and secondly is actually  lengthen one's tendons and open one's joints.  The Turtle and the Rhino should only be attempted after a practitioner has achieved the limit where the foundation combat stance can lead him.  Trying it too early might just loosen one's joints (without lengthening one's tendons) instead of strengthening them!  It is the same for inappropriate training in yoga as I discussed in an early post Yoga Injuries.

I remember some time ago I browsed the internet and noticed that a subsidiary Taoist Association in UK of Mantak Chia affiliation uploaded a video with a guy doing Golden Turtle, and the guy did it with his legs unbend. Apparently he knew what he was doing and was not interested in training anything too vigorous.

If people take the turtle's challenge, who will be the winner?  I will bet on an Olympics weightlifter!

An Olympics weightlifter

Power training for combat tai-chi

Whereas a tai-chi practitioner may not (and for most will not) aspire to train himself for ring-combat, it is a good idea that he understands the combat training method or philosophy (for want of a better term!) of tai-chi combat training.  Why?   For the simple reason that the training objectives of any tai-chi practitioner should include a training for physical strength (how can one be considered healthy if he is weak in physical strength?), and the way for tai-chi to train physical strength is through a special tai-chi training for combat readiness.

The core training of combat readiness is to build physical strength.  And in its most pragmatic (and simplest) form is to deliver a powerful punch and its corollary, to block a powerful punch.  Indeed there are tai-chi practitioners who neglect training for strength and power, and justify their behavior through hiding behind the classic tai-chi combat-technique concept: Use four taels to move a thousand catty （四両搏千斤), without realizing that his opponent can use the same combat-technique but with better strength!   Not so for tai-chi practitioners who have actually fought in the ring.

That reminds me of legendary tai-chi master Zheng TianXiong （鄭天熊) who, together with his students participated in the KungFu free-fight competitions in the 1960/70's in Asia (albeit those were the days long before today's more vigorous Sanda or MMA fights).  Yet, in a ring, power is, almost, everything.  And master Zheng and his students used tai-chi's training method for power and strength training.  And the master passed along his training method in the form of the famous "24 style tai-chi Nei Gong".  

Straight punches and hooks have been the basic moves for any ring-fighters.  And there is indeed one style in the 24 that can be used to train powerful hooks the tai chi way.  I am talking about "Smoothly pull away the sheep" (顺牵羊). Interested readers can refer to my previous post Power generation in 24 styles Tai-chi Nei-gong for a better appreciation of the training method.

Needless to say, power training in tai-chi did not start with the 24 styles nor end with them.  Like everything else worth pursuing, there are always rooms for further perfection and development, for interested contemporary practitioners.

The key to powerful chi cultivation

Some students of chi-kung or other chi-related disciplines (like tai-chi or Taoist meditation) can experience chi in the first lesson, which is a tinkling sensation at the inner surface of one's fingers. Some need to take a few more lessons (those who can't would have probably quit altogether).  Unfortunately most didn't go further than this initial stage.  How can one go beyond this initial stage of chi experience?  The simple answer is more practice, or more correctly put, more guided practice.

The first hurdle to overcome is to do standing or seated meditation for a substantial length of time in one session, and to do daily session until one can feel this tinkling sensation in a few more areas inside one's body in addition to one's fingers.  Substantial length of time essentially means half an hour to one hour.  With such training, one can eventually feel substantial chi inside one's body, in addition to experiencing an increase rate of perspiration and a general feeling of bodily warmth.

As I said previously,  many students can't pass the stage of a sensation of finger tinkling.  They may not necessarily quit, they may still continue their practice without knowing they can never "get there". Unfortunately in our market economy, these students oftentimes generate a sizable portion of a coach's income, which, can act as motivator, for the coach, not to push such students further!

If a student can pass this first hurdle, he begins to enter the entrance of chi-kung and, assuming continual practice, solo or under a coach's supervision, he can have much fun in the practice, including but not limiting to the fact that he can now do and enjoy his tai-chi practice better, and he also can experience a renewed/deeper understanding of other related practices like yoga, dancing, if he is also interesting in practicing them.  And probably he can also feel a better control of his bone-cum-muscular structure and can experiment with selecting his individual muscles for further conditioning, so that a better aligned or stronger structure can be trained accordingly.  And he is on the road to better health and greater mobility towards old age.

Most students will be satisfied with this stage assuming that health and well-being is what one is seeking in one's practice.  The best part is: he can stand on his own feet and can continue improve even without the direct supervision of a coach.

The next hurdle is more difficult, and is for the most devoted only.   Risking oversimplifying things, I venture to explain the next hurdle according to two types of practices: one martial art (for ready-for-combat mind/body structure) and one meditation (for ready-for-spirituality mind/body entity).   Guidance from a good coach is very important if not essential to tackle this next hurdle.  And without proper guidance (though self guidance is possible), the whole venture might be dangerous, physically and psychologically, to a practitioner.  Warning here!

For those who seek the route of martial art, the next step is to practice an advanced form of chi kung, like 24 styles tai-chi NeiGung or combat stance of YiQuan (not exhaustive).  The key to a successful practice of either is, again, visualization*.  In the beginning stage of the zhan zhuang, the most common visualization is holding a big (rubber) ball.  In the advanced stage, the visualization is life-and-death combat - one needs to activate all the inborn (animal) power, either to block/withstand a powerful punch or kick, or to execute a powerful life-saving punch.  Relaxation is needed to facilitate the liberation of such internal power; and a highly focused mind is needed to facilitate the gathering of the total body power as well as transmitting this totality to the point of contact.  Needless to say, actual combat training is also needed in order that one's training can be transformed into actual combat.

For those who seek the route of spirituality, the next step, in Taoist meditation, is the practice of Neidan or, in Tibetan Buddhist, the practice of deity yoga (not exhaustive).  Visualization is essential in both, but unlike martial art training the energy here is not directed towards one's physical body.  Instead energy is directed inwards towards one's mind.  This energy is made ready to confront what is going to evolve from our unconscious (whose opening presupposes a totally relaxed and focused mind).  And the objective is to transform one's self into a super-human self or personality.  Needless to say, a devoted study of one's chosen spiritual teachings and texts is also needed to gain a true and lasting spiritual transformation.

* Needless to say there are techniques one can choose from (like taking cold showers) in addition to the essential requirement of visualization

Chi cultivation for spirituality

Opening your ball-and-socket joints with tai-chi 24 styles Nei Gong

The gist of the matter is, opening one's ball-and-socket joints at shoulders and hips/pelvis (松肩，松胯) represents much of tai-chi Nei Gong. Without that, as one master of Chen-style tai-chi wrote: "It becomes just academic!" (I accidentally dropped by this sifu's website some time ago, but have forgotten his name and the name of his website. I only remember that he was teaching the stuff in UK then).

But opening our ball-and-socket joints is no easy task. In tai-chi's concept of song (松), it also includes evenly strengthening those muscles that are responsible for putting the joints in place, plus allowing maximum movement - with power and speed! Again, the above saying is an objective only. Without proper training, "talking tai-chi" is just like that: "talking tai-chi", or "pure academic"!

Back to the subject of this post. In 24 styles Nei Gong (again for easy reference, one can consult Wang DiXian's book disclosing the physical mechanics), Yang-style number eight "White ape's striking palms 白猿推掌" serves as a foundation style for opening one's ball-and-socket joints. The way to practice is first doing the style with mindful attention in opening one shoulder, then the other shoulder, then one side of the hip/pelvis, then the other side of the hip/pelvis etc...and slip in somewhere with one side's shoulder together with hip/pelvis of the same side.

As per my previous advice, mindfully opening the joints while seeking for maximum resistance is needed (the benefit of seeking maximum resistance is to relax, lengthen and strengthen the connecting muscles). And, in the beginning, maximum opening of the joint should play first fiddler when compared with seeking form-perfection of the style itself!

Enjoy your hard work (who said it would be easy!)

The training of Pang Jing through 24 styles tai-chi Nei Gong

Peng 棚 meaning "Holding up" is the most important Jing in tai-chi. By Jing I mean power generated through incorporating the contraction of the extension muscles of one's body, which required a "relaxed" body. There has been lots of confusion about the meaning of Peng. One of the tai-chi 24 styles explains the meaning of the concept as well as presenting a simple training method. I'm talking about the style called "Holding the Golden Urn" (捧金盤) and "Holding/Embracing One" (抱一式). They differs only in that the former is with the palms facing up while the latter is with the palms facing down.

These names are according to the classic 24 styles (as per text by Wang Dixian). Mantak Chia combined the two into one name "Holding the Golden Urn". Chia probably learned it through the Cheng-Wu tai-chi lineage in Hong Kong.

Anyway both styles make use of the palms to hold an imaginary Golden Urn (or "One", signified that GU is only an imagery without any metaphysical content!). With an imaginary something being held up (and balancing it on one's palms at the same time), a practitioner's extension muscles will be activated and exercised accordingly.

In more recent literature, I read about a tai-chi master, who is famous for training his students to take part in MMA fights, made use of spherical balls of some weight hanging down (by a string) to replace the imaginary golden urns. For general workout purpose, something imaginary will probably be sufficient for most practitioners.

Mantak Chia doing Holding the Golden Urn

Spiritual warfare for real?

In my previous post, I talked about an aggressive spiritual attack-cum-protection method as formulated by a well-known Japanese practitioner （高籐聰一郎）based on the secretive practice of "Eight Doors to hide the leader" (奇門遁甲).  By definition nobody really can be sure about something secretive, but the Japanese master's approach does fall within the general approach of traditional Taoist or magical texts.  In the arena of martial art, there are practitioners who do follow some form of spiritual approach in combat training.  I'm talking about "non-contact jing 淩空勁". Don't laugh, it has been practiced by a very small number of martial artists, including the famous Wu-style tai-chi master Wang DiXian （汪棣賢), the master who first made public the "once-closely-guarded" Tai-chi Nei Gong 24 styles!

I watched a video of an open demonstration by Master Wang who practiced with his students.  And off they fell without being touched by the master physically.  I have no way to check with Wang on the objective of his training.  It seems that it is some kind of spiritual protection, in addition to break-fall training under a relaxed meditative state of mind.

In our society with less physical intimidation in everyday life (some of you may disagree!), psychological intimidation though is still prevalent. The outraged boss and nagging spouse, just two common examples!  Spiritual attack or intimidation always come from people who are in position of power, and can be quite menacing!  Those who have read some modern literature can perhaps recall some menacing scenes in Kafka's fictions; or to a lesser extend the Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter's plays, with pauses and suspense.

The question is: How to protect against spiritual intimidation or attack?  Answer: by relaxation, total relaxation.

The advice of the Japanese master is that if you feel you can't stop the "weapons" coming from your practicing partner, just relax, relax completely, and his weapons will fly pass your body as if pass through space. And you will not be harmed.

In the case of master Wang, his students simple relaxed, let go and fell down - without struggling against the non-contact intimidation of their master.

In summary, total relaxation is the key to psychological or spiritual protection.

Corollary, a spiritual aggressor has to be in a position of power before his intimidation will become effective (like a master, a boss, or a spouse in some position of power). That's why when we browse videos uploaded on YouTube, we can sometimes find videos of some martial art masters practicing spiritual intimidation failed miserably when having a friendly fight (intended to demonstrate their non-contact combat skills!!) with an average martial artist (like a common MMA fighter)whom the master doesn't know! These masters should have known better the limitation or objective of their training methods.

Power generation in 24 styles Tai-chi Nei-gong

This is a post for tai-chi enthusiasts. There are some styles in 24 styles Tai-chi Nei-gong (ref: Wang DiXian: 太極内功陰陽24式) meant for power training. I shall use the 10th Yin style as an example. The style is called "Smoothly pull away the sheep" (顺[手]牵羊). Incidentally it is one of the stratagems of the famous Thirty-Six Stratagems (三十六計).

Actually there is nothing mythical about this style (if my readers are pondering in this direction). Its swinging action aims at opening one's shoulder blade joints and, more importantly, to train oneself to generate or originate upper body power (e.g. in doing punching or pushing) from a point in the shoulder blade. In classical tai-chi lingo, it is called activation of one's Back-power (or Back-jing: 背勁).

With a sound foundation in chi-generation and meditative-point-sensitivity, a practitioner can proceed to train himself to activate this power. This foundation is primarily through the practice of Zhan zhuang. Those without such foundation will likely to be quite unsuccessful through just imitating the form. A coach will be beneficial - not so much on teaching the form, but on directing a practitioner through the necessary foundation steps, and understand when a practitioner can begin the style practice for good results. 

As I said previously, there is no mysticism in this Back-Jing activation. A good discus thrower knows best how to use this power. And needless to say, the athlete will be trained in quite different way.  As the old saying goes: Every road leads to Rome. 

From the perspective of a eager tai-chi Nei-Gong practitioner, he can certainly understand this style a lot better by studying the actions of a good discus thrower.

Discus thrower in action

Strenghtening one's front torso with Nei Gung

This is a practice note for Tai-chi enthusiasts only. In this post I shall explain the inner mechanism and training objective of the 7th styles of Yin-section of 24 styles Tai-chi Nei Gung (reference material: Tai-chi Nei Gung by Wang DiXian (汪棣賢：太極拳内功). To serve the objective of practice improvement, the argument of who invented the styles and what is the definitive interpretation of the practice is irreverent, as far as I'm concerned.

The style is called "Left and Right whips" 左右揚鞭. Its training objective is referred to, in Wang's book, as "Strike with one's wrist like a whip" 手腕擊鞭。 No further explanation offered on top of basic movements with supporting photos. I'm filling in the training gap here (note: I was never trained under Wang, and not related to him in any way, though he has earned my warmest respect in disclosing the forms).

The objective of this style is to condition one's front torso, from the inside. Using Taoist terminology, it is to train up or strengthen one's Ren Mai (任脈). Ren Mai goes all the way connecting, with chi, one's tongue (which should be stretched with force through touching one's upper palette) and the center of one's pelvic floor muscles, for all convenience can be defined singularly as one's perineum (會陰), again with subtle force there. In chi-mechanics, chi will only flow through (at least) two stretched or focused points.

In doing microcosmic circulation, one directs one chi up one's Du Mai (督脈) or spinal cord and down the Ren Mai in front. In Style seven of 24 styles, the chi flows in reverse. Under the guidance of one's palm (always stretched), chi is made to flow upwards. However, unlike microcosmic circulation, chi is not allowed to go through one's head (which is done in reverse anyway). Instead chi will be forced to dissipate outside one's body, through the whipping action of one's hand and wrist. And in the whipping movement, one's energized Ren Mai will be further stretched, for conditioning or strengthening.

The above is my training notes. Needless to say, like everything else, practice at your own risk...:):)

Doing microcosmic through tai chi nei-gung

Tai chi Nei-gung (太極内功) invented by a prominent Taoist has strong affinity with Taoist meditation. In a previous post (Doing microcosmic without doing it), I talked about Tai chi Nei-gung has a method doing microcosmic circulation without consciously stimulating one's pelvic floor muscles, like a Neidan practitioner does. The method is the fourth Yin-style of 24 styles tai chi nei-gung. It is called "Jade rabbit looking up at the (Golden) Flower" (玉兔朝華).

In Wu-style tai chi master Wang DiXian's （汪棣賢) Tai-chi quan nei-gung: Yin Yang 24 styles (太極拳内功：陰陽24式), master Wang mentioned briefly the style's benefit as "stir up one's Dantian" (丹田鼓盪).  He also explained clearly to his readers his version of how to practice this style.

With all due respect to Master Wang, I believe he failed to recognize the connection with Taoist meditation and hence the way he taught the style cannot reap the benefits of using this style to do microcosmic circulation (in a clever way). In Taoist classics, jade-rabbit (玉兔) is a common metaphor for the male element within the trigram Kan - 坎 (the middle solid line inside the two broken lines in Kan: please refer to diagram below). It's position is in the lower abdomen (north in Taoist classics, but geographical south as we know it today, i.e. towards the bottom of a human torso).

And in Taoist classics, (golden) flower signifies Golden elixir, pill, or embryo (ref: "The secret of the Golden Flower" 太月金華宗旨). Just by looking at the name of the style, one who is familiar with Taoist meditation can immediately recognize this style as a training of moving one's chi upwards along the spinal cord to the top of the head and down the front to reach the Dantian again (i.e. opening one's Ren and Du mai :任督二脈). The completion of this circulation is the foundation technique in creating the golden flower (elixir, pill) or embryo.

Going into details the mechanics of this style will not be practical with this post. Interested readers however can refer to Wang's book, and if they are intelligent practitioners, they can certainly figure out how to adjust Wang's method with the objective of doing proper microcosmic circulation. 

In search of a better turtle

The beauty of zhan zhuang and tai-chi is the simplicity of their stance and form. One can easily grasp the mechanics of a stance (for example, embracing a tree), and with diligent practice, one's body can eventually generate the chi for health and structural benefits. As for tai-chi form, there is basically only one moving Form (let's disregard the weapon forms here). And a practitioner can work with different focus on this single Form to derive different benefits (for example, square vs round form, slow vs fast form, just to mention a few). For tai-chi Nei-gung, take Wu-style as an example, there are only 24 forms (some stationary stance and some with simple movements). In this post, I shall talk about the most important form in 24 styles: Golden turtle.

The most popular Golden Turtle can be seen in Mantak Chia's Iron Shirt Chi Kung and Wang DiXian's (汪棣贤） Tai-chi Nei-gong 24 styles (in Chinese). The form itself is simple: a squatting stance with horizontal spinal cord. Those practitioners who can go through the initial difficult period can get the great benefits out of this simple form.

The question is: Is this the only way to do the Golden Turtle? I searched the literature, and noticed that there are at least two published ways of doing the same. The first one is in a Chinese Yoga text called Positive yoga (正位瑜伽) by a famous Taiwanese yoga teacher, madam Chan. In Chan's book, the stance is simply called a squatting stance, but I have never seen any yoga teachers posting like this. The stance itself is exactly like Golden Turtle but work with the hands in praying position and elbows touching the legs. The rationale, as I see it, is for a practitioner to do the stance in a more aligned manner (in contrast to Wang's stance, unlike Chia's stance, the elbows do not touch the legs, and in both cases, the hands stay horizontally part). My view is that one should at least make one's elbow touching one's legs, like Chia's. Chen's stance definitely gets it benefit and is recommendable if one is comfortable with a hand praying position.

There is yet anther published golden turtle stance, and it is taught by late Wu-style grandmaster Wu TuNan (吴图南:student of Founding Father of Wu-style tai-chi, Wu JianQuan 吳鋻全, but no blood relationship) in a Chinese book called Wu tuNan tai-chi-gung (吴图南太极功) published by his disciple Ma YaoQing (马有清). Wu called his style "Turtle belly breathing"- 龜腹調息 and went further to make a perfect alignment by wrapping the hands around the legs and holding one's knees (Wu also got a "junior" stance with hands pointing forward， called "Cicada listening to quiet wind"- 蟬靜聼風). Whether or not one should go so far as Wu, in search of a better alignment, is up to each practitioner's choice. But surely Wu got a point here.

Wu-style practitioners treasure the golden turtle stance a lot, and some are not happy that Wang and Chia "disclosed the secret". They shouldn't be unhappy at all, because there are indeed different ways to practice the Golden Turtle as I mentioned above.

Classic Golden Turtle stance

Doing microcosmic circulation without doing it

The Taoist way of doing microcosmic circulation is through mobilizing one's pelvic floor muscles, and using sublimation of sexual energy. In addition to further spiritual promises, doing the microcosmic opens one front (ren 任脉) and back (du 督脉) psychic or chi-channels, the opening of which is believed to be beneficial for one's physical health. Some martial artists of the internal styles (内家拳) also believe opening the two channels being essential to form a strong body structure.

The question is: how do the martial artists open these two chi-channels? Or: is the Taoist way the only way to open these channels?

I do believe there are other ways. I find two ways quite useful. The first way is practiced by some I-style practitioners (意拳/大成拳). Essentially it is done by micro-shaking: when a practitioner is practicing eight-direction-force-equilibrium (八面爭力) under a combat stance.

The second way is practiced by some Wu-style tai-chi practitioners, using a style under the 24 styles nei-kung. Essentially it is done by directing the force from one's soles (instead of perineum) and with using one's hands (fingers) to direct or facilitate the chi-flow along the channels. Please check this post for details: Doing microcosmic through tai chi nei-gung

Needless to say these are advanced techniques requiring a good foundation in either martial arts form for a good execution.

Tai-chi Nei Gung

Tai-chi Nei Gung (太極内功) consists of stationary stances and moving forms. The objective is to build a strong body structure with good alignment, so that a practitioner will be fit enough for the vagaries of combat. For those who are not interested in combat, such practice will benefit one's physical and mental health.

Each style of Tai-chi has its own system of Nei Gung. Some put more emphasis on the stationary stance and some put more emphasis on the moving form. 　The one system I like most is Wu-style's 24 styles. In the past, it was considered as a system only to be learned by disciples "who took the vow to keep the system in-house". Today, it is no longer a seller's market but a buyer's market. Everything is out: as least as far as the look of the forms is concerned.

Today, those who are interested in having an initial understanding of the 24-styles can simply buy a book: like one written by well known Wu-style master Wang DiXian (汪棣賢) titled "Tai-Chi Nei Gung" with the subtitle: the Yin and Yang 24-styles (太極内功：陰陽段２４式). And Master Mantak Chia also includes some of the stances, in particular the Golden Turtle stance (金龜式), into his own system of Iron-Shirt Chi-kung.

Nowadays strengthening one's body ready for combat can be done in a gym with the help of a professional coach. And those are interested in combat would most likely choose mixed martial art instead of tai-chi!

Having said that for those who practice meditation, tai-chi or related discipline, it will be beneficial to know that there is a body building "combat-ready" system that fits in well with what they are practicing. All fall under the the generic category of chi-practice or chi-kung. Needless to say, "a body ready to learn combat" is not the same as "a body that can do combat".  Unfortunately, some tai-chi Nei-Gung teachers or practitioners fail to notice the difference (hopefully without some disastrous consequence).

I shall go into some details of some of the 24 styles Nei Gung in future posts.

Golden Turtle stance: 金龜式