yatzhong

That was me Patrick. I asked because the training to get the proper power to use taijiquan as a martial art is a lot more than just doing a form that one can get from a dvd or book. There's also a lot of little details that can only be taught and corrected face to face. Please understand that I don't mean to discourage you. Rather I'm just trying to give you a realistic idea of what you need to accomplish your goals. John

Depending on what your reason for practicing Patrick ..... The eight brocades are great for health. The yijinching exercises are great for health and strengthening the body. If you are just practicing for health and fitness then the two above should be fine. If you are into the martial aspect then yiquan is good for small spaces as is very small frame taijiquan. Unfortunately the harsh reality is that it is extremely difficult to learn correctly from dvds and videos. Your best bet is to find someone who is qualified to teach any of the above practices and then adjust the size of the postures to fit your practice area. John

In my own experience baguazhang palm changes & circle walking, whether dragon, snake, Cheng, eight animal, Gao style etc. are traditionally practiced both left and right (mirrored). FWIW, John

Depending on when and where I could probably make it. I've been known to hop down to D.C. on a whim so Rhode Island should be no problem.

I'm in category 2. I will attend future workshops as well.

Thanks Dan.

The five elements in the order mentioned is the cycle of creation wood - liver, gall bladder fire - heart, small intestine earth - stomach, spleen metal - lungs, large intestine water - kidneys, bladder The theory is in TCM when diagnosing and healing patients with accupuncture, herbs etc. Then there's the destructive cycle Wood penetrates the earth Earth blocks water Water extinguishes fire Fire destroys metal Metal penetrates wood Also used in medicine for diagnosing problems. The destructive cycle is also used for causing harm to another when fighting. Tian hsueh, dim mak or the death touch uses it for hitting points on the body. FWIW John Oh yeah, I forgot. I wanted to write down the different times Max mentioned about practicing and there associated benefits. Could someone who wrote them down post them or pm them to me? Thanks.

Yes it was. Good info, good people and a good time. Wish I could have stayed longer. John

Is there anything we should bring with us? Cushions, etc. or is this covered in the Friday night lecture?

Hopefully that guy and anyone else doing pai da exercises is extremely careful and is using internal as well as external formulas to repair any damage that results from this training. Iron shirt, iron vest or whatever one wants to call it is usually done daily and supplemented with dit da wan (injury pills) and dit da jow to repair any internal and external damage that is occuring. Usually very specific exercises (qigong, neigong) are done daily to strengthen the body internlally to dissipate the shock from such blows. The damage to the body from incorrect training might not show up immediately but can manifest in later years like in guys who do breaking and don't use formulas that repair the damage incurred through the toughening exercises of the hands and later can't even hold a cup of coffee. There are also sets of exercises that do not use external pounding and will develop the body in a way that it can accept blows. The best thing to do is to find someone who knows what they are doing to learn directly from them. You only get one body. Be careful.

No. I've never done the Tensegrity exercises. I said that I found them similar to taijiquan and the yijinching in theory. I don't know that they will produce the same results though. I don't have to do the exercises on the video I have (if I still even have it) to know that I prefer yijinching over Tensegrity. Will they produce the same type of strength? I don't know. Don't care either. One should do what one likes when it comes to exercise or else it becomes a chore rather than a beneficial experience. The yijinching exercises fit in well with xingyiquan, yiquan and taijiquan. I don't know that the Tensegrity practice will provide the same complementary results as yijinching does. I'm not saying that yijinching is better. Just that I prefer it over Tensegrity. If memory serves me correctly though I seem to remember that the Tensegrity exercises came from some martial art native to the country from which they originated but I could be wrong. John

So far I count 9 which is a great number of participants for a learning environments. Not too many so we can get some correction and special attention if needed... not to little so that we won't get to hear the answers to some good questions that might come up. It's two weeks away. See you there. John

I'm just going by what was on the instructional video tape called "Tensegrity" From the lecture and description of the exercises they were similar to yijinching or muscle / tendon changing. The narrator claimed that they were ancient exercises from Mexico or a South / Central American country that were all but extinct. I didn't listen to the video's audio so I didn't hear what was said. Might be a great practice for all I know. But I like the yijinching exercises better. John

I've experienced what I believe to be the transmission from two separate teachers via three different methods. The first was from a yiquan sifu who would have me do sitting meditation at the end of the lesson. He was rather secretive of some things, keeping his students' identities from one another. While I did the sitting meditation he would move to different parts of the room and stand there for a moment or two. I could swear that he was projecting qi into me but never mentioned it. Later when I did happen to meet some of his other students we compared notes and the all felt the same thing, like he was doing something to them while they meditated. It wasn't long after experiencing whatever it was that he was doing while I meditated that I began to experience vibrations and movement from my dan tien similar to those that manifest in the sitting Kunlun meditation. The second transmission was from the same teacher only it was through his palm which was placed near the location of my stomach / spleen. When I looked at his hand it was shaking the way some folks hands will shake uncontrollably when they do taijiquan or zhan zhuang. I recounted the experiences from my first yiquan teacher to my current one and he confirmed that this was a traditional method of transmitting qi from teacher to student. He does the transmission one on one and in a group. He has us stand in wuji zhuang in a circle and gives some of his qi to us. From him it is more a heat sensation compared to the former teacher's qi which was more like holding two magnets with like poles facing and feeling the faint pushing. I believe that a hands on transmission is another way. For all I know there might be more. My current teacher had very good karma with Dr. Yu Peng Xi, a noted yiquan expert who opened up his meridians in a private session. After this my teacher was able to see peoples' auras wherever he went. I imagine that someone who hasn't experienced similar things would find it hard to fathom without scientific proof. Sometimes seeing is believing and at other times feeling is believing. John

About ten years ago one of my taiji students gave me a copy of a video called tensegrity. I wonder it's related to this stuff. After looking through the video without sound it looked familiar. Sort of yijinching - ish exercises. I'll stick with yiquan and taiji.

John

Sorry but I don't see where I've contradicted myself. You can disagree all you want but that isn't going to change the facts about proper zhan zhuang practice. Completely relaxed standing with no particular form is the highest level. But in order to be able to get to a point where that type of standing is beneficial one must go through the preceding levels. If all it took was complete relaxation then why stand at all? Why not just lay on a slab like a corpse? A question one might ask himself is what is the purpose and benefit of zhan zhuang and go from there. While I don't believe that there is any book out there that does justice to and presents basic zhan zhuang as practiced in yiquan the "Warriors of Stillness Vol. I" presents wuji zhuang better than any other book that's out there. In yiquan the wuji standing practice is done when one has reached a hight level and no longer consciously needs to practice the basic rules because they have become subconscious. The article you gave the link to is misleading. The author didn't even get the six directions correct and his explainations about mo ca bo (friction stepping) and shi li practice are not very good either. Lam doesn't give very much in his books nor in his classes from what I understand. He doesn't even allow his students to ask questions. This statement comes from his own mouth. (I know some former students of his) My former taiji sifu studies with Lam's yiquan teacher and the standing he learns is very different from what Lam writes about. Paul Dong, the author of "Empty Force" also studied with Lam's teacher, Yu Yong Nian who was a direct student of Wang Xiang Zhai the founder of the yiquan school. So again I'll say that while his books are nice to look at the substance in them leaves a lot to be desired if one wants to learn yiquan. Cam, exactly what is your friend looking to get out of standing practice?

Coming from an extensive yiquan background and having done standing in my taiji class I would say that from the many books that mention zhan zhuang the best one is "Warriors of Stillness Vol I" It is the best writing on the practice of wuji zhuang written in English or Chinese. "The Way of Energy" is not a very good book on yiquan's standing method. It might be interesting and have a lot of nice pictures but it doesn't give enough details on the rules and regulations for the standing postures he shows in the book. Without these nuances and intricacies the best one can hope to do is just relax while standing and maybe get some health benefits. Never read Ken Cohen's book on standing. Never knew it existed. Honestly though. Without hands on instruction and correction there is little good one can get out of just standing with your arms held in a particular posture. Mal there are many different types and levels of standing. The majority of them having a particular benefit or strength attributed to it. Many internal and external systems use standing as one of the core practices for building a variety of things. If your system doesn't do standing practice then I would ask what exercises it has to build a strong foundation. If the sifu says that that's what the forms are for then I would look for a new teacher.

Ah, I see. Then with the chances that everyone will be sleeping I will not try and make it. See you all there.

Please forgive my ignorance but just what is a "Kunlun party?

I'm in Warwick, NY. About 8 miles north of where the old Tai Chi Farm used to be. About an hour away from the workshop location. I've got a couple of extra bedrooms if someone needs a place to crash for the weekend. Five postures don't seem like a lot to remember. In my experience most have more problems with the monotony of standing for an hour or so than the actual physical endurance needed. I've seen guys come in off the street and do an hour of zhan zhuang without a lot of difficulty. I Jong = intentiion post??

I'll be there.

I'm sure whatever he (Max) decides to teach will be worth the trek. Been doing zhan zhuang since 1991 so I'm hoping that he does teach the 5 Mao Shan standing postures. It's always interesting to compare other systems' zhuangs to those of yiquan. John

I'll be there. Will there be anything else taught besides the level 1 neigong? John

Any idea as to what part of New Jersey this will be in? Also are the dates set or could they change?