taijistudent

My personal understanding of the Dao is that it represents Beginning of everything which evolved into Yin, Yang, Qi (waves of moving energy). Thus there is no Nazis Daoism, or any adjective to Daoism, since the Dao is the mother of all. I find that I rarely quote from the Dao De Jing since it is so open to interpretation and such a wide variation in translations. I find that my understanding evolves over time as I search for literal and poetic translations that help me better understand the wisdom of the texts. What we can say is that within the Dao there are equal parts of everything and thus there will always exist those who cause great harm to a great many people, as they do today and as they did thousands of years ago, as will there be those who nurture. There is no escape from the polarity of life. But we can mitigate by moderation.

Thank you for your kind compliment.

I do not discount the possibility of such a skill, but I feel that if there is someone who can exhibit such skill, it will be very rare and probably such person is practicing in some mountain village in China (or thereabouts). It would not be realistic for a taiji student to expect such results. However, if it comes, then one has attained a very high degree of skill and knowledge.

This is very good skill being demonstrated but I would not consider it an extraordinary skill. I believe most Taiji practitioners can develop such a skill over time as long as one does not try to develop the skill. It comes naturally. It uses the same Peng Jin (Intrinsic Strength) technique coupled with some technique for compression and uprooting. I do this all the time, even with heavier and well trained external martial arts people. However, it is almost impossible to do with someone who is very well grounded such as a Xingyi practitioner. It is good that you recognize the skill and I am quite sure that if you do not have such a skill at present, over time it will develop with quiet practice.

It is not what I would call a superpower. One can learn to use opposing force to one's own advantage. I have similarly demonstrated such things with various people, but it is most basic and I would not consider it super in any sense of the word. Most early students are not grounded and often unstable. It is easy to take advantage of such a situation in a demonstration. Trying such a demonstration on a Xingyi practitionary would yield dramatically different results since they are so well grounded and very difficult to uproot. Besides this, there is the Peng Jin or Instrinsic Strength that has a balloon like manifestation which allows a practitioner to send energy that rebounds off the ground into another person, and should this person be unbalanced their own weight will cause them to fall back. It is subtle. I think to be proper, one should respect the amount of time it may take to develop these sensory skills, so one may call them extraordinary in this sense. By subtly extraordinary. It is like trying to push a ball into water and watching the ball pop up. Is this extraordinary? Not really I think. But it takes time to learn.

I agree. Taiji can be easily studied for a life time and one might mark one's own growth and changes in experiences and understanding. It is about change. For me, Taiji has a very subtle nature to it. Nothing rambunctious or extraordinary in a manifested external manner. Rather, it is more quiet and internal as one develops an inner feeling and sense of flow while one is also developing a healthier sense of life in all spheres of living. From this, one develops a better sense of the meaning of life. It takes time as it should. We experience the meaning of Taiji as we grow through each stage of our life. I think it would be unhealthy for people to expect too much since this may manifest in frustration and inhibit growth. However, frustration in itself can turn very quickly to quiet acceptance (as it happened with me) once the frustration has become so large that one just gives up and then the relaxation comes. So there are many paths that one may take. In this manner, I agree with your that expectations should remain reasonable (realistic) and this might promote a healthier practice and more quiet understanding. But then again, every person has their own path so what ever is true to a person they should follow. To thine own self be true.

Thank you for your considered response. Yes, intrinsic strength might be a very good way to put it. I think many teachers refrain from talking about it because it would be a distraction as students immediately begin to seek it. This actually inhibits the growth. Teachers might wisely feel that it be allowed to happen naturally in the course of practice over time. So, it might be considered wise by some teachers not to introduce the concept but rather allow the student to discover it. This is how it happened to me. I wouldn't have any idea what the teacher was relating until I actually experienced it. Thank you again for your response.

Hi, I am afraid I will have to disagree a bit with your understanding, however I respect everyone's journey. Let me explain as best I can why I disagree. Peng Jin is an inner feeling which feels like air blowing up a balloon. Without Peng Jin, a Taiji practitioner would either be spaghetti like or muscle like. What Peng Jin does is given a structure similar to a balloon. Thus, it allows one to spin oncoming energy tangentially, and also give back energy just like a balloon. It is very subtle and ethereal. It allows transfer of energy through the body. I can't remember the movie, I think it was Jet Li's Taichimaster, where he discovers this energy by playing with a toy clown that bounces back no matter how hard you hit. I think he also plays with a spinning ball in during his training process, explaining this is how Taiji was discovered. I think this is a pretty accurate viewpoint. Peng Jin is therefore an essential quality. It doesn't emit as much as it fills. I think Feng Zhiqiang gave a very good description of this in one of his articles in Tai Chi Magazine many years ago. He also described it as the fundamental energy. Training for Peng Jin takes time. It requires Qigong practice to develop a relaxed attitude so that the energy can flow while developing Qi in the dantien. In my experiences, it is not something that you can say will take x amount of time to learn. It comes when it comes. It is very much an internal experience. As far as Qi that can be realized externally, there are some medical qigong practitioners that I know who definitely emit a warmer Qi beyond the edge of their body and this Qi flow can be felt as it moves over a body, ostensibly to help move Qi in the patient. It too is very subtle. No magic. Just some training and some potential. There are many factors to consider when using medical qigong and for some people it may have greater or lesser health effects. I hope this explains my point of view which I have gained during my period of practice and learning.