WhiteTiger

Such thing as Hard Neigong?

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A teacher (of a more wushu like generic spring legs system) once told me that there was such thing as Soft Neigong and hard Neigong?

 

Is there such thing as hard neigong and whats exactly the difference?

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Thank you very much for the information...

 

To me that explanation sounds like differentiating between Soft wai gong and Hard wai gong.

 

 

 

 

I should add I'm an extremely hard working practitioner (does a lot of hard work for the goals I'm interested in) but only given the right circumstances...

 

Sincerely, WhiteTiger

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Absolutely because I talked to him about hard qigong and soft qigong before hand. Then I went into a discussion about how Nei gong was a higher level practice... and something I was greatly interested in... Than he started talking about hard Nei Gong.

Edited by WhiteTiger

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Hard Qigong is termed Ying Qigong. This is stuff like Iron Palm/Head,Smashing stones,Etc. These styles are for Combat Purposes. Soft Types of Qigong Focus on building Health,Peace of mind,Etc. Although both styles are said to have great health benefits.

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A teacher (of a more wushu like generic spring legs system) once told me that there was such thing as Soft Neigong and hard Neigong?

 

Is there such thing as hard neigong and whats exactly the difference?

 

yes. It is hard...work..hehe

 

(of course, I'm just playing) :lol:

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Essentially, we are talking about the physical effort and muscular tension involved. 'Soft' neigong uses soft movements and no tension. 'Hard' neigong uses muscular tension.

 

With either method or any type of gong training, a teacher is very important.

 

Sadly it seems the best explaination or help with answering my question only mjjbecker has answered... Although he purposely didn't answer the way I was interested in getting the answer... which he often does... and often gets under my skin.

 

No one else has helped me to understand not one bit about Hard Neigong...

 

Everyone else is talking about Ying Qigong... (hard Qigong) or soft qigong...

 

I'm a great fan of soft styles... its what I naturally prefer... I like soft Waigong... I like soft qigong... I very much VERY VERY MUCH enjoy soft neigong practice. I love to live the lift of a peacful practitioner from getting the benefits of soft style martial arts!

 

But Hard Nei gong was something he was hinting at me... that I could greatly benefit from. Sadly at the time I had no clue... I noticed that searching for the word Hard Nei gong I posted this question that was never answered (as I couldn't get a very good explanation of Hard Nei gong through the internet after 10 or 15ish minutes through googling.)

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Essentially, we are talking about the physical effort and muscular tension involved. 'Soft' neigong uses soft movements and no tension. 'Hard' neigong uses muscular tension.

 

With either method or any type of gong training, a teacher is very important.

 

Bring on the teachers then (?)

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I also would like to add that I think Qigong the term often gets thrown around in place of its proper meaning word like Waigong or Neigong.

 

Bring on the teachers then (?)

 

Good point... I should allow the teachers to teach me.

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I've never heard of hard neigong. Nor have I heard of soft neigong. I'm not sure what it would mean exactly. Neigong, in the daoist sense anyway, almost always refers to neidan and the alchemical process. It can be no more hard or soft than enlightenment or immortality.

 

Waigong can be divided into hard or soft. A neigong practice can support a waigong practice (and vice versa). By hard neigong, I assume the meaning would be a sitting neigong practice complemented with a moving hard waigong practice. Either that, or he's using the term neigong interchangeably with qigong.

 

In either case he should get his terms strait.

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The reality is that the terms neigong, qigong, etc have become associated, rightly or wrongly, with more than one practice or method. Call it what you will. The practice is always more important than the name hanging off it anyway.

 

Absolutely.

 

Chinese language and culture don't lend well to exact definitions. Often the meaning is determined heavily based on context. In the case of your example, it seems neigong refers to the inner-circle of students as opposed to waigong which would be taught externally/publicly. Whereas they would certainly be described as hard and soft waigong according to my prior definition. The terms are rather more fluid in Chinese.

 

It all comes down to clearly defining one's terms. In any decent college essay, this is the first and foremost priority. The following discussion hinges on a clear definition of the subject and terms. The terms are only useful in so much as they allow us to discuss the same thing.

 

What gets me is when teachers market their teachings as neigong, as in better than qigong, more deep, internal, profound or whatever, in order to sell to more students.. but that's another discussion.

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While, mjjbecker your whole post was very nice to read and thankfully people posted a bunch on the subject which is greatly helpful.

 

Zhuo Ming-Dao, the part of mjjbecker's post that you qouted is smart and holds its true wisdom indeed. (because you have so nicely pointed it out I will not comment on it)

 

An example. When I first met my teacher and started practising, he asked me after a few days how I felt. 'Happy' was the word I used. Not a good choice. Content, peaceful, would be closer. He replied that the more I practised the happier I would feel.

 

For me this works. I couldn't care less about 'power', being some kind of wizard or other such folly. What I seek is peace of mind. My practice brings me some measure of that. Therefore, for me it works based on my own personal values.

 

Was it Aristotle who wrote 'judge a man not by his words but by his actions'? Whomever it was hit the nail on the head. I find it a decent antidote to marketing.

I would also agree with you mjjbecker. I'm uninterested in power (at least using it for fighting) I am however interested in achieving peace of mind. Yet I still want to learn internal martial arts. To think the idea to learn Internal martial arts isn't solely based on idea of just fighting.

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