Zhan Zhuang is Not for Beginners

[forestofclarity]

Thoughts? 

Most teachers I've dealt with start out with Wuji. 

 

 

[Krenx]

Beginners should not do Zhan Zhuang also a sole practice in the beginning. It should be done along side a bunch of things like loosening exercises, opening body methods, alignment practices. 

 

I think that is what he is trying to get at. Because to do Zhan Zhuang correctly, you do need all of peripheral training to support the standing conditions. Those conditions cannot easily be developed within the standing method itself "initially". 

 

But you can do it for short periods in the beginning to see if there are improvements every day.  

[Vajra Fist]

Saw this, and it felt a bit like gatekeeping. It's the most powerful form of qigong out there, and is not locked behind an academy paywall and a guru-like teacher.

 

I switched now to just standing and nothing else on energetics. 40mins in ball holding pose, as recommended in Marc Cohen's book Inside Zhan Zhuang. 

 

My body becomes more supple, looser as the time progresses, not harder or stiffer. 

 

An important part of that is body scanning and allowing knots of tension to release. There are experiences when tension and hardness suddenly dissolve, after which the body feels light and soft. 

 

I would advise trying it for yourself. If you feel stiffer and more stuck, as Damo intimates, then switch to wuji or moving forms. But don't take his word as gospel, without trying for yourself.

Edited 2 hours ago by Vajra Fist

[ChiDragon]

11 minutes ago, Krenx said:

 

But you can do it for short periods in the beginning to see if there are improvements every day.  

This is how a beginner does. There is no such thing as not for beginners. Otherwise, where would a beginner start to do something.

[Antares]

5 minutes ago, ChiDragon said:

This is how a beginner does. There is no such thing as not for beginners. Otherwise, where would a beginner start to do something.

From dynamic exercises to activate meridians. The problem with ZZ (tree stance) is if your channels are not worked out properly, qi can go up in front channel instead of going on the back. So I agree this practice is not for beginners.

[ChiDragon]

In the good old days.  A Chinese father used to discipline his son by making him do Zhan Zhuang. It is because the father knew it was good for the health of the son.

BTW Most Kung Fu masters always have their students start with ZZ before teaching any forms of martial art. It is because that is the fundamental training to condition the body to take any future punishment. 

Edited 1 hour ago by ChiDragon

[Antares]

1 minute ago, ChiDragon said:

In the good old days.  A Chinese father used to discipline his son by making him do Zhan Zhuang. It is because the father knew it was good for the health of the son.

How do you know this? Have you been living for 300 years?

 

3 minutes ago, ChiDragon said:

BTW Most Kung Fu masters always have theirs students start with ZZ before teaching any forms of martial art.

The word Kung Fu means just mastery or art. They teach ZZ before anything else in SOME of the contemporary wushu styles like Yiquan but even in yiquan they begin from Wuji stance. People who read yiquan books, do not pay attention to this fact, they just skip it and go straight to ZZ stance thinking they are advanced practitioners

[Antares]

Here yiquan guy thinks he is relaxing shoulders but in fact his qi went up in the front of the body causing involuntary movements

 

[ChiDragon]

4 minutes ago, Antares said:

How do you know this? Have you been living for 300 years?

 

The word Kung Fu means just mastery or art. They teach ZZ before anything else in SOME of the contemporary wushu styles like Yiquan but even in yiquan they begin from Wuji stance. People who read yiquan books, do not pay attention to this fact, they just skip it and go straight to ZZ stance thinking they are advanced practitioners

Haha, the good old days for me was 60 years ago. I'll reserve my comments on your thoughts on ZZ. Peace!