oh one other thing about my Tai Chi Grandmaster experience. I believe he was in his late 70s when I took the classes at BU. One thing he taught us was standing. Yes standing in one position for a period of time. At first 5 min was an eternity, but I eventually built up to 1 hour which was excruciating beyond comprehension! haha! Anyway Master Li often said "Tai Chi makes your bones heavier". It sounded odd when he said it with his broken English. But essentially it's the same as saying weight bearing exercises increase bone density. Now to look at this diminutive 78 year old Chinese man you would not think too much about him being any kind of physical power house, just by looks alone. He didn't have big bulky muscles at all. One day I was talking to him as he was sitting down and he says to me "hear hold my arm", haha seems funny now that that saying "hold my beer is popular", but that saying was not a thing back then. Anyway he holds out his arm and I put my hand under, I was not prepared for what happened next. He let his arm go limp so I would get the full weight of it on my hand and OMG it was so heavy I think my jaw his the floor with surprise. I could not believe how heavy his arm was. Now up to that point I had practiced Kung Fu, Tai Chi, I was studying acupuncture and I had been trained in some massage. I had a pretty good idea of what the average person's arm would feel like in terms of weight. His arm far exceeded any expectation I could even have imagined. Of course he smiled when we saw my reaction because he knew all along what it would be, his bones must have been like solid steel. After that I had a whole new concept of Tai Chi and where the power comes from. It comes from the bones! I had never thought of that before. One thing he did do was a lot of the standing exercises. Those exercises are akin to weight bearing exercises. It's just the weight of your own arms but holding them up for 20 - 30 - 60 minutes can be brutal. But doing that every day for many years is how it creates the strong bones like he had. Anyway, sorry if this is a bit off topic. I thought I would toss this into the mix here. I'm just a simple guy who happened to be lucky enough to be shown the inside secrets of the Chinese energy arts known as Tai Chi but is really shared with many or most of the other existing energy building practices. You can build and accumulate energy in your Chakras as well, but that is a whole nother topic for another day. As with many things I post this is from my personal experience, yours may be different. Or you may know a lot more than what I know. My range of experience may be small but I think the content goes pretty deep. Thank you!
If taiji practitioners had instruction on developing qi and releasing Jin, there wouldn’t be these academic discussions about qi The qi that is cultivated in taiji is tangible, not feelings of the nerves. That is a very superficial level of qi. If you build a Dan tien , and cultivate qi over time, there are no doubts about it when you achieve this. It becomes very tangible, thick qi and pulls/pushes the internal structure (all the connective tissue) on the insides. For a long time , this pulling/ pushing/gathering etc is real hard work. The internal body gets a tremendous workout until there is greater space internally. Then the qi can move more freely . It feels like a very thick paste pushing through the body . Then the real taiji nei Jin can happen. Through the various frames/ forms/ ( peng, Lu, ji ,an etc) and the process of release , the internal body taiji Jin’s are expressed externally. This is the level of mind/ body . Then mind/ qi when Jin expression becomes circular rather than linear. The highest level (which I doubt there are very few( definitely not me) is the yi . This is where a very advanced/ master level reacts automatically to any pressures (peng)and the internal Jin’s are expressed automatically ( this is what taijji really means in my view). Yi leads qi, expresses Jin, the body hardly moves externally. I don’t know if some of of Cheng man Ching’s teachings got lost in the USA, but his lineages in Southeast Asia this is the basics of the taiji training. The basic premise of sink qi to the Dan tien. How can this happen if someone doesn’t have a developed Dan tien and abundant amounts of qi. Hopefully, some ideas to think about . I am sure people enjoy your discussions. Practice practice practice. Taijji can be life changing
You are completely correct. I only came into contact with correct methods for sinking the chi and building the lower tien in the last few years and this has COMPLETELY changed my understanding of Qi and therefore Taiji. What seems to be missing from most of Taiji are the correct Neigong principles. I feel very lucky to have gotten a "second wind."
in the US there one of Chen Man Ching's top students, TT Liang, who became a master taught classes in Boston in the early 1980s. I had the great fortune to study at his school for several years. I did not get to the advanced levels though. I also took classes with Tai Chi Grandmaster John Chung Li who I wrote a little about in 2 other posts here. All really amazing stuff though. And even this video I am learning more good stuff!
so funny that this came up on my algorithm wall. I was the Editor on Barry's Tai Chi doc 'The Professor'. I enjoyed all of your interview footage. All the Best!
Thank you for the video. Regarding Chi, following the explanations, teachings and my experience I see that the Chi phenomenon is as simple as TaiChi diagram. Chi is the inter-action between polarities. Bottom and top right and left etc. Chi is a too general phenomenon, describing how stillness creates inter-action on different level. Actually we can say "anything is Chi having different states". So the concept of Chi does not oppose the electricity concept as electricity is just a particular manifestation of Chi. IMHO.
You're ruminating about the theoretical concepts underlying the qi paradigm. The saying has to do with the practical aspects of qi, which has a lot to do with our involuntary systems and the subconscious mind. (The original saying was Xin-Yi, Yi-Qi, Qi-Li : Subconscious Mind [which they thought lived in the Heart] triggers the conscious mind; conscious mind triggers the qi; when the qi is in place the strength will manifest). So, for all practical purposes we're talking about involuntary systems and their involvement in manifesting strength.
oh one other thing about my Tai Chi Grandmaster experience. I believe he was in his late 70s when I took the classes at BU. One thing he taught us was standing. Yes standing in one position for a period of time. At first 5 min was an eternity, but I eventually built up to 1 hour which was excruciating beyond comprehension! haha!
Anyway Master Li often said "Tai Chi makes your bones heavier". It sounded odd when he said it with his broken English. But essentially it's the same as saying weight bearing exercises increase bone density.
Now to look at this diminutive 78 year old Chinese man you would not think too much about him being any kind of physical power house, just by looks alone. He didn't have big bulky muscles at all.
One day I was talking to him as he was sitting down and he says to me "hear hold my arm", haha seems funny now that that saying "hold my beer is popular", but that saying was not a thing back then. Anyway he holds out his arm and I put my hand under, I was not prepared for what happened next. He let his arm go limp so I would get the full weight of it on my hand and OMG it was so heavy I think my jaw his the floor with surprise. I could not believe how heavy his arm was. Now up to that point I had practiced Kung Fu, Tai Chi, I was studying acupuncture and I had been trained in some massage. I had a pretty good idea of what the average person's arm would feel like in terms of weight. His arm far exceeded any expectation I could even have imagined. Of course he smiled when we saw my reaction because he knew all along what it would be, his bones must have been like solid steel.
After that I had a whole new concept of Tai Chi and where the power comes from. It comes from the bones! I had never thought of that before. One thing he did do was a lot of the standing exercises. Those exercises are akin to weight bearing exercises. It's just the weight of your own arms but holding them up for 20 - 30 - 60 minutes can be brutal. But doing that every day for many years is how it creates the strong bones like he had. Anyway, sorry if this is a bit off topic. I thought I would toss this into the mix here. I'm just a simple guy who happened to be lucky enough to be shown the inside secrets of the Chinese energy arts known as Tai Chi but is really shared with many or most of the other existing energy building practices. You can build and accumulate energy in your Chakras as well, but that is a whole nother topic for another day. As with many things I post this is from my personal experience, yours may be different. Or you may know a lot more than what I know. My range of experience may be small but I think the content goes pretty deep. Thank you!
If taiji practitioners had instruction on developing qi and releasing Jin, there wouldn’t be these academic discussions about qi The qi that is cultivated in taiji is tangible, not feelings of the nerves. That is a very superficial level of qi. If you build a Dan tien , and cultivate qi over time, there are no doubts about it when you achieve this. It becomes very tangible, thick qi and pulls/pushes the internal structure (all the connective tissue) on the insides. For a long time , this pulling/ pushing/gathering etc is real hard work. The internal body gets a tremendous workout until there is greater space internally. Then the qi can move more freely . It feels like a very thick paste pushing through the body . Then the real taiji nei Jin can happen. Through the various frames/ forms/ ( peng, Lu, ji ,an etc) and the process of release , the internal body taiji Jin’s are expressed externally. This is the level of mind/ body . Then mind/ qi when Jin expression becomes circular rather than linear. The highest level (which I doubt there are very few( definitely not me) is the yi . This is where a very advanced/ master level reacts automatically to any pressures (peng)and the internal Jin’s are expressed automatically ( this is what taijji really means in my view). Yi leads qi, expresses Jin, the body hardly moves externally.
I don’t know if some of of Cheng man Ching’s teachings got lost in the USA, but his lineages in Southeast Asia this is the basics of the taiji training. The basic premise of sink qi to the Dan tien. How can this happen if someone doesn’t have a developed Dan tien and abundant amounts of qi.
Hopefully, some ideas to think about .
I am sure people enjoy your discussions. Practice practice practice. Taijji can be life changing
You are completely correct. I only came into contact with correct methods for sinking the chi and building the lower tien in the last few years and this has COMPLETELY changed my understanding of Qi and therefore Taiji. What seems to be missing from most of Taiji are the correct Neigong principles. I feel very lucky to have gotten a "second wind."
in the US there one of Chen Man Ching's top students, TT Liang, who became a master taught classes in Boston in the early 1980s. I had the great fortune to study at his school for several years. I did not get to the advanced levels though.
I also took classes with Tai Chi Grandmaster John Chung Li who I wrote a little about in 2 other posts here. All really amazing stuff though. And even this video I am learning more good stuff!
so funny that this came up on my algorithm wall. I was the Editor on Barry's Tai Chi doc 'The Professor'. I enjoyed all of your interview footage. All the Best!
That film is truly memorable. You and Barry did a great job. And thanks for your comment.
What you're saying here joins dots for me that I've been trying and failing to successfully join since 1980. Thank you so much!
So glad to hear.
I just received your book"Tai Chi Concepts and Experiments".Its been a pleasure to read.
Thank you for expressing your appreciation.
Thank you for the video.
Regarding Chi, following the explanations, teachings and my experience I see that the Chi phenomenon is as simple as TaiChi diagram.
Chi is the inter-action between polarities. Bottom and top right and left etc. Chi is a too general phenomenon, describing how stillness creates inter-action on different level. Actually we can say "anything is Chi having different states". So the concept of Chi does not oppose the electricity concept as electricity is just a particular manifestation of Chi. IMHO.
You're ruminating about the theoretical concepts underlying the qi paradigm. The saying has to do with the practical aspects of qi, which has a lot to do with our involuntary systems and the subconscious mind. (The original saying was Xin-Yi, Yi-Qi, Qi-Li : Subconscious Mind [which they thought lived in the Heart] triggers the conscious mind; conscious mind triggers the qi; when the qi is in place the strength will manifest). So, for all practical purposes we're talking about involuntary systems and their involvement in manifesting strength.
As a beginner I'm getting a lot out of your videos
Glad to hear.