Chi and Breathing

Discuss Qigong, its ideas, theories and practice. Please stay on topic.

Moderators: nyang, Dvivid, Inga

Chi and Breathing

Postby NC Tai Chi » Wed Apr 04, 2012 10:59 pm

OK, so now (finally) I have decided to enjoy the benefits of the 8 Brocades am now following Grandmaster Yang's video.

I have a question about Yi and breathing.

Most, if not all, Taiji forms , talk about exhaling, or reverse breathing when extend or form a yang shape. You use you mind to guide to chi to your extremites while compressing air/chi.

Grandmaster William CC Chen teaches the opposite. You inhale and guide your chi as you expand your hands/legs/body. William Chen says it's like when you do any positive movement. Reach for a door knob, raise your hand in class when you know the answer to a question, or stand up from sitting.

Please shed some light on your practical knowledge between the flow of chi from Yi to braething to action.

Thank you and peace!

~Michael
NC Tai Chi
Forum Contributor
 
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 2:41 pm

Re: Chi and Breathing

Postby yeniseri » Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:27 am

90% of the time, I have no idea of what most taijiquan practitioners are talking about since my teachers never talked or taught taijiquan or qigong with all this yi, qi, etc. stuff.

Based on what I imagine they taught (perception, understanding, practice, etc), it is about levels of training and through each level you begin to peal away and realize some kind/type of insight that just cannot be told. I will realize I may be a dunce, most of the time but the fancy terminology is over my head.
1st stage: Learning the form
2nd strage. Over time, a pattern develop and the teacher corrects some movement that are considered 'basic' so that pattern is carried out when similar postures are played
3rd stage Hopefully some level of taijizhaung, ding shi, zhan zhuang, etc is integrated with above. May be at 1st stage and continuing at this 3rd stage level
4th stage Owning the form or its equivalent meaning one develops his/her own natural expression based on the previous stages.

One teacher, I heard him say on many occasion word like yi, qi, etc had no idea of meaning but translation to English rarely used that same equivalent. I also understand that the writen character expressed the 'intent' and meaning far more clearly than the translation of it.

When raising, inhale
When lowering, exhle
Turning left/right as in holding ball left/right, inhale with hold ball and exhale to Part Horse's mane. Others posture and transition require a combination of both.
This is just how I categorize the level of development and there are similar stages expressed in various formats. Just breathe naturally, learn as best as one can and respect all teachers.
yeniseri
Forum ÜberGuru
 
Posts: 511
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2005 3:18 pm
Location: USA

Re: Chi and Breathing

Postby wpgtaiji » Thu Apr 05, 2012 7:50 pm

The basic idea is to do as MOST of the taiji teachers say, that is correct. As far as what William says, I have no idea on that.

The thing to keep in mind is, ONLY get the idea on breathing BUT dont get hung up on it. Jou Tsung Hwa wrote a fantastic book Tao of Tai Chi Chuan, where he designates breathing as a higher level concern (look in chapter on Experiences). I believe that is taken from Cheng manching (william's teacher). In other words, just do the postures. The breathing comes more naturally later on.

Good luck with your training.
wpgtaiji
Forum ÜberGuru
 
Posts: 397
Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2011 10:48 pm

Re: Chi and Breathing

Postby joeblast » Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:58 am

That's another way a good zhan zhuang practice will help add to this - once your static posture is correct then its all breathing, zz will give you a good idea of how the breath can totally support everything else. Even in a 90 degree ma bu stance, get the stance correct then its all breathing. The psoas/diaphragm connection descends while the perineum lifts keeping the lumbosacral junction straight and perpendicular to the ground, everything else follows just from that.

when raising, etc - good points yeniseri

once the physical form is established then on to breathing ;) dont even concentrate on anything else until everything disappears. good breathwork will provide the foundational energy to keep postures correct :)
joeblast
Forum DemiGod
 
Posts: 943
Joined: Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:20 pm
Location: CT


Return to Qigong / Chi Kung

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 14 guests

cron