How to apply qigong to postures of TJQ?

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How to apply qigong to postures of TJQ?

Postby sangngak » Sun Jun 24, 2012 11:20 pm

I was told by a friend that each posture of the Yang form has it's own specific qigong. An example he gave was that in the "catch a sparrow's tail" sequence, during "press" you are , of course, pressing with the right forearm, but during the form, the first two fingers of the left hand lightly lay on the right forearm, closer to the wrist pulse than to the elbow.
If this concept is true, does YMAA have a book or DVD that tells what the qigong is for each step so we can practice it?
Thanks,
Sangngak
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Re: How to apply qigong to postures of TJQ?

Postby wpgtaiji » Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:07 am

There are few who understand what you ask, and it seems you may have misunderstood what you were told. It isnt that each posture HAS a qigong, it is that each posture COULD BE a qigong (or is one, depending on your understanding).

In the entire taiji world, I have seen few people talk about this idea. The one who did, is also known for his extreme fighting methods using taiji, Erle Montaigue. This is an article he wrote some years ago on the topic of taiji postures and qigong (there is a chart that breaks down the postures into what they work on when done as a qigong. http://www.taijiworld.com/tai-chi-healing.html

note that Grasp Swallow's tail is ONE qigong (from Double peng to "push"... you can actually do it from Preparation to Push if you like). He says to do it 10 times, meaning, you do it 10 times from start to finish (Erle was subtle at times!) You can also do this 5 on right side and 5 on left side (for physical balance) if you are not doing other things. Be warned though, IF you do this right, make sure you are near a toilet! (the secret is in the wrist..)

I hope that helps you on your search.
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Re: How to apply qigong to postures of TJQ?

Postby yeniseri » Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:31 pm

sangngak wrote:I was told by a friend that each posture of the Yang form has it's own specific qigong. An example he gave was that in the "catch a sparrow's tail" sequence, during "press" you are , of course, pressing with the right forearm, but during the form, the first two fingers of the left hand lightly lay on the right forearm, closer to the wrist pulse than to the elbow.
If this concept is true, does YMAA have a book or DVD that tells what the qigong is for each step so we can practice it?
Thanks,
Sangngak


wpgtaiji's link is great!

Some notes;
a. wuji is great. Similar to zhanzhuang.
b. Individual posture training is a level of neigong whereas you play a posture x distance back and forth e.g. brush knee. diagonal flying, steping back (balance) etc
c. basic posture for me is foot should width apart with hands akimbo, raise to side x times, rest 30 sec or so then raise hands to front (yubei shi) x times then relax. Increase duration after x week based on your expreience and understanding and this by itself takes 30-40 minutes.

EXAMPLE
step 1 Wuji posture for 5-10 minutes
step 2 Place hands at dantian (qihai). It is an area as opposed to a pinpoint location! for 5 min
step 3 Raise hands to sides x repetitions (start small)
step 4 REst 30 sec or until you hearty rate has decreased.
step 5 Raise hand at front (same as 3)
step 6 shougong (ending routine) face neck, etc
step 7 end with hands at dantian (qihai) 10-15 min
relax and ease back into normal routine
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Re: How to apply qigong to postures of TJQ?

Postby wpgtaiji » Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:03 am

Note, the WAY of doing the postures, Erle taught them according to the way he was taught and how he researched them. If you just do the postures (especially the way some government styles do them) you may not see any benefit at all.

What i mean is, the way you move into and out of postures stretch meridians, so if, for example, you do wave hands in clouds, but you pick your foot up like you are walking (vs post stepping), you wont affect the Earth meridians in the same way, and thus wont see AS MUCH benefit as you could of.
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Re: How to apply qigong to postures of TJQ?

Postby Josh Young » Tue Jun 26, 2012 10:40 am

sangngak wrote:I was told by a friend that each posture of the Yang form has it's own specific qigong. An example he gave was that in the "catch a sparrow's tail" sequence, during "press" you are , of course, pressing with the right forearm, but during the form, the first two fingers of the left hand lightly lay on the right forearm, closer to the wrist pulse than to the elbow.
If this concept is true, does YMAA have a book or DVD that tells what the qigong is for each step so we can practice it?


This is tricky as a topic.

First it is good to think of what "Postures" means, is posture defined as a move in the form or is the posture a little more pure in a sense and referring to the Shi San Shi, or 13 postures, which is one of the real names of taijiquan.

My teacher told me that the forms postures could be held as a qigong. Likewise each motion can be extracted and preformed individually. There is the sense that there are 8 basic energies that can form the basis of 8 basic qigong aspects that can be developed endlessly. Each of these 8 energies can be the basis of a moving qigong, both in terms of the internal energies and the external formal postures associated with them.

I'd like to point out that the original name for what we call "ward off left" in Yang style was "grasp sparrows tail". thus grasp sparrows tail is a single move, while the "grasp sparrows tail sequence" is the group of moves, this is a subtle distinction but worth knowing.

n example he gave was that in the "catch a sparrow's tail" sequence, during "press" you are , of course, pressing with the right forearm, but during the form, the first two fingers of the left hand lightly lay on the right forearm, closer to the wrist pulse than to the elbow.

In the style I practice one does not press with the right forearm, which is as a passive lever, instead one presses with the left hand through the lever of the right. It helps to have some exposure to different styles for this, because this energy jie is expressed in different ways, Chen style is very nice for this, the Yang styles tend to be a bit narrow in their understanding of the energy. Basically the posture can vary a lot, and the energy can still be correct, but if the energy is not correct then the posture does not matter. With the qigong, it is better to get the energy right, and not worry too much about the formal external posture. The hand positioning of jie/press can vary a great deal without problems. If the energy is correct it will be in the body and express through the hands, one can test for the energy in the body and need not pay attention to the hands unless they are not moving with the body.
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Re: How to apply qigong to postures of TJQ?

Postby joeblast » Tue Jun 26, 2012 12:50 pm

Good replies :)

Applying qigong to tjq movement is simply applying fundamentals of tjq. Without such application, tjq, you might as well be doin the mash potato, it would be of similar depth! :D
Even in mildly complex systems, any outcome is the wrong thing to target, with the process being where the focus should be.
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