Hard qigong
It is
impossible to tell whether anything that happens is good or bad
because you never know what the ultimate consequences will be.
You never know what chain or pattern of connection exists between events.
(Alan Watts)
Preparation
There is a story about a king who wanted an artist to paint a bird.
The king asked the artist how long it would take him to produce the painting.
The artist said "One year."
A year passed and the king called upon the artist.
The artist promptly proceeded to paint the bird whilst the king watched.
The king asked, "Why did you tell me that it would take you a year?"
The artist took him into a room. The room was littered with practice paintings,
sketches of birds and research material.
The year of preparation enabled the artist to paint the bird spontaneously.
Augmenting your tai chi
If you want to use tai chi in self defence, it is necessary to undertake a lot
of preparatory work.
Some of this will involve a partner. Other exercises can be practiced alone.
'Hard qigong' is usually a solo exercise.
Qigong involves standing still for an extended period, or moving slowly and
deliberately.
The exercises are designed to cultivate the flow of energy within the body.
'Hard qigong' refers to qigong exercises that are martial in nature. They are
specifically intended to augment the self defence syllabus.
The main purpose of hard qigong is strength. Unlike gym work or weight
lifting, nothing is forced.
Endurance work
Beginners must undergo a qigong endurance test in order to commence
their training properly.
Although the challenge sounds quite difficult, people have no problem with
it.
They just relax and endure.
As the syllabus progresses, the endurance tests become harder and more
demanding.
They serve to strengthen the framework of the body and provide inherent
structural power.
Students are never asked to undertake an exercise that is too difficult for
them.
Qigong ticksheet
Having completed the first endurance challenge, students are given a qigong
ticksheet which they must work through.
There are a number of exercises to learn:
Plate exercise
Standing post
4 directions - to the front
4 directions - to the side
Opening & closing - to the side
Cloud hands exercise
3 circle qigong
Full circle qigong
Form posture qigong
Ba duan jin
- 8 exercises
Moving qigong
- 15 exercises
Pushing peng
4 directions - with a partner (2 versions)
Palm at 3 distances
Posture testing
These represent the basic qigong exercises practiced
by our school. They offer a thorough and varied workout for the body.
Students typically begin to feel some health benefit after only a few weeks.
3 columns
The basic qigong exercises are taught at three levels of difficulty.
This is represented by 3 columns on the
qigong ticksheet:
Column 1
- this is the outline of the exercise
Column 2
- this is about learning to incorporate neigong qualities
Column 3
- this is about performing the exercise with the neigong present at all
times
Column 1 takes most new starters about 3-6 months to
learn.
Working through column 2 is an enjoyable experience for students.
They look forward to improving their existing skills and strengthening their
bodies.
Column 3 feels like an internal massage is taking place and is very
exhilarating.
Graded syllabus
The graded syllabus takes qigong to a new level:
Challenging postures
- the framework becomes larger and stronger
- new exercises are introduced
Deliberate breathing methods
- abdominal
- reverse
- pre-natal
- turtle
Intention
- the use of intention helps to strengthen the body and improve the
effect
Every exercise encourages the student to relax into
their tai chi.
The hard qigong exercises affect both form practice and self defence.
Form becomes more economical, flowing and rounded.
Self defence applications require less and less effort to perform. The improved
potency is notable.
Guidelines
Hard qigong practice usually follows certain guidelines:
Use mind to cultivate groundpath
Allow gravity to help strengthen the body
Each movement should be a whole-body movement
Intention unites mind and body into one focussed totality
Unite internally using neigong yet remain soft, pliable and yielding
Easy option?
Inexperienced tai chi students usually see the art as being a soft option.
It is regarded as being gentler than karate, not as extreme as Shaolin.
Students expect to gain the skills without actually doing the work.
The mass media perpetuate this myth.
Internal tai chi is the advanced version of
the external systems.
It is not the easy style of tai chi. It is quite the opposite.
To perform tai chi skilfully, you must train hard and get in condition.
100 days
We propose 100 days of consecutive training.
We encourage all students to commit to a daily regime for 100 days.
No days off. No respite. No lies. No excuses.
Day after day after day of training.
This will lay the foundation.
After 100 days you should be fitter.
The habit of training each day will be ingrained.
Hard qigong
The qigong gets easier with practice.
Your body becomes conditioned and you no longer notice the difficulty.
Students who train regularly at home find that the exercises become ingrained
quite rapidly.
They gain a fantastic sense of relaxation and feel energised.
Their bodies also become far stronger and resilient.
When you feel good, it is easy to exercise. You want to exercise.
Page created 23 March 1999