Chi and taijiquan

[Zeny]

I have been neglecting the practice of chi in my taijiquan but one day i decided i could not ignore it any longer.

Recently i tried to improve my chi by breathing deeply into my dan tian for about an hour every night before sleep. After about two weeks the chi sensation in my dan tian became very real and noticeable.

One day i was doing some push hands with my teacher. Immediately upon touching arms he said 'don't concentrate your chi in your dan tian'. Being the stubborn donkey that i am, i ignored him and kept quiet. During that push hands session i found that my equilibrium was very strong, but my body felt 'heavier' than usual and my sensitivity was not at my usual level.

After the push hands i asked my teacher, 'how did you know that i was concentrating chi in my dan tian?' He replied, 'it is very obvious. Don't concentrate your chi like that. Concentrated chi is tense. You should circulate your chi'. I asked, 'what is my usual chi like?' He said, 'on other days your chi is dispersed and relaxed. Your ph skill is already good. Are you not satisfied?' I said 'but i want to improve my chi'. He said, 'then you should learn to circulate your chi'.

I noticed that when i am concentrating on my chi, my body feels stiff, insensitive and stagnant. If i just relax, let go and forget about chi, my body feels very light and sensitive. I am amazed that chi can make such a big difference in how my body feels and reacts.

In cheng man ching's 13 treatises book, he says to channel chi into the dan tian is the path of the taoist and there is no other way. But he also said chi is not important, and if there is no chi, there is pure steel.

My present solution to this problem is, i will improve my chi, and learn to circulate it, but when doing the form or push hands, i should forget about chi and treat it as though it does not exist.

 

[oaktree]

You lead your yi to the lower dan tian and Qi follows and collects there naturally. It is not intense focusing. You are slowly letting the lower dan tian fill up like drop of water not a rush of water. The first Qigong exercise I teach and was taught was massaging the dan tian. it consist of just massaging the dan tian, it does not tell you to focus on building qi of moving qi but massaging the dan tian 81 times. This is the lower dan tian Qi hai there is 3 main dan tians and then there is Huang ting. Maoshing Ni has an exercise in which you circle around external then internal then change the direction. Wudang has a set in which you massage on the side of the dan tian then make it one ball and then smaller and smaller into Qi hai point.

However, I feel cultivation is a waste of time with Qi if you are not firming your jing and letting it escape. Moving Qi is a waste of time if your yi and shen are not in harmony. I also find cultivating Qi a waste of time if you do not have a clear goal and a way to achieve that goal otherwise you are basically driving a car around in a circle wasting time and gas.

 

[Zeny]

Thanks for the drop of water tip. I will try that. What do you mean yi and shen are not in harmony? So far i know what is chi and yi but i don't know what is shen (i know the word but i don't recognise it in my body).

For chi, i don't really know what i am doing and i am like walking around with my eyes closed and feeling my way around.

So far these are my beliefs:

1) it is better to have more chi

2) it is better for chi to circulate than stay in one place

3) it is better to have chi circulate to all corners of the body, easily

4) when doing push hands, eliminate all sensation of chi and treat it as though it does not exist

5) if one has an abundance of chi that is freely circulating around the body, one will achieve the level of 'where the mind thinks, the hand already arrives' (lightning speed)

Does anyone have special skill and knowledge in this area?

 

[oaktree]

Thanks for the drop of water tip. I will try that.

It means it should be slow and gradual.
Like building a big tower with a sheet of a paper on top of each other.

What do you mean yi and shen are not in harmon

If your intent and your spirit are not in harmony you can not cultivate anything.
If your spirit is not fix in its home it will never realize it can wander around.

For chi, i don't really know what i am doing and i am like walking around with my eyes closed and feeling my way a

You need a teacher for it.

t is better to have more chi

To much your body deteriorates.

2) it is better for chi to circulate than stay in one place

Depend what you are trying to accomplish.

5) if one has an abundance of chi that is freely circulating around the body, one will achieve the level of 'where the mind thinks, the hand already arrives' (lightning speed)

When I think circulating around the body I think wei qi so different types of qi.
Do a search on this site for jadecloudalchemist he wrote a lot about qi and qigong he knows more then I do.