Standing, bones and breath

[mograph]

For books: "The Tao of Yiquan" and "Masters of Perception" by Jan Diepersloot

Thanks. What do you think of Lam Kam Chuen's books, Qigong: Way of Power, and Qigong: Way of Energy?

 

[23rdwave]

Books are hard to assess if I haven't trained in the particular method written about. I have read Chuen's books and like with all of them I recommend taking a concept or two that you think you understand and working on it until a deeper understanding is developed and building on that. Even Jan's books have their downside. Mainly that Jan, after 40+ years of training, is still a neophyte. If he is giving his interpretation of something rather than quoting his teachers it is best to gloss over it.

 

[greytowhite]

Hmmm... As I learned Chen taiji zhuang the standing was one of eight postures from the laojia yilu that my teacher thought was important for jin development. He would have me hold one posture, correct it, then "load" my structure in various directions and using various jins. Once he was satisfied he would have me transition into the next posture, correct the transition, and then tell me what I was supposed to be feeling during the transition. The transition portion was more enlightening than the stillness.

Now I'm learning the xingyibagua through Kenny Gong's line and I would honestly say that this is a MORE internal practice than the Chen as I was taught. There were some very vague portions of the taiji I disliked, particularly instruction on using middle dantian. The teaching methodology leads me to believe that in Chen the middle dantian is developed through push hands whereas my xingyibagua teacher gives explicit instructions for ribs.