SANTI-TRAINING

[JANAV635]

how long should u stand in Santi in the begining to develop power? is 5 minutes on each side good? or count to a 100 breaths on each side then switch to the other side? does standing in Santi build a bridge? what kind of power does santi build? is standing a Santi a chi gung in itself? and if it is what kind of health benefits does one reap from standing in Santi.

[Toby]

I do 5min on each side most days. It helps me with structure, and brings my mind to things I don't notice as readily while moving.

[Chris McKinley]

A good minute and a half, each side, at least a couple times a month. No less, and don't wimp out. Those last 15 seconds will make you wish you had stayed on the couch. Oh, and did I mention that you do all that after a good 3 minutes of zhan zhuang? Heh, heh....that'll separate the men from the boys, lemme tell ya.

[qiphlow]

shhh, chris. save the secrets of internal power for the indoor students.

[Chris McKinley]

Yeah, you're right. Nobody wants to train outside anyway; ya get all sweaty and stuff, and it's too far from the fridge.

[JANAV635]

k i heard that u must stand everyday to really use xingyi in a fight. The only way to develop power is to stand and i heard from one of Kenny Gong's students.

[kshurika]

I've always liked this article.

http://www.ycgf.org/Articles/XY_SanTiSh ... TiShi.html

[Inner_man]

I've always liked this article.

http://www.ycgf.org/Articles/XY_SanTiSh ... TiShi.html

heavy duty stuff - should sort out my insomnia

[JoseFreitas]

Provided you do it EVERYDAY any amount of training will be good and will add overall to your skills with Xingyi. But I would say that 5 minutes on each side is at the lower end of what you should train. This is what I do generally after a Xingyi solo training session (which will last from as little as 10 mn of training Five Elements to as much as 40 mn of doing pretty much everything). When I do only 5 mn per side, I try to do an extra session later in the day, with another 5 on each side. I think 10mn per side (20 mn total standing) on a reasonably regular basis is when you'll start to see results more consistently.

Did your teacher tell you "what to do" while standing, or are you simply standing and "toughing it up"?

[Pandrews1982]

k i heard that u must stand everyday to really use xingyi in a fight. The only way to develop power is to stand and i heard from one of Kenny Gong's students.

Not the only way to develop power and you can use xing yi in a fight without standing. This is way too simplistic by far. You can fight with xing yi using no internal power only structure and strategy and still beat a lot of people. Adding internal power just makes your strikes more effective. Also you need to learn how to transfer the ability to create or manipulate internal power into using it in a fight, some people with internal power can't use it. If you have a bucket load of "qi" and try to hit someone with it but they move out of the way and slap you in the face then what good is your internal power? (unless you have developed iron face skill of course)

This is pretty much the same discussion as the duration of Zhan Zhuang thread.

Does standing in san-ti build a bridge? What kind of bridge? as in bridging between you and an opponent in combat? No, san-ti is not a guard stance. San-ti is an engaged posture, all your postures within Xing Yi are in fact variations of san-ti the transitions or movements "bridge" between san-ti postures.

For a beginner san-ti standing will develop leg strength, determination, structure and core strength. As you learn to relax into the posture you can hold longer, you begin to develop the same strong structure without the need for external muscluar tension. This development of structure allows you to later "channel" force or energy or mystic juice or whatever you want to call it and this lets you use "internal power" and makes your strikes more effective. IF you learn to be able to use good structure and internal energy whilst moving, evading, using stragegy, reacting etc. then you will be a man my son.

Remember the road is long with many a winding path that leads to who knows where.

Just do what your teacher says and try not to run before you can walk and take anyone's advice with a pinch of salt (my own included).

BTW I like the Lu Shengli article I have his book which has almost identical content. Don't agree with everythign he says but I like his attitude.

[JANAV635]

thanks Andrews, very helpful!

[TommyLee]

I've always liked this article.

http://www.ycgf.org/Articles/XY_SanTiSh ... TiShi.html

I did read this one long time ago, but I noticed a while ago that on those pictures, guy stick out his elbows.
That is beginner mistake. Talking from personal experience...

[MarcusR]

It was taught to me that if you could get passed the 2nd set of "shakes," with one side, then you're on to something. Most people usually can't endure overcoming the 1st set. In my opinion the time to get to this point depends on how refined one's standing is. Also lineage. Every lineage has variations on the actual santi posture. One posture/position might be slightly more comforting to hold than the other.
In my style, we actually make a fist with the other hand, and rest in near the floating rib section. So for me, I can't hold this posture as long as I could with both hands open. Anybody else practices santi this way?

[jjy5016]

The shakes, thundering or whatever you call them are very important to endure through as Marcus just pointed out. This is when the changes to the body take place. My teacher said over and over that this was the most important point in the standing practice and that if we didn't endure it we could never get passed a certain level.

[JANAV635]

yeah the shakes are really hard i feel them after two minutes than i stop go through the FULL PICHUAN STRIKE and stand on the other side.