With baguazhang I literally have no clue, but if any of the systems appeals to tripping out on taoism it seems like bagua would be it.
So, what can you tell me about qi circulation in the rest of the neijia?
The information in this article was obtained during an interview with Nan Lu at the AAU Regional Internal Arts
Championship in Gaithersburg, MD in March 1992.
“In Pa Kua Chang you utilize unbalanced energy inside your body to offset an opponent’s balance,” says Nan Lu, a 36
year old native of Fujian Province, China who now teaches in New York City.
As a certified doctor of traditional Chinese medicine Nan Lu is very aware of energetic relationships within the body.
Developing the energy which is specific to Pa Kua Chang is the focus of his practice.
Every system of Chinese martial arts has its own special practices to build up energy. Pa Kua Chang,
like other internal systems, emphasizes these energy building practices as particularly important, more so
than forms or techniques. Depending on the particular system of Pa Kua Chang, these practices often included
holding postures statically or performing a particular posture while walking the circle. The postures were used
to develop or open specific energy pathways, namely the channels or meridians that, according to traditional
Chinese philosophy, permeate the human body.
Different postures connect to different meridians or combination of meridians. One practices a particular posture in
order increase and to refine the particular energy that circulates through that meridian. By creating balance of
the circulating energies throughout the body, one could achieve health and longevity, important tenets of the
Taoist system, from which Pa Kua Chang arose.
The greater one’s life expectancy, the deeper one could evolve one’s spiritual development. Pa Kua Chang was then a
blend of spiritual and physical practice. To the Taoists who practiced Pa Kua Chang, efficient self-defense was also an important, although less
significant, benefit of Pa Kua Chang. In China there existed little of what today we would call law and order,
particularly in the rural or isolated areas in which the Taoist hermits lived. Freedom from fear and aggression
by others as well as the intuitive understanding gained by such practices gave these individuals deeper insight
and self-reliance in order to pursue their spiritual
practices.
oragami_itto wrote:The Yang (and I suppose Wu) taijiquan forms have some well documented effects on qi flow. Each grasp sparrows tail is a lesser heavenly circulation that hooks into various greater heavenly circulations.
This is one of the theories explaining why the form is so supernaturally good for health. Playing the long form takes the body through multiple complete and varied qi circulations that strengthen the body from the inside out. By the time you've finished, you've worked it through every single channel and meridian several times.
T.T. Liang, when interviewed, attributed his longevity (103 years old after nearly dying from vice in his 40s) to playing the long form every day, despite being Cheng Man Ching's most senior disciple. So I'm thinking there may be something to this theory.
oragami_itto wrote:So, what can you tell me about qi circulation in the rest of the neijia?
gerard wrote:oragami_itto wrote:So, what can you tell me about qi circulation in the rest of the neijia?
Hi friend,
Could you please read excellent piece of advice?
If the person asked, "What does 'Buddho' mean?" Ajaan Sao would answer, "Don't ask."
In our context, what is qi circulation in Bagua?
Don't ask...just walk the circle. Because if you walk the circle mindfully and with the goal of improving each and every time you practice, the art itself will take you deeper, and deeper and deeper still. Qi becomes a nuisance, honestly.
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