Zhan Zhuang - How Long?

[Ian]

So a lot of us are practicing IMAs, and apparently zhan zhaung is the bread and butter of a lot of styles. I'd say more so than running through forms, is that correct?

So how much time per day do you spend practicing static or semi-static postures?

I mean something like hugging the tree or santi or tenchijin, not the 5 elements.

And what is the purpose of your practice?

I spend 40 to 60 minutes per day hugging the tree.

[mrtoes]

Respect for doing that long. I do 20 minutes a time though I'd like to build it up further. I alternate between tree hugging and the hsing i santi posture. I am more likely to do tree hugging at home (despite there not being any trees) whereas in the park I prefer santi, for some reason I feel more comfortable doing santi when people are watching.

I do it because at the moment I find it more deeply relaxing than moving chi gung, though I do the latter first to help loosen up any stiff joints, especially shoulders. After doing santi I like to move into the 5 elements and keep things loose and try to bring whatever stillness I found whilst standing into my forms.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

time is not as important as quality of structure and breathing.

[Haoran]

The length of time depends on the exercise and purpose. I have one that I can only hold for 1 1/2 minutes, another which I can only do for about 5 minutes, and another I can hold for about 20 minutes. Then, the Wuji posture which I can hold for about an hour. (All of these are non-strained, not forced beyond my limitation, relaxed states).

I have Zhan Zhuang for martial (Bagua) and Zhan Zhuang for building root/kidneys, Zhan Zhuang for detoxification. There's a lot out there just in the world of Zhan Zhuang.

Oh, and I don't have any which focuses on breathing. All of mine are natural breathing. So, there's more out there in that class as well.

And, I agree, structure is very important.

[mrtoes]

Darth, agreed. I'm trying to get a quality 20 minutes, not "I said I'd do 20 so here goes" with gritted teeth and wonky alignments. I don't do any particular breathing either, just try to keep it natural.

I also really like doing one legged ZZ, gets into my legs quickly, and does wonders for balance. I don't do it for very long though.

[Fubo]

Mine ranges from 45 - 60 minutes going through 7 ZZ (plus wuji posture) postures without changing the stance. 45 - 60 minutes was the standard ZZ time for my Taiji school.

The purpose of my ZZ practice is to re-enforce good structure, strengthen the mind/body connection, relax areas of the body under the preasure of gravity, strengthen the core, legs, arms etc... focus on breathing, focus on training the vision, condition the joints and spine, get that heavy elastic feeling the IMA people love so much etc...

[BonesCom]

I usually get in 15-20 minutes of either zz of qg after warming up, in dai style we have more focus on the squatting monkey so I TRY and do 30-60 minutes of that. The reason I do qg or zz is that it makes my arms/shoulders feel slightly more connected to the rest of me, and I really want to avoid the kyphosis you see in some dai practitioners (realistically this should be avoided by the expansion phase of the squatting monkey but I think it's good to reinforce this with more extended standing practice). It also gets me into a practice frame-of-mind, I find if I can carry that on through the rest of training it's a good day

[I-mon]

the yoga i do is in many ways much like the tenchijin/shintaijiku stuff that ark does, and i do about 30 minutes to 2 hours a day, and then about 1-2 hours of bagua (roushengong - kind of like silk reeling, tiangan, and circle walking) as often as i can.

i look forward to getting back into zhanzhuang in the future.

[Ian]

Respect for doing that long. I do 20 minutes a time though I'd like to build it up further.

hey.

it's not actually that hard. just work through the discomfort once and then you'll have no problem doing it the next time.

the yoga i do is in many ways much like the tenchijin/shintaijiku stuff that ark does, and i do about 30 minutes to 2 hours a day, and then about 1-2 hours of bagua (roushengong - kind of like silk reeling, tiangan, and circle walking) as often as i can.

i look forward to getting back into zhanzhuang in the future.

simon, what style is that?

[wiesiek]

30-60 min
9 hands positions /keep the ball, hugging the tree...etc/
I count 36 breaths in 1st. position
rest is silence...

[wiesiek]

aha,
and purpose:
fell how qi is doing

[I-mon]

simon, what style is that?

if you mean what yoga style, it is what I learned from A.G. Mohan who was a student of T. Krishnamacharya for 18 years, and his wife Indra and their son Ganesh.

their organization is called svastha http://www.svastha.com

do you have a zhanzhuang teacher, by the way?

[Feihu]

When standing, I usually stand for between 40-60 min. if I have the time. I find on those days I am pressed for time, I stand for 20-30minutes. When I stand with Chen Xiaowang, we usually stand for about an hour and have stood for as long as 90 minutes. When he has stayed at my house, he usually gets up and goes outside after drinking water and stands for about an hour. Later, after breakfast he will stand for another hour or longer and stand again later in the day too. He stands a lot, especially when he is recharging his "batteries" during his long world seminar tour. All the flying and moving around, plus all the teaching takes it out of him, he uses standing as I described. It is part of his one posture, three techinque he talks about in his lectures. The one posture being standing post (tree hugging).

[Darthwing Teorist]

I spend 40 to 60 minutes per day hugging the tree.

I seriously envy you. I had to cut down on my Siu Nim Tao in order to get some Systema practice instead. How long do you train each day?

[GrahamB]

I spend 40 to 60 minutes per day hugging the tree.

I seriously envy you. I had to cut down on my Siu Nim Tao in order to get some Systema practice instead.

Not fixed forms I hope Teo.... or I"ll have to report you to higher authorities!