I-mon wrote:To my mind, the ability to move the muscles bones and joints all the way along the pathways is a good preliminary indicator of whether or not a person can actually feel what is happening there internally or not, since if they can't feel and move the relatively gross superficial joints and muscular tissues then their ability to feel and influence the more subtle internal processes is questionable. The ability to move the skin and superficial fascia all the way along the pathways is also an indication to me that the person's intent is able to reach and penetrate those areas, and, if the intent can move there, and the qi (or change in the physiology) follows the intent, then obviously the qi flow will be affected as well.
To physically move some part of the body is a matter of practice a certain area of the body. It has nothing to do with opening the channels and gates for the qi to flow. It has nothing to do with micro or macro circulation. Internal awareness and body awareness is always great. But this is about something else. The qi flow affected in certain areas you practice is not the same as what is meant by micro or macro circulation.
If you think what you are doing has a value, then that's fine and I will certainly acknowledge and respect your practice. But there are also other types of practice that is also well worth consideration and respect. If you are not concerned by the original practice or the philosophy, then why not let the people interested in this practice retain the terms for themselves? Keeping different things apart helps everyone who wants to discover one or the other type of practice.
jaime_g wrote: I have nothing against other kinds of practice if it has a good practical use, but I don't like confusing together vastly different kinds of exercises and terminologies.
I understand your point. Personally I'm comfortable with different methods calling different things under the same name. It happens all the time in internal arts.
If people can call things anything they want, the concepts will soon lose value and meaning. The 3 Dantian concept is an old Daoist Neidan specific concept with its own theory and its own goals. I refuse to call anything dantian or qi circulation that is outside from the original philosophy.
Another example... would be dantian rotation... I'm only interested on touching the guy rotating his dantian to feel if we are doing the same or not.
It's not the Dantian you feel rotating, just his stomach. Dantian is a spot inside the body, not on the outside.
Again, there are old definitions. And there are reasons and a meaning for these definitions. The knowledge will soon be completely lost if it's not acknowledged. Better to keep things apart, clearly separate different practices with different names. Everyone will benefit from it.