robert wrote:Bao wrote:I don’t know if it’s necessary to wait ten years before trying to feel the dantian. But I don’t know if it’s really necessary trying to “feel” the dantian at all. I see it more as a natural progression. First learn to stand aligned, relax, understand centerline, move as a whole. When everything comes together you will learn to relax more and deeper while maintaining alignment and balance. When all of this comes naturally together, the feeling the body better and being more conscious about the center and the dantian should be a natural consequence, as moving from the dantian will already be there regardless of how strong your direct awareness about the dantian is.
I agree. In another thread someone posted something from Liu Dianchen's xingyi manual. I liked a number of things in it, including this -The elixir field is the source of the active aspect, the mansion of energy and power. If you want to be proficient in the art, you must first strengthen your elixir field, and if you want to strengthen your elixir field, you must first practice the art. The back-and-forth of the two will solidify each other.
There is a learning theory that goes from
- unconscious incompetence
- conscious incompetence (learner becomes aware of specific skill deficits)
- conscious competence (the skill requires deliberate concentration, not yet second nature)
- unconscious competence (skills are second nature)
Even though I agree with Bao, in some sense we might be saying to skip to the final stage of learning. Generally, we focus on "transmission" / mechanics and less on "fuel" and "engine". Which makes sense in MA and not "chee hugging", but this xingyi quote says (my read) to do both.
