any of you who have meditation as part of your kung fu regimen notice any of the benefits from meditation?
how much emphasis is placed on meditation in your style at different points in your learning path?
peace
I used to practice meditation daily but now I don’t hardly pracice it at all:( I got caught up in trying to do to much…Let me get back on topic. I find that I was mentally sharper ya know more focused and relaxed when I meditated regulary. That’s why I am getting back into it. Cause meditation helped my kungfu over all. My style doesn’t put to much into it though my sifu teaches it as an extra.
Is there any particular way of meditation that you use?
seated? standing? in motion? all of these?
peace
hmm let me see
Last of my Hung Ga moral codes.
Practice meditation and prayer daily…
Also the one i find hardest to keep:(
jon, as Hung Gar is rooted in buddhist style, is your meditation and prayer buddhist in form and nature?
do you find it (meditation) has improved your overall kung fu in any way?
peace
I too am a meditation slacker, but i plan on getting back to it, like tomorrow morning.
But i did notice when i meditated that the mind becomes clearer, you can understand a move so much more naturally. Your kung fu training progresses faster i think.
The meditation i did was standing, you know, qigong. I think the term for it is Zhang Zhuang (spell?).
Moving? You mean soft qigong? I still do that. We have three types seated, standing and moving. I thought this thread was about seated so that’s what I meant before.
The standing is called yin Jin jing but it is the same one that Yang Jwing Ming does it not the one from shaolin now. He published several books with it in them and also devoted an entire book to it, those sources do wonders when combined with my Sifu’s teachings.
The moving we call the longevity exercises also called white crane qigong. It’s a soft Taoist qigong that moves like taichi and also has some similar movements in it. My sifu learned this from Mater Kwan Saihung.
Seated we do either Buddhist or taoist breathing. We don’t have an exact name or style for that we just sit 
Meditation used to give me better reflexes and better focus. Don’t get to meditate enough anymore unfortunately 
Contrary to popular belief the most difficult meditation to do is seated. It took me two years of meditation before I could sit still and breathe comfortably.
Even though my style is largely based on boxing skills, judo, and other grappling aspects, I do meditate daily these days. It’s not so much for my martial art although I do think it has helped me a great deal with it. Mostly from a mental standpoint.
Since I try to follow a lot of Buddhist practice and philosophy, my meditation usually takes the form of a seated posture, and my breathing. For me meditation is my realm of understanding myself. It’s my calm place where I am free from distraction, pressure, evil, doubt, fear, or anxiety. It is a quiet place where I am mindful of my body, thinking, feelings, and inner turmoils. When I can quiet my mind, think rationally, and begin to free myself from the problems facing me, I can see my situations in an objective plane, and I can find effective, accurate, and ethical ways to deal with and solve those problems.
On a deeper level, meditation is where I can take refuge. Whether it be a Buddhist teaching, mysteries of God, or the Sangha itself, my place is within my own body. I can claim that space as my own, and calm the waves of life for a small moment. Enough time to examine who I am, where I’m going, and what I need to do.
Prayer can be done too during this time, but for me that can be done no matter where you are, who you’re with, etc. Tomorrow I have to meet a friend who just got back from Taiwan, and she’s brought me very beautiful Buddhist malas!
So it should be very nice.
Ryu
Dzogchen
This mode of meditation and also I have been practicing guided apspects of the Mahamudra tradition too.
Kung Lek
“jon, as Hung Gar is rooted in buddhist style, is your meditation and prayer buddhist in form and nature?”
- The meditation is certainly, though is also combined with some westen meditation techniques as well. We also do astral meditation for example quite often. The prayer is left up to the indivdual, my sifu is a Lebanese Christen but he is also of a Buddist school of martial arts. He personaly still believes in God in a Christen sence but also in the morals and belief structure of of Buddhism, im sure its not easy for him but he has done well and i admire that in him. He doesnt force any belief on us only asks that we believe in some kind of ‘higher power’ whether it be buddism or modern ecology like mother of the earth thinking or anything else we may choose. The point is to pay respects to why your here on this earth and acknowledge your spirtual side.
You must have high morals to learn the style, people who believe in a higher purpose tend to have better ones in my experience.
“do you find it (meditation) has improved your overall kung fu in any way?”
- Yes its an important aspect to reach a higher level of proficiency, if your mind is not able to focus your technique and power generation will be off. Not to mention you wont be able to handle such things as the animal and elemental aspects of the training which the same level of skill.
Meditation is tricked on the student the second he\she walks though the door, the horse stance is nothing more than forcing the mind to focus. When you can force it, you can begin to learn to lead it.
Mediation is also vital if you actualy want to fight, if anyone doesnt believe it just have a look at any old testement of a sword fighter. They all spent most of there lives in retreat meditating. Look at Musashi when he wasnt cutting people open he was sitting quitely by himself trying to gain the focus and intent to win his next duel.
Its required to have a mind that focused if your going the tonk with a sword every second day.
i also have 3 sets of qigong meditations; seated, standing [stances also] and moving.
i’ve found that if i don’t do 5 or so min of qigong after working out, i’m high strung, irritable and edgy the entire day.
my new workout now includes my entire sitting qigong set [about 30 min] in the evenings.
i’d like to do this in the morning, but time restrainsts make it impossible and there’s no way i’m
getting up earlier than 5am.
I was talking with Waterdragon about qigong and I mentioned that I have a book on Zhan Zhuang. Waterdragon said that postures are level 2 training and first you have to do Level 1, which is just standing. So I’m doing that now, 10 mins a night, and i should start level 2 in March, if I can stand without twitching for 10 mins.
but I have noticed a positive effect on my training overall, I think just because I have learnt to relax.
Practicing martial arts is meditation.
meditation
I meditate anywhere from half an hour to 2 hours a day, I have different things to do every day of the week. Some of the methods are from tai chi or bagua, others are various ones that I learned from assorted teachers or even a few from books. Most of my meditation is posting exercises; I hold 8 different postures for various amounts of time. I also practice various sitting and lying down methods, sometimes I use those at work when it’s slow, . Sometimes I practice iron shirt chi kung, but not every day. I’ve learned dozens of ways to meditate from martial arts and from my background in psychology. I hope to eventually open a stress reduction clinic; and the Chinese martial arts and Psychology blend together quite well. As for improving my martial arts, the meditation really does help. Meditation has helped me to develop patience, confidence, restraint, a higher awareness of my body, introspection, and a higher awareness of my surroundings; all of which helo contribute to skills that I develop in martial arts.
I totally agree with Shaolinboxer
The practice of Taolu is in it self a form of meditation.
Now, if you’re asking about zuochan or zhang zhuang (seated or standing meditation) that’s a more specific question. I find both very helpful - and in fact, my taolu helps my zuochan too. According to legend, that’s what Tamo intended it for.