My qigong journal

[system]

Low horse and sweating

Way to go Braden! I can hold mine, leg parallel, for 5 min. and though I don’t “sweat” during, I will become a bit wet all over right afterwards. What am I doing wrong Shin? I thought it was just because I wasn’t training my stance enough. But I do a taichi mantis 8 stances basic set (20 mins. total) which is “similar” to some of what you guys do I think. What is considered sweating? Do you have to make a puddle or a simple general moistness qualifies to say: I sweat?

What about different people, different metabolism? Some people sweat a LOT more than others.

What about room temperature/humidity? I was sweating by just breathing a month ago. Braden, remember the heat wave we had couple weeks ago? I never sweated so much in my life as I did my mantis basic!

In my experience and with all due respect Shin, if you hold a good low horse stance for 10 minutes without getting wet anywhere consistantly in any conditions, I say remove the chair from your butt and stop the fan in front of you!!!

Then again, what do I know? Just that. I don’t know what I never experienced. But I’ll to see it to believe it or do it myself!

ST

Surrounded by chaos, the true taoist laughs…

[system]

IF - No worries man. I hope I’m helping!

ST - I bailed town for the heat wave and went surfing in Tofino.

[system]

Sweating.. Qi Gong.. IronFist

Sweating is not bad. If someone tells you it is, they have not truly asked enough resources. Had they, they would know it is natural to sweat and sweating releases unnecessary toxins/chemicals/water from the body. Do not let sweating become a hindrance upon your qi gong practice. I have had teachers who sweat up a storm doing qi gong who have practiced for 25+ years! With that said, I have not found one of them to be at a lack of qi because of it. Although I must say that Shin seems to be only trying to help and spread what he has learned from his teachers and this is a great thing too, just don’t concern yourself too much with the little things. Remember you are building qi and in that even if what Shin said were true you would be gaining more than losing.

As for your qi gong, I recommend becoming comfortable doing the postures in a given location that such as your dorm room. After a while, you may wish to mix and match. I have probably 4 primary locations in a given week which I select between for my practicing of qi gong/taiji. This of course is not including the center at which I learn from.

Those places being: David Green Park, A large an often vacant park near my home, my yard (this is difficult as it is not completely flat and has many trees hence good qi gong but difficult taiji forms and the final place is a forest of a sort near my work which I practice at during the workday.

As for muscle soreness in your arms/back/legs etc, you must understand that what is being used in qi gong and the muscles used in weight lifting are different. Qi gong is developing muscles you rarely EVER use! That is what is so fascinating about it, you begin to develop muscles that are structural based. This allow you to eventually hold positions for 20-45 minutes without tension or pain as you are actually developing certain areas for structure. This happens in the back/arms/and the entire body so that your back becomes naturally straighter and more comfortable over time.

Before I started my qi gong I became uncomfortable in a sitting position rather quickly and had to shift. Now I can usually sit upright with a straight and comfortable back for longer periods of time than I would say the average person? This has proved beneficial to me as I can focus on the task at hand without my body being a hindrance to such.

Keep it up IronFist, I am very excited for you and hope you enjoy each day of your taiji and treasure that in itself.

• Nexus

<font size=“1”>“Time, space, the whole universe - just an illusion! Often said, philosophically verifiable, even scientifically explainable. It’s the <font color=“blue”>‘just’</font> which makes the honest mind go crazy and the <font color=“blue”>ego</font> go berserk.” - Hans Taeger</font>

[system]

Thanks

Nexus,

Thanks, I’m glad someone is taking it in the spirit it’s meant. My teacher and his associate have ove 100 years combined qigong experience, and I prefer to take their advice to something I hear over then net. I assume that everyone here has more faith in their teachers than in the board. I only hope Ironfist can eventually find a teacher he has faith in, whether it is “right” or “wrong”, from the perspective of others.

As to taking the chair away, and moving the fan, practice harder.

As to building up structurally, to avoid sweating, I went from 1 1/2 minutes to 10 minutes over a week, after my teacher made his corrections.

And yes, qi gong and structure are not the same, but if you don’t have proper structure you can’t have proper qi gong.

[system]

Iron Fist/sweating #2

I just finished speaking with my Master, Kam P. Lee, Jacksonville, Florida, and he told me that when you begin (beginner) qigong training that you will sweat. One of the reasons you sweat is because your body is not relaxed. He also assured me that when you sweat performing qigong it doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with you internally/that your balance is off. Finally, if you perform qigong with a 100% intent as I believe I do, YOU WILL SWEAT. So you and I are good and healthy. You had me curious with this sweating. I hope I have answered your question. Also, you may want to purchase a tape on Ken Cohen. I think he is very good. His background appears to be very extensive in Qigong. If you do decide to purchase a tape get “QIGONG” by Ken Cohen. You can get it through Wayfarer Publications website. Email address is taichi@tai-chi.com. Have a good one.

                   Damia

[system]

Erle Montaigue has some tapes on Qi Gong that I have found useful even though most of his methods overlapped ones I have learned from my actual teachers. Although I must say that his qi gong is good and explained well as well as his additional exercises included on his tapes. I have 4 of them so I can tell you that first hand.

Erle Montaigue’s Taiji World Website

• Nexus

<font size=“1”>“Time, space, the whole universe - just an illusion! Often said, philosophically verifiable, even scientifically explainable. It’s the <font color=“blue”>‘just’</font> which makes the honest mind go crazy and the <font color=“blue”>ego</font> go berserk.” - Hans Taeger</font>

[system]

Shin…

“As to taking the chair away, and moving the fan, practice harder.” – Point well taken. I will do.

“I went from 1 1/2 minutes to 10 minutes over a week, after my teacher made his corrections.” – This sounds like a revolutionary fast method. Any books on it yet? Sarcasm apart, I would still need to see it to believe it. 90% of the “feats” people claim to do are just tricks and illusions. Maybe this is different. Maybe not.

“I assume that everyone here has more faith in their teachers than in the board.” – Faith has nothing to do with it. Qigong skill (just like kungfu skill) has to be demonstrated. Why should I “believe” anything my teacher (or anybody) claims but cannot demonstrate?

Don’t misunderstand me, I am not calling you a liar. But I need more than just words for me to believe something my personal experience dismisses as fairy tales (10min. low horse w/o sweating in one week for example). Please elaborate on the proper structure required to achieve this. A picture showing the proper posture would be nice but maybe not feasible. But I’m sure you can explain the corrections your teacher made, unless it is a secret

ST

Surrounded by chaos, the true taoist laughs…

[system]

Qigong will make you hot but will also make you more tollerant of shifts in temperature. (I don’t use AC at home in the summer or heat in the winter) Find out about the Tibetan Scholarly Qigong- they sit in the snow reading sutras and someone comes and throws wet towels on their backs.
eventually the towels slide off their bodies, and the heat of the Qi melts the snow.
There are many similar stories regarding standing post masters.
Again,
you would not have these questions if you consulted with a true master.

[system]

Low Stances and faith

ST, as for going from 1 1/2 minutes to 10 minutes in a week, you have to understand that I was caught at the 1 1/2 minute level for about 6 months. So I had 6 months of leg strength, doing it for 1 1/2 minutes multiple times a day, and 1 week of corrected posture, etc.

As to having faith and demonstrations, I think that’s a semantic issue. Naturally none of us would be practicing with a teacher we didn’t think was demonstrably good. What I mean is that there are different levels of what people think good is. What’s bad to me maybe good to someone else.

As to the corrections, they aren’t secret, but they are individual specific. Drawing a picture won’t help because in the case of knee placement, for example, the difference was literally a fraction of an inch.

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Forum/qigong

I practice Weiqi Qigong 18 from Yang style. Obviously, it is a routine that consists of 18 exercises. Normally, I perform three repitions of each exercise which is about 20 minutes. I can go slower to 30 minutes. Depending on time, I, sometimes, perform five reps of each exercise a good half hour plus. I also do Chen qigong and silk reeling exercises. My question to all of you is, "What is so important about a time element? Going from 11/2 minutes to 10 minutes there must be a purpose/something. Is this a “superior” type of qigong? Someone please explain.

                 Damia

[system]

The superior qi gong is the one that works best for you. There are so many for so many different purposes that that debate would be a dead-end.

• Nexus

<font size=“1”>“Time, space, the whole universe - just an illusion! Often said, philosophically verifiable, even scientifically explainable. It’s the <font color=“blue”>‘just’</font> which makes the honest mind go crazy and the <font color=“blue”>ego</font> go berserk.” - Hans Taeger</font>

[system]

8/30/01
2:15pm
Total time: approx 6 minutes 30 seconds
Feelings: Not as sweaty as yesterday. But my eyes are annoying me. I feel like I’d be able to concentrate much better if I were to close my eyes. However, the book gives detail instruction about leaving the eyes opened but yet without focusing on a single object. That’s easier said than done.

Alright, I said I would post the first 3 days. Today was my third day. From now on I’ll give only weekly updates, however I will still be posting here frequently with questions. I think I will increase each posture by 5 breaths per week. So since I’m at an average of 7 breaths per minute, that will be approximately a 5 minute increase each week, or about one minute per position.

I’ll also get pics up within the next week or so.

Thanks guys,
Iron

[system]

If you are having trouble doing it with your eyes open then close them. It will not be a hindrance IMO and is a good way to build up to meditation with your eyes open. Do what works

• Nexus

<font size=“1”>“Time, space, the whole universe - just an illusion! Often said, philosophically verifiable, even scientifically explainable. It’s the <font color=“blue”>‘just’</font> which makes the honest mind go crazy and the <font color=“blue”>ego</font> go berserk.” - Hans Taeger</font>

[system]

Shin…

Fair enough. But if we ever meet, you’ll have to show me

Thank you for your honest answer.

ST

Surrounded by chaos, the true taoist laughs…

[system]

The pleasure would be mine, though I can’t imagine going to canada anytime soon. I am considering attending the Fourth Anual (2002) Yun-Qiao Cup Chinese Spear/Lance Tournament next year, which is in Toronto. I believe that’s relatively close to Ottawa. Accent on relatively.

[system]

I haven’t heard of this competition but I haven’t competed in 5 years either so it explains why. Who’s the organizer? Do they have a website/link about it? The name sounds different from most competitions. I doubt it would only be a spear competition though. But maybe.

It is about a 5-6 hour drive so I agree with your “relatively” close. But who knows where our paths will lead us. If they have southern forms divisions, maybe I’ll feel like getting myself another one of those golden trophies

ST

Surrounded by chaos, the true taoist laughs…

[system]

Sweating

I know i’ve oined this thread a little late but here’s an opinion. Excess sweating is a problem yes and one that could result with health problems merely because it is indicative of WeiQi problem and thus would suggest that the Lungs are imbalanced. But normal sweating is expected for a number of reasons. One of them could be that the Qi gong is expelling internal pathogens and thus resulting in sweating production to purge the body of general dampness and i;llness related to it. It could be true to a certain extent that incorrect postures which hinder the body’s relaxation could cause build up of Lactic acid due to body mis-alingment too. But general sweat can and usually is experienced as it is the body’s energetic defence system (namely the interaction between Yin Qi (deeper/internal) and Wei Qi (surface layer/protective) purging and expelling pathogens). Too much sweat coming into contact with fans though is a big no no. This can cause Wind and cold as a pathogen to invade the body and create cold symptoms.

[system]

www.bajimen.com

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Thank you

I see… Interesting.

ST

[system]

oh yeah

I just now realized something that should greatly aid Iron in his quest, should he continue to train without a teacher.

SILENT MEDITATION.
before (or after…do what your body tells you) sit quietly and just BE. For many people this is alone can open up the small circulation. I am not sure if you are doing visualisations but this can mess you up if you have blocked energy flow especially without a teacher. let go of the chattering monkey and just listen to your breath. (which is a whole nother issue…)

If you can apply this same principle to Standing, you will attain true progress. But focusing on progress or performing Qigong with desire for anything will yield less fruitful results. Standing Post is a deep meditation and should be treated thus- with reverence and concentration. It is not an exercise per-se, but rather a mind over matter thing. Let go and experience living.

Grounded