A source to the knowledge of traditional martial arts, ancient feng-shui, taiji and qigong health-preservation practices.
To be able to predict the future using the Yijing takes a great deal of skill and a lot of experience. If you can do it, you could become very powerful! However, nature tends to balance everything, don’t think all your dreams will come true.
When we study the Yijing, our knowledge of the Five Flements must be very clear. First of all we must understand which element creates which element and which element controls which element, since these are the basics. If not we cannot understand the whole philosophy of the Yijing.
For example, if you see a lump of stone, you should know it belongs to the element Earth, if you see a wooden table you should know it belongs to the element Wood and there should be no confusion. So the chart of the Five Elements is very important: you should know it off by heart.
As another example, suppose you see a car; this is not on the chart and so it does not seem to belong to any element. However, since it was made by a machine means it belongs to the Metal element – this is correct. Many of the things we see at first do not appear to belong to any element, or might belong to more than one element. If you see a car parked in a garage you can say it belongs to Metal, but if you are walking along and a car drives by you, it might belong to Fire or Wind, you have to understand the situation. The car shoots past you like fire, creating a rush of wind.
When practising Taji Quan we are often told to straighten the posture by lifting the head or move slowly as if moving underwater etc., but I do not hear a great deal of information on the fundamental principle of ‘spheres’. Discovering the spheres of Taiji Quan is both enjoyable and enlightening, they are categorised as internal and external, however for this article we will only examine the external.
But first, let’s spice up the topic with a great classic Taiji clip.
Now back towhat we started off with.
Bagua Zhang on the other hand is more widely recognised for its spheres as they are blatantly obvious when you see it performed, but compared to Bagua Zhang, Taiji spheres are not so obvious although they are there.
When asked what makes Taiji Quan unique amongst other health/martial arts I always reply “It trains you to become round like a ball”, therefore let us examine some characteristics of an inflated ball:
1. Pressure inside is greater than that on the outside:
This is what gives a ball its shape, the outward expansion of air pressure pushing on the inside skin of the ball forms its spherical shape. (more…)
Taiji martial art skills have a significant foundation and it is called “Pushing Hands”.
There still appears to be some confusion about Pushing Hand, as a practioner we should often come across at least one of these questions about such technique :
So let’s examine the first question:
1. What Is It Used For?
The first thing to establish is that it is not a complete system that operates separately from Taiji form and sparring but is an integral training link between the two.
There are numerous competitions/festivals held throughout the world that include Pushing Hands as a separate stand alone event which leads the viewing public to believe that this is how Taiji practitioners defend themselves. (more…)
Why do we get ill? Why don’t we live to 100 or 150 years old? The answers to these questions may lead us to a very healthy existence. (Michael Tse)
Chinese medicine attempts to answer these questions in terms of Qi (vital energy). Qi is the energy which sustains us.
If you, don’t maintain your qi then maybe you will become tired and ill. For example, when you finish work. You go home, you might watch T.V, read a book, or even go to the pub and have a drink. Afterwards you feel tired, even though you’ve been relaxing.
Why? You feel tired because you have been using your energy, even reading a book uses energy!
When your energy is low you will start to feel weak and tired. In this condition you will easily become ill.
(more…)
Also Watch :
So does Meditation really have the ability change the body internal temperature?
Let’s take a look at the following Mind and Body in extreme experiments done by Professor Benson.
A Buddhist monk has his vital signs measured as he prepares to enter an advanced state of meditation in Normandy, France. -Photo courtesy of Herbert Benson
During meditation, the monk’s body produces enough heat to dry cold, wet sheets put over his shoulders in a frigid room.
In a monastery in northern India, thinly clad Tibetan monks sat quietly in a room where the temperature was a chilly 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Using a yoga technique known as g Tum-mo, they entered a state of deep meditation. Other monks soaked 3-by-6-foot sheets in cold water (49 degrees) and placed them over the meditators’ shoulders.
For untrained people, such frigid wrappings would produce uncontrolled shivering.
If body temperatures continue to drop under these conditions, death can result. But it was not long before steam began rising from the sheets.
As a result of body heat produced by the monks during meditation, the sheets dried in about an hour. (more…)
Video footage of the Indonesian acupuncturist and qigong master known as John Chang.
Unlike the brief footage in the Ring of Fire documentary, this video was distributed with John’s permission. He puts on an unforgettable show for a handpicked group of American scientists, including:
