Standing meditation practice

In 1939, Wang Xiangzhai issued a public challenge through a Beijing newspaper. His objective: to test and prove the new martial arts training system of Yiquan, a system that placed standing meditation (zhan zhuang) at its core.
Expert fighters from across China, Japan and even Europe traveled to answer Wang’s challenge. None could beat him or his senior students. His standing meditation training produced superior results in a shorter time period, when compared to methods used in boxing, Judo, and other styles of Kung Fu.

Interested?

Here is a very good series of videos by a teacher called Mark S. Cohen explaining the posture and breathing during the standing meditation.

I particularly like the bit at the end of the last video when the teacher says: for healing you should do this for at least 40 minutes a day. For martial arts training you have to do this for at least an hour every day.

Kung fu does mean hard work after all.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Here is also a video by Bruce Frantzis, talking about the different stages of taoist meditation.

Watch video


This is an introduction to an online course. You can subscribe to this course here:

Science confirms Taoist wisdom about compassion and morality

When Bruce Frantzis talks about Taoist morality, he says that in Taoism morality is based on being able to really experience the world around you, and therefore being able to experience what others are going through, which leads to empathy and morality. So to be moral, you need to be compassionate. And to be compassionate you need to be present, aware, you need to be awake.
Here Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, talks about reflective neurons, a type of neurons that enable us to exactly experience what others around us experience. They enable us to empathize, to be compassionate. But then he asks why we aren't more compassionate more of the time. And he concludes that this is because people are just not present, aware or awake most of the time. We are too self-centered, too enclosed within our own minds, to notice others, the world.

Watch video

Illustration of the difference between the external and internal martial arts

I was walking on the pier in Dun Laoghaire this morning. The clouds were low and the wind was strong and gusty. I noticed a raven flying overhead. It was flapping its wings madly, trying to counter the blows of the wind, totally unbalanced and looking really vulnerable. Then, just above the struggling raven, I saw a seagull. With its wings spread wide, it was gliding effortlessly on the same wind that was causing so much trouble for poor raven. The seagull looked completely relaxed. It did not fight the wind, it was using it. It did not try to go through the gusts; it glided and slid over them. The raven was like an external martial arts practitioner. It was strong and able to fight against a strong opposing force, but spending huge amount of energy to achieve this, and constantly on a verge of defeat. The seagull was like an internal martial arts practitioner. It didn’t fight the opposing force. It evaded the force, used it, and moved through it, all the time in a perfect balance and calm, using minimum effort to achieve maximum goals.

And then a really strong gust of wind blew my hat straight into the sea.

People who really helped me when I needed help

I sometimes believe that it was faith that I should start practicing internal kung fu, chi kung and Taoist meditation. They saved my sanity and my life. The faith or Tao, call it what you want, introduced me to some amazing people who helped me when I needed help, and brought me, and kept me on the internal kung fu path.

I was born breached, which means that instead of coming out head first, I came out leg first, sideways. The birth took place in a small town hospital, which was not equipped for cesarean section. Both me and my mother were in danger of dying. In the end they decided to pull me out by the leg and save the mother. Luckily I survived, but my hips and my pelvis were badly injured. This injury was never properly treated, and as a consequence, my whole pelvic area stayed twisted, which caused the spine to get twisted as well. What saved me during birth was the fact that I have hyper extendable joints. Of course, this can become a nightmare when you are child, as you joints will just not stop twisting by themselves. This led to both of my ankles and both of my elbows being dislocated multiple times. Eventually this also led to one of my ankles being badly damaged in a sports incident. Then I was conscripted into the army, where I ended up with a back injury, and shrapnel wound. I started practicing martial arts in my late twenties, in order to strengthen my body. I was always interested in martial arts, but never got around to practice it before, except for a short self defense training course I had in the army. I started training taekwondo, and was getting really god at it. Then I went into a sparing and ended up with a twisted knee. The injury forced me to stop training taekwondo, as I was not able to put any weight on my right leg.
On top of these physical injuries, I carried numerous psychological and emotional scars that I picked up while going through prisons, wars and just life. I was pretty much a physical and emotional wreck. But as i said I was lucky to meet some amazing people, who helped me get back into life and martial arts training.

Here they are. Call them if you need help.


Dr. Alan A.D. Peatfield, a very good Internal kung fu teacher and Medical chi kung teacher.
1 Birchfield Court
Dublin, 14
Ireland
Tel: +35 386 161 9094
Email: alan_peatfield@hotmail.com


McClorey Anne-Marie, a very good acupuncturist.
Address: 4 lower Mount st Merrion sq 2 Co. Dublin
City of Dublin
Phone: (087)6177958
Categories: Acupuncture,


Mr. Gerry Flynn, a very good osteopath
Osteopathic Practice
3 Merrion Court,
Ailesbury Road, Ballsbridge,
Dublin,
Dublin 4Ireland
01 2695525


Dene Hickey, a very good sports massage specialist.
Phone: 087 133 2405
Address 50 Georges st Upper, Dun Laoghaire (near Peoples park) opposite Alex’s lotto shop http://www.denehickey.com/sports-massage


Caroline Chambers is a very good Stott Certified Pilates Instructor and Chartered Physiotherapist
Telephone +353 1 260 5522
Address,line 1 240 Merrion Rd
City or Town Dublin

Left wing vs. Right wing Taoism

Traditionally, the right-wing or conservative Taoists in China tended to isolate themselves in the mountains, where they struggled to attain spiritual clarity and balance (that is, connection with the universal Tao) primarily by using moving and seated meditation techniques. The right-wingers attempted to achieve wisdom and peace through a highly regulated, moderate, and often celibate lifestyle that was fairly quiet. In this way, they gradually disengaged from the distractions of worldly life. They often lived in small, secluded mountain communities, either alone or in groups of three to five. Lone hermits or small groups sometimes resided inside a cave or mountain hermitage, perhaps not emerging for fifty years. Less often, they banded together in monasteries, which were not nearly as big as the hugely populated monasteries one can find in the history of Buddhism and Christianity.

In stark contrast, the wandering left-wing Taoists were known for being outrageous in their lifestyles and sexual behavior. There was nothing a leftist Taoist would not do. Taoists of the left frequently scorned or ignored social conventions and expectations outright. But while they often repudiated many specific aspects and values of society, they (and this is an important point) adhered to awareness in all they did, avoided casing harm, and attempted to balance all they came in contact with.

Taoist Lineage Holder Bruce Frantzis talks about these two philosophical approaches found within Taoism; the left wing extremely liberal approach epitomized by Chuang Tzu and the more conservative one embodied by Lao Tzu.
Bruce explains how many of Chuang Tzu's seemingly eccentric actions directly allowed him to manifest a fundamental doctrine of Taoism-spontaneity and its necessity towards letting go.

View the video

Today most people can’t go to monasteries. They have to live immersed in “life”. Being immersed in life teaches you the ever changing nature of life. And also teaches you that you are part of this life, not a separate entity. Which means that you cannot stay static and unchanging while everything else around you changes all the time. Which is the essence of Bagua.

Practice your kung fu happy

I was once advised to practice happy. I was told that internal martial arts practice consists of millions of tiny happy steps. The emphasis here being on happy. What that means is that you should not push yourself to your limits. And you should definitely not push yourself over your limits. Your body and your mind should always be happy during and after your practice. At the end of your practice, you should feel that you want to practice more. This will insure that you have a steady progress, without falling into pattern of one step forward two steps back, caused by injuries. What you want is to still be able to practice and improve your skills when you are ninety years old. Not to be crippled by the age of 30.

Bruce Frantzis bagua warm up

Here Bruce Frantzis talks about bagua warm up and correct posture. When he is explaining the sucking of the qua, he is actually describing the activation of the core muscles.

Bagua warm up