Taijiquan & Chi Gong

[mhhar]

Would the practice of Taijiquan - being an internal art - require supplemental training in Chi Gong? What would be the benefits and what kind/style of Chi Gong would be recommended.

[liangZhiCheng]

I believe that tai chi technically is a form of qigong, but that doesn't answer your question. I do believe that taichi is often supplemented with other types of qigong, as taichi works your energy in certain ways, and you may want to work it in other ways. Many books I've read suggest that one meditate using the small heavenly path and the big heavenly path (there are lots of different variant names for these) Tai Chi Classics by Waysun Liao describes some qigong exercises you can perform, and Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming put out a book called taichi qigong that you might want to look int

[Al S.]

Greetings -

liangZhiCheng is right - Taijiquan is a form of Qigong. I look at Taijiquan as "Qigong to the max." Taiji takes the principles and practices of Qigong through numerous combinations - more than is covered by almost any single Qigong style on its own.

This fact would lead you to believe that supplemental training in Qigong *shouldn't* be required, since Taijiquan is a comprehensive Qigong in and of itself. However, the problem is that Taijiquan is complex, especially the Qigong and the internal force aspects, and they take sometime to learn.

Therefore, it's a good idea to supplement your Taiji practice with some Qigong, especially in the beginning. The ones I teach are:

- Standing Eight Brocades: a Waidan style that helps open the body and increase functional range of motion. Yang Jwing-ming has a good book on these called Eight Simple Qigong Exercises for Health (http://www.Amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1886969523/cloudwatetaichi)

- Constant Bear: a full-toro swing to loosen and energize the hip sockets. This hip socket movement is the basis of all Taiji torso movements. A similar exercise, called the First Swing, is described in Opening The Energy Gates of Your Body (http://www.Amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1556431643/cloudwatetaichi).

- Post Standing Qigong (zhan zhuang): This is where you really learn to generate internal force. There are lots of different styles. I like the ones described in The Complete Book of Tai Chi Chuan (http://www.Amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1852307927/cloudwatetaichi) by Wong Kiew Kit.

I also have a number of other simple qigong I use to help students in the first year or so work on things like coordination and range of motion, but the above are the main ones.

Thanks,
Al

Al S.
CloudWater Tai Chi (http://www.cloudwater.com)

[mhhar]

Thank you for your opinions and resources. In the meanwhile I had quick look at these books. I guess there are many roads which lead to Rome. I personally liked the idea of standing posts.