onyomi
10-19-2006, 02:22 PM
Here are a few exercises I ripped from my shifu's qigong DVDs. The first several are from the "Tian-men," or Pre-heaven segment, which has 9 sets of 12 exercises. The last few are from the "Ren-men," or Post-heaven segment, which is divided into 4 sections. The first segment of Ren-men, I believe, is what is commonly called the "Eighteen Luohan-gong," a popular qigong set practiced in Mantis and other styles. The "Earth" segment is relatively brief as of right now and also heavy with TCM terminology--to be perfectly honest, I don't understand it very well. Plus, most of it is done sitting motionless, so there isn't much to see.
The story behind this system of qigong is that it was a set of Qigong exercises given to the Shaolin temple by Damo. Wang Lang was then supposed to have learned it at the temple or from monks and then incorporated it. How much, if any of this is true, I frankly have no idea. All we really know is that it is a part of Praying Mantis as developed in Shandong. Probably a Shandong version of Yijin-jing because Yijin-jing was very popular... Thus, there are many versions out there.
People who have done qigong before and/or speak Chinese will probably get a little more from these, but even if you don't do either, you can always take a look at the "other" qigong (i.e., Fojia or "Buddhist"). I've also written a brief summary of how to perform the exercise and what he's saying in the comments section. Feel free to try them out on your own, just make sure to stop if you feel faint or something. Also, no suing me if your head somehow starts bleeding from every orifice.
Pre-heaven (Tian-men)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayDLLK_cVDk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR4Jey2oQCE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=318YpYsEA_4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sej0HIhT_k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfUNKCwkNrA
Post-heaven (Ren-men/Dong Luohan/Moving Arhat)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2pJR1m16Y8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXotQuWNMbQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lWfR4eleM4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7c_Fpf3XNM
The story behind this system of qigong is that it was a set of Qigong exercises given to the Shaolin temple by Damo. Wang Lang was then supposed to have learned it at the temple or from monks and then incorporated it. How much, if any of this is true, I frankly have no idea. All we really know is that it is a part of Praying Mantis as developed in Shandong. Probably a Shandong version of Yijin-jing because Yijin-jing was very popular... Thus, there are many versions out there.
People who have done qigong before and/or speak Chinese will probably get a little more from these, but even if you don't do either, you can always take a look at the "other" qigong (i.e., Fojia or "Buddhist"). I've also written a brief summary of how to perform the exercise and what he's saying in the comments section. Feel free to try them out on your own, just make sure to stop if you feel faint or something. Also, no suing me if your head somehow starts bleeding from every orifice.
Pre-heaven (Tian-men)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayDLLK_cVDk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR4Jey2oQCE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=318YpYsEA_4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sej0HIhT_k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfUNKCwkNrA
Post-heaven (Ren-men/Dong Luohan/Moving Arhat)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2pJR1m16Y8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXotQuWNMbQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lWfR4eleM4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7c_Fpf3XNM