scotty1
11-27-2001, 06:57 PM
Hi, this is a really long post, but I need help, so if you know your Chi Kung, please read on. I am quite possibly opening myself up to ridicule here with my lack of knowledge and (possible) ignorance, but here goes:
Having started Kung Fu just over one year ago, I noticed being more confident, decisive etc. All the things you would expect from learning a fighting art, and not being too bad at it if I do say so myself. My thoughts : increased chi, or confidence in being able to defend yourself better? Anyway, that's a bit off the point.
So I read Wong Kiew Kit's "The Art Of Shaolin Kung Fu" and looked up a bit about Chi on the net. I learnt a lot from just hanging around on this site. ANYWAY, about 1-2 months ago I started to do Lifting The Sky, just 10-15 reps every night, followed by about 5 minutes of some other Chi Kung exercises I have learnt from my Sifu. Now, here comes the interesting :confused: part.
After just over one month of doing this stuff, is it possible I would feel any benefit? Because, y'know, I swear I do.
1. Even though I don't have the opportunity to train everyday like I used to, when I do train my technique (say 3 times a week) it just seems to get better. And so far as I can tell, it's not from physical practice. It just feels better. I feel like I can hit harder, quicker, and I can flow more easily.
2. I can withstand far lower temperatures than I used to be able to. I know that sounds completly ridiculous, especially after the short time I have been doing this, but, honestly, I used to have such a low cold threshold, and now I can just kind of put up with it. I can feel it, on the outside, but i am still warm.
3. My whole persona has been calmed, I can think more clearly, I just feel more in control. Maybe this is because the combination of stretching and breathing increases the blood flow to your brain?
I don't know whether I am imagining these things because I am doing a small amount of Chi Kung every night, and its having some sort of psychological effect, or whether its actually happening. And if it is, its so subtle that i'm not sure whether its actually happening at all.
Do I sound like some kind of nut or what? Maybe the benefits I have noticed result from increased blood flow/lung capacity making me more relaxed.
I've taken quite easily to the, er, flow of Kung Fu, and I wonder if its possible to do the same with Chi Kung, maybe having something to do with having an open mind or something. Oh sh!t, I sound like a moron :( And although I don't feel like my hands are two magnets that I can't push together, I definitely feel like my little bit of Chi Kung is having some kind of positive effect on my life. Which may sound ridiculous to some of you that have been doing it for 10 years or something, but there you go. I'm not sure why I'm posting this really. I'm sure somebody will say "dude, if its working for you, then go with it", which is cool, but I'd kind of like an educated opinion on this. I'm hoping somebody who's been doing this for years will say, yeah, that sounds feasible. But if the alternative is true, then I would like to know if I'm fooling myself, because I really don't know. And I'm sure I could probably fool myself quite easily.
I don't even know if I'm Lifting the Sky correctly, but sometimes it feels right and sometimes it doesn't, so if someone could drop in a useful description of how to do that or any other basic Chi Kung it would be MUCH appreciated. I've had to take on work in the evenings, so I don't get to see my Sifu much. I want to make sure I'm not wasting my time, or causing myself any harm. Although the difference in co-ordination between my movements and my breathing is suprising, as when I first started, I felt like I was going to pop or something. Now it feels good.
Thanks for reading this far, and even more thanks if you post a reply. I don't mind being shot down in flames. It would be disappointing and probably humiliating, but at least I could stop being under a false impression. Opinions on whether 5/10 minutes every night is enough would also be appreciated.
Thankyou. :)
Having started Kung Fu just over one year ago, I noticed being more confident, decisive etc. All the things you would expect from learning a fighting art, and not being too bad at it if I do say so myself. My thoughts : increased chi, or confidence in being able to defend yourself better? Anyway, that's a bit off the point.
So I read Wong Kiew Kit's "The Art Of Shaolin Kung Fu" and looked up a bit about Chi on the net. I learnt a lot from just hanging around on this site. ANYWAY, about 1-2 months ago I started to do Lifting The Sky, just 10-15 reps every night, followed by about 5 minutes of some other Chi Kung exercises I have learnt from my Sifu. Now, here comes the interesting :confused: part.
After just over one month of doing this stuff, is it possible I would feel any benefit? Because, y'know, I swear I do.
1. Even though I don't have the opportunity to train everyday like I used to, when I do train my technique (say 3 times a week) it just seems to get better. And so far as I can tell, it's not from physical practice. It just feels better. I feel like I can hit harder, quicker, and I can flow more easily.
2. I can withstand far lower temperatures than I used to be able to. I know that sounds completly ridiculous, especially after the short time I have been doing this, but, honestly, I used to have such a low cold threshold, and now I can just kind of put up with it. I can feel it, on the outside, but i am still warm.
3. My whole persona has been calmed, I can think more clearly, I just feel more in control. Maybe this is because the combination of stretching and breathing increases the blood flow to your brain?
I don't know whether I am imagining these things because I am doing a small amount of Chi Kung every night, and its having some sort of psychological effect, or whether its actually happening. And if it is, its so subtle that i'm not sure whether its actually happening at all.
Do I sound like some kind of nut or what? Maybe the benefits I have noticed result from increased blood flow/lung capacity making me more relaxed.
I've taken quite easily to the, er, flow of Kung Fu, and I wonder if its possible to do the same with Chi Kung, maybe having something to do with having an open mind or something. Oh sh!t, I sound like a moron :( And although I don't feel like my hands are two magnets that I can't push together, I definitely feel like my little bit of Chi Kung is having some kind of positive effect on my life. Which may sound ridiculous to some of you that have been doing it for 10 years or something, but there you go. I'm not sure why I'm posting this really. I'm sure somebody will say "dude, if its working for you, then go with it", which is cool, but I'd kind of like an educated opinion on this. I'm hoping somebody who's been doing this for years will say, yeah, that sounds feasible. But if the alternative is true, then I would like to know if I'm fooling myself, because I really don't know. And I'm sure I could probably fool myself quite easily.
I don't even know if I'm Lifting the Sky correctly, but sometimes it feels right and sometimes it doesn't, so if someone could drop in a useful description of how to do that or any other basic Chi Kung it would be MUCH appreciated. I've had to take on work in the evenings, so I don't get to see my Sifu much. I want to make sure I'm not wasting my time, or causing myself any harm. Although the difference in co-ordination between my movements and my breathing is suprising, as when I first started, I felt like I was going to pop or something. Now it feels good.
Thanks for reading this far, and even more thanks if you post a reply. I don't mind being shot down in flames. It would be disappointing and probably humiliating, but at least I could stop being under a false impression. Opinions on whether 5/10 minutes every night is enough would also be appreciated.
Thankyou. :)