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View Full Version : Chi Kung newbie. Need help - am I a silly boy?



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. :)

prana
11-28-2001, 01:01 AM
sounds like positive steps. I don't think you are being silly at all, quite good actually. I just might add, you mightnt want to become too attached to those 'benefits'.... that way, more will come.

Becoming attached to the is like stopping on a freeway to admire a flower and becoming attached and not moving on.

[Censored]
11-28-2001, 03:25 AM
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.

LOL. Are you sure that is an uneducated opinion, dude? :)

Opinions on whether 5/10 minutes every night is enough would also be appreciated.

If you increase it to, say, 30 minutes a night, the effects may become more pronounced. Then, maybe your doubts will be laid to rest.

Kune
11-28-2001, 07:46 AM
umm.. here is my humble views on what you are experiencing. This is my attempt at an educational opinion at all this stuff based from my limited experience.. so dont quote me but ya here goes ;)

uumm...

1. When studying the internal stuff you get faster, stronger, more empathic because your energy is always growing. So naturally without even physically practicing, you will get faster, stronger, smarter. Simple result from giving your body more energy to work with, and training the spirit, and yada yada. Now imagine if you practiced the physical aspects along with the internal.. double the effect! Just be careful your physical training doesnt hinder your internal training(this is why you stick to a single system all the way because the external/internal training is meant to work/support all together, physical and internal, and this is the risk of crosstraining, because the internal/external training will not mix correctly).

2. Having strong chi makes your body more resistant to cold. Since cold is usually the absense of chi, and if you have strong chi, it takes alot more cold to make you cold ;)

3. Internal training also trains the spirit and the mind. Nuff said ;)

Soo no.. you DONT sound like a nut! There are a whole buncha people doin the same thing you are doing soooO ya ;) But all this is from my limited experience so dont quote me k! Train on bro!


~Learn Rightious!

prana
11-28-2001, 08:24 AM
just to add, doing too much too suddenly and cause heat build up in the wrong places, and no way of guiding it back.

So take your time. Don't rush it...

Om Namo Bhagawate Bhekanzyai
Guru Bendurya prabha randzaya
Tathagata arhate samyaksam buddhaya tayata om Bhekanzyai Bhekanzyai Maha Bhekanzyai Randza Samudgate Soha

scotty1
11-28-2001, 06:34 PM
That is very helpful. Its nice to have what I am experiencing explained in terms of Chi development.
Thanks everyone!!

Nexus
11-28-2001, 07:48 PM
Qi gong is an excellent practices for cultivating qi as well as promoting relaxaiton, harmonizing the body, and enhancing the mind on a psychological and spiritual level. The reason we do tai chi in a basic sense is to allow the spirit to flow throughout the body among other things.

The results you are experiencing are often the results that we were all very excited about experiencing in our early practices. All sorts of changes will occur physiologically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, energetically and so on throughout your practices of kungfu as well as the internal aspects of kungfu ie. tai chi quan (qi gong), baguazhang, hsing-i and others.

What you are feeling is what you are feeling, nobody can deny these results or tell you that you did not feel such and such. It is especially important to give attention to the way the body feels before, during and after qi gong meditations. This allows us to learn from each meditation individually and take insights out of it as they come as well. We also become more attuned to our own bodies and what aspects of our bodies need working on more then others. By this I mean some of us carry more tension in the shoulders where others may carry it in the arms from use of a computer all day, and others carry more in the lower back etc. All of these things we discover throughout our practices and we find that the more we practice the more we have to work on and make progress in.

What you are experiencing is often referred to as moving from wu chi to tai chi and back to wu chi again. This means that you opened your mind, emptied previous ideas and concepts and allowed yourself to experience something completely new and foreign without casting opinion and so forth onto it before giving it a chance. In being empty, you allow yourself to be filled with anything that you choose, and the possibilities become limitless for your growth. As you grow in a direction, as prana in an above message mentioned, you will begin to experience certain effects and sensations and these at first can be surprising and very enjoyable. It is ok to enjoy them or experience them, but you will reach much more as you continue going deeper and deeper into your meditative practices and kungfu practices. This is why we don't become too attached to any one particular sensation or feeling as we will become stuck each time we reach that particular sensation or feeling during our practices. Instead, we begin just recognizing it, and letting it pass. The ability to attach and dissattach comes with practice, time and growth. This ability is more commonly known as willpower.

Enjoy your learning!

- Nexus

scotty1
11-29-2001, 02:12 PM
very much Nexus. :)