Wudang/Shaolin, Qigong/Yoga
O.K. let me be more specific.
Here is a quote from Zheng Man Qing.
"Moreover, taichi stresses sinking your chi to the tantien extrapolated from Lao Tzu's concept of concentrating your chi to become soft and young. The Taoist phrase, "The waterwheel spins backward," depicts the flow of chi as it travels up your spinal Tu Meridian, passing first through your wei-lu then the Jade Pillow, and on up to your ni-wan point. This process is called "Opening the Three Gates" and is explained in the Taichi Classics: "When your wei-lu is centered and straight your spirit can rise to your headtop." Seminal energy is worked until it transmutes into spirit - which probably proceeds from within the bones. Conversely, Bodhidharma's arts as explained in his "Sinew Changing" and "Marrow Cleansing" classics do develop chi, but the chi is allowed to proceed along its natural course up your frontal Jen Meridian to your face. The chi hardens because it follows your sinews and vessels without changing into spirit - attributes of an external system"
Now, my taijiquan instructor do Iron Shirt Neigon. When I hit him, his body was like baloon. On the other hand, for what I can see, hard/external style Neigon seems to turn your body into steel.
Moreover, my experience of yoga is that thought it has as much internal aspect as Qigong, it is a hard arts where one must get the structure right then relax internally.
So would this contrast between Shaolin and Wudang kung fu apply to Yoga and Qigong.
Plus, the above quote make no sense to me at all. Can anyone explain to me what the difference between hard and soft chi.
Re: Wudang/Shaolin, Qigong/Yoga
Let me try my best to explain this, although some things you are saying are very specific to tai-ji training and I do not necessarily understand the translation is...
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Originally posted by Vapour
O.K. let me be more specific.
Here is a quote from Zheng Man Qing.
"Moreover, taichi stresses sinking your chi to the tantien extrapolated from Lao Tzu's concept of concentrating your chi to become soft and young. The Taoist phrase, "The waterwheel spins backward," depicts the flow of chi as it travels up your spinal Tu Meridian, passing first through your wei-lu then the Jade Pillow, and on up to your ni-wan point. This process is called "Opening the Three Gates" and is explained in the Taichi Classics: "When your wei-lu is centered and straight your spirit can rise to your headtop." Seminal energy is worked until it transmutes into spirit - which probably proceeds from within the bones. Conversely, Bodhidharma's arts as explained in his "Sinew Changing" and "Marrow Cleansing" classics do develop chi, but the chi is allowed to proceed along its natural course up your frontal Jen Meridian to your face. The chi hardens because it follows your sinews and vessels without changing into spirit - attributes of an external system"
I think the class of yoga you are speaking of has much to do with forms of breath manipulation. Essentially, if your mind is free from duality, the mind will naturally enter into the center channel and up into the head. This is the process of birth and the process of death. In fact, this subtle energy passage is contnuously happening, and everyday in the process cycle of sleep and awake.
Here in, many "yogas" (I refer to the specific yogas such as anu) either manipulate the mind directly to affect non-duality or directly affect the breathe with the knowledge that the single pointed mind is the guidance of prana. I think you can imagine what I am saying, the relationship between the duality of the mind and the path of qi is undifferential in the unenlightened being.
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Now, my taijiquan instructor do Iron Shirt Neigon. When I hit him, his body was like baloon. On the other hand, for what I can see, hard/external style Neigon seems to turn your body into steel.
I am not too versed on the concept of hard/soft qi-gong, but there are plenty of practitioners here that do, such as dezhen and Repulsive Monkey and more...
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Moreover, my experience of yoga is that thought it has as much internal aspect as Qigong, it is a hard arts where one must get the structure right then relax internally.
So would this contrast between Shaolin and Wudang kung fu apply to Yoga and Qigong.
Shaolin religious Qi-Gong practise emphasises the non-duality of mind. Although it is not much followed these days, the students go through a stage of preliminary practise of visualising or paying homage to the Buddha. Students who have mastered this non-duality will then enter into the generation stage yogas and then taught to channel energy into their dan-tien with their though as the vehicle.
Nowadays, practitioners take up the practise of breath manipulation and the fundamental practise is learning the breathe into the dan-tien.
There is a key hidden difference in the two that I would rather not talk about, but it is, in all cases, very very similar.
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Plus, the above quote make no sense to me at all. Can anyone explain to me what the difference between hard and soft chi.
In summary, really, a lot of the differences in yogas comes to a final goal, and that goal is to achieve the ability to willingly move their energy into the central channels, and evoke the mother and father elements and achieve ultimate wisdom of the indestructable truth about all life forms, what Buddhist call the Buddha Nature or sometimes interpreted by the word Bodhicitta (which is also used to describe the meditation of selflessness and loving kindness). Another explanation you might choose to use is that of sombogakhaya and dharmakaya.