mantis qigong

[xiao yao]

Hi

I was just wondering, what if any qigong practices people train as part of their mantis

I mostly practice basic standing and sitting - small cosmic orbit and just focussing on my dantian

Our lineage also contains ba duan jin, yi jin jing and luohan gong, but I havent learnt them

[mooyingmantis]

I have my students practice microcosmic orbit meditation during stance training. We also have another method of qigong training for iron palm.

[xiao yao]

my first mantis teacher taught a qigong set that has some similarities to yijinjing and baduanjin but i dont know what it was. he also taught some postures from yi quan

with stance training ive been taught just to focus on my dantian. then "press the feet into the ground and grip the floor like roots" and "pull one arm back as if pulling a tigers tail, push the other arm forward as if moving mount tai"

[Tainan Mantis]

Praying Mantis of the different families contain different types of qi gung.
Some of the exercises are a combination of mental imagery adopted by some masters in Mantis.

Others are specific to kung fu and Praying Mantis Boxing.
Three Turns Nine Rotations includes striking the body and is for those who train kung fu.

Eight Section Brocade helps to adjust and balance the body. The version in Mantis is very different from that seen in other schools.

In all the cases, breathing with air is a beginning requirement. In Three Turns Nine Rotations this is called 'ping qi.'

I wrote an article on this subject here Taste the Air

[mooyingmantis]

Kevin,

Interesting article, as always!

What would be the character for ping, 平 ?

[xiao yao]

thanks for the article kevin

in taiji mantis, ping qi is the foundation of the qigong sets. it can be done standing, sitting or lying down.

[Tainan Mantis]

Kevin,

Interesting article, as always!

What would be the character for ping, 平 ?

Thanks, yes, that is correct. I am including it in the article now.

[Tainan Mantis]

in taiji mantis, ping qi is the foundation of the qigong sets. it can be done standing, sitting or lying down.

Yes, I tried to keep a lot of details out of the article and focus on a single aspect.
I can tell you that there is probably no ping qi lying down outside in the dirt cuz' we'd get dirty.

In the study of qi there are so many tangents that you can connect to for the purpose of education or articles or your own practice. Once I mention Ping Qi it leads one to ask, what are the types of ping qi, when is it used, and then to go into more about qi etc...

[xiao yao]

I often do it lying down before I sleep, I wouldnt want to do it in the Chinese parks with all the spit on the floor haha

[mantis108]

Personally, Tanglang Qigong is build on one foundation move. That is generally known as "Xian Ren Gong Shou" (Immortal Raises Hands). In fact, this move is partially incorporated into most if not all Greater Meihua Lineage Mantis forms.

The partial move is sometime known as "Wei Xing Shou" or Chu Xing Shou". So in a sense, all mantis forms are applied Qigong; thus, they are not meant to be purely physical in nature. This is also one of the reason that forms in mantis are not in the same category as dancing routines and/or other organized exercise regiments.

Therefore, to understand and to excel in mantis all one needed is to focus on the "gong" which is summarized by "Xian Ren Gong Shou".

Mantis108

[xiao yao]

Thanks for the info. So I take that to mean that the focus of mantis qigong is to move qi between the upper, middle and lower dantians (aka san jiao)??...

[mantis108]

Well, if you read Chinese here's my Qigong "theory" in a nut shell. I wrote this for a Chinese forum discussion. Hope it helps.

三戰或三正以頭手足為三正來鍛煉內氣外形。某程度上講是屬於導引術之一。煉內氣之原理大致是借用道家內丹修 煉法門但同時亦有借用中醫學理論如經絡學說、子午流注之類。

道家內丹修煉法門是指煉精化氣、煉氣化神、煉神還虛。這是講變化氣質之問題，其中關鍵就在於丹田出入。所以 百日築基必要戒色就是源於道家煉精化氣之理念。

練武也是以變化氣質為目的，也可說是其終極關懷。變化氣質實際點說即 是人如何轉弱為強之可能。拳術家因此以丹田出入來貫通鍛煉內氣外形。

丹田出入具體地說是把中醫學理論中陽氣、陰血、十二正經和奇經八脈這些內科範疇與骨骼形骸這些外科範疇透過 丹田出入這個道家竅門有機地連貫起來從而建構一套具體修煉方法。

道家煉內氣注重的是丹田與奇經八脈之間的關系即 內科範疇最為深層之處。可是拳術家要致用的話就要透過軀體四肢。那麼內外科範疇也就必須同時兼顧。因此就有 了三正這個概念。

奇經八脈以任督二脈為主。任脈在人身之前主一身之陰，而督脈在人身之後主一身之陽。所以搭橋( 以舌尖頂上 )與提肛就是為把任督二脈連接起來從而使一身之陰陽交接。道家術語稱為心腎相交、水火相濟。

十二正經之手三陰三陽及足三陰三陽與五臟六腑關系密切。正經分佈於頭手足三部故此三部正則五臟六腑亦得其正 。此時正經中陽氣充盛就會注入奇經。拳術家要用的就是這種氣透過丹田轉化為透於筋膜之間的內勁。所以有話筋 膜長一分，打人勁亦長一分。所以三正(三戰)那種伸縮往來之勢其實就是在練透於筋膜之間的內勁而不是光在做 動作。

Mantis108