suggestions for basic beginner solitary practice?

[5_fists]

hey gents - i was wondering if anyone could suggest to me, a starter set of chi kung that i could give a shot on my own? something general for health thatd be ok to try by myself.

background - did some wuzuquan kung fu in my mid-late teens off and on , in college did some shotokan, and some shaolin kung fu/tai chi - never got beyond the basics with any of it though, i tended to take the beginner classes over and over. basically dropped out of it all around 25, and am now 38..

never did any chi work, thought i'd give it a bit of a try and see if it calls to me. thinking back now, i kinda wish i'd stuck with some it, but, as they say, that was then, this is now.

any suggestions appreciated

[rett]

I was in a rather similar situation to yours a few years ago and I'd suggest a combination of zhan zhuang and sitting meditation. You can always build on it with movement exercises later, or in parallel.

My take on it would be that if you don't have a teacher you don't want to do intricate exercises where you manipulate chi. Better perhaps to do simple exercises that cultivate chi naturally and let the body open up on its own.

Here are two books that explain their subjects well enough to work without a teacher and that are "safe" in the sense that you won't injure yourself or have a meditation freakout as long as you follow the instructions. Other people will probably have other ideas, but these two books are what I would go for. These both give you reliable, real stuff in my opinion.

The Way of Energy
http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Energy...dp/0671736450/

The Method of No Method
http://www.amazon.com/The-Method-No-...dp/1590305752/

As a complement to the latter you could also look at the section on sitting meditation and following the breath in
Hoofprint of the Ox
http://www.amazon.com/Hoofprint-Ox-P...dp/0195152484/

These are just a couple of ideas that you could compare with other people's suggestions. Good luck finding what suits you best.

[RickMatz]

I put together a collection of links here.

[Hendrik]

Try out my ykt drills
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNAlfwK5C_Y

[madhusudan]

I would echo rett's words. Here is a series on zhan zhuang worth watching:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y07FauHYlmg

[Neeros]

I really suggest you find a good teacher.

[rett]

I put together a collection of links here.

Thanks for the links. Nice page.

[rett]

I would echo rett's words. Here is a series on zhan zhuang worth watching:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y07FauHYlmg

Nice video, thanks!

[rett]

Try out my ykt drills
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNAlfwK5C_Y

Hendrik, thanks for the video lesson.

[rett]

I really suggest you find a good teacher.

Probably the best course. But they can be hard to find. And perhaps trying to get started on one's own is a way to be a good student.

[Bacon]

Probably the best course. But they can be hard to find. And perhaps trying to get started on one's own is a way to be a good student.

No. It's a way to build bad habits and which will be harder to get rid of than to train good habits from scratch. Likely it will prove fruitless entirely as there's no partner to train with, and even if there were there's no one to correct.

Proper instruction is the only way.

[rett]

No. It's a way to build bad habits and which will be harder to get rid of than to train good habits from scratch. Likely it will prove fruitless entirely as there's no partner to train with, and even if there were there's no one to correct.

Proper instruction is the only way.

What you describe can happen, I'm sure, and I try to keep that in mind. But I believe that if you're sensible and follow the instructions you can derive benefit from a video course like the one posted by madhusudan above, or from the corresponding book.

What do you use a partner for in zhan zhuang?

[Bacon]

The best thing a beginner can do on their own is go pay for some fitness instruction and get their basic strength and cardio up. Past that anything else is a hindrance rather than help. You need a teacher.

[Matthew]

What you describe can happen, I'm sure, and I try to keep that in mind. But I believe that if you're sensible and follow the instructions you can derive benefit from a video course like the one posted by madhusudan above, or from the corresponding book.

What do you use a partner for in zhan zhuang?

Hi rett,

hope all is going well. I've seen videos where partner is used to correct natural feeling in the posture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUTW0CjGebw

I've seen better videos explaining it- but that's the central idea [from the video]. A Partner can be an "expedient" device in your zhan zhuang.

The teacher in the video has mentioned in his videos he would rather his students do this type of "push hands" to learn standing stake skill rather than have them just do standing stake. This type of practice "internal push hands" also has strong medical implications I bet.

IMO, a proper teacher will teach you standing stake such that the posture will naturally open -this is my experience through Master Wu/De Jian at least with my Zhan Zhuang.

Solo zhan zhuang is powerful cultivation

[rett]

Matthew, howdy Thanks for the video and ideas. It reminds me of some of the ways they use push-hands methods to test standing structure in the taiji group I attend. So I stand corrected.