Greetings Gene and Mickey - indeed it has been awhile, much has happened since I last posted on the forum here. At the time I was in the midst of grad school and things were really intense trying to balance study time and working - in essence I was on the computer average 14 hours a day and felt the need to break from the screen. Life is intense in a different way now, but I now revel in a brief moment when I can log on as I am no longer a computer jockey...

I've been revisiting my practice in Baduanjin with great interest, as my body has recently been facing some challenges - namely, not enough vigorous exercise and not enough sleep, as our newborn son wakes every couple of hours through the night Anyhow, my usual qigong routine, while performed standing is more of a nei dan routine and I was feeling the need for more external, more physical routine to keep the body lithe and strong. I learned Baduanjin from one of the Shaolin monks, though my memory may need some help - it was either Shi Decheng or Shi Xinghao back around 2004 or 2005 - Gene was there so he might remember better than me.

Anyhow, the years have left me with questions on how to perform the routine - like the breathing during this technique... I realize the exercise can be performed in various ways, yielding different results. I'm convinced there are more RIGHT ways to do the technique than wrong.

Quote Originally Posted by mickey View Post
There is no contraction of the muscles of the arms and shoulders which really defeats a lot of benefit from the exercise. ... ...
This is another question of mine - there is a subtle balance necessary here - too much tension blocks the flow of Qi and creates stagnation, not enough tension and the exercise feels "empty". Personally, I like to emphasize tension at the end of the motion to emphasize the tendons and ligaments.

Have either of you experimented much with varying the amount of tension used while executing the movements and what did you notice?

Happy Friday,

herb ox