Category Archives: tai chi chuan

Tai Chi Chuan Exercise for Building More Chi Energy

When it comes to building that thing called chi energy, tai chi kung fu is one of the best. What’s interesting is that the principles used in that martial art can be used in Karate, taekwondo, aikido, or whatever. The central principles being utilized, you see, are pretty universal.

One of the first practices one might find, if one finds a good tai chi chuan style, is ‘holding the bowl.’ This is an easy practice, at least for the first few minutes…smile. One simply goes into an hourglass position, back very slightly rounded, and holds the arms as if embracing a large pot.

chi projection

Try this Jedi Mind Trick!

The first challenge in this stance is that of the mental aspect. One’s mind starts to have thoughts, and these thoughts are a distraction. Once one has dedicated himself to getting past this phenomena, the mind thoughts start to disappear.

The second challenge in doing this drill is physical in nature. After sixty minutes or so, the body tends to get riled. It doesn’t want to run energy through it, it doesn’t want the discipline, and it will shake and shimmy and and even try to get sick.

Just ignore the mental yak yak, and forget the body protest, and focus yourself on the stillness of the mind (listening to the universe), and move chi power through the body. After a short while of holding the pot one will start to feel chi energy vibration, and there are many things you can do with this energy. You can move the power around the ‘pot’ of the upper limbs, you can circle it around the meridian running through the center of the front and back of the body, and you can do all sorts of other things.

What is of importance is that this posture has heavy martial arts function. After becoming competent at this posture, doing the karate kata called Sanchin will reveal amazing amounts of subtle chi power. One’s martial arts abilities will truly start to glow.

This exercise, incidentally, is based on one of the ten arm positions, as discussed in ‘The Perfect Technique,’ (Quality Press). Thus, it becomes an important technique for martial arts studies. The central principle behind this book is that there are only ten positions the arms can take that will ‘run’ chi power, and that the position of the limbs in the ‘holding the bowl’ exercise, as done in tai chi martial arts, is the first and probably the most critical of these arm positions.

Study the logical way of growing <a href=”http://www.monstermartialarts.com/Matrixing_Chi.html”>Chi Power</a> through arts like Shaolin and <a href=”http://www.monstermartialarts.com/Five_Army_Tai_Chi_Chuan.html”>Tai Chi Chuan</a>. Go to Monster Martial Arts, and make sure you pick up a free martial arts book.

Pa Kua Chang, Aikido, and Controlling a Mob!

Control a Mob Using Aikido, Pa Kua Chang, or Other Martial Art!

I was reading a martial arts journal several years ago, I think it was Black Belt, and I stumbled upon this anecdote involving Morihei Ueshiba. O Sensei would go to different towns and put on Aikido exhibitions. I have no doubt the exhibitions were spectacular, however the thing that inspired the heck out of me was the tale his uchideshi (inside student) provided regarding O Sensei’s crowd walking procedure.

pa kua chang aikido

Build Unlimited Chi!

 

When traveling across a train station (for example) O Sensei would just walk straight forward, emanating his chi, and the masses would part. Individuals might turn and stare at this imperious titan, then the masses would close up. The Uchi deshi, packed with trunks and bags, would struggle through the closing people.

The thing that inspired me about this relating of event was not that a man could easily emanate effective chi and sweep back a masses, but that it reminded me of my very own crowd walking experiences.

When I was in eleventh grade I used to love to run through groups. I might be late for class, or merely playing tag with someone, and all of a sudden something would come over me and I would be in complete sprint. The halls would certainly be jammed, and I would be turning on the penny, scrambling full tilt, not able to be tripped (and a few of the teenagers would certainly make an effort). Young women might gasp and also offer little shrieks as I ran full tilt towards them, then turned and spun around them. The ground resembled a magnet to my feet, I never ever slipped, it was like I was flash, yet with magic glue on my soles.

O Sensei’s crowd walking blew me away, however it was so different from mine.

Emanating chi like he was a walking heater. It was the start of my martial arts calling, and control of chi in such outstanding way was yet a dream. Still, I had my very own strategy.

As time went on I acquired the capacity to exhibit chi, though not to the degree of O Sensei, yet, remarkably, I started to hold my very own approach up as perhaps not so scruffy.

The key, of course, was in engaging in Pa Kua Chang, in walking the circle. Particularly, I would focus on walking INCREDIBLY slowly. I would feel the chi go up and down the legs, and I started to comprehend a few things.

One, there was even more finesse in my procedure than merely turning it on and blasting individuals back.

Two, Pa Kua Chang in fact didn’t instruct individuals to crowd walk like I was doing it. Classic Pa Kua Chang was more into tricky hands, and not into fine tuning the walk itself. Walking slowly, concentrating the mindset on the generation and control of chi in the legs, made lightening in the legs. And this lead to the next understanding.

Three, I could show individuals ways to walk through crowds ten times more effortlessly and successfully, and there was a WHOLE LOT more contentment in the teaching.

Chi blasting a group is enjoyable, however it is pretty much a bully method.

Understanding ways to worm through the people at high speeds inspires the resourcefulness, it is subtle, it needs more entire body strategy. And this last is fascinating, and actually crucial to the expanding martial artist.

Contrast it to a musical instrument. Chi blasting such as O Sensei did is comparable to the opening chords of’ 2001: A Space Odyssey.’ (Thus Spoke Zarathustra). Crowd walking such as I explain and instruct with my unique Pa Kua Chang resembles playing Flight of the bumblebee.

One is spectacular, the other is elaborate. One is remarkable, the other is subtle. One is overpowering, the other is shading subtleties of colour unto infinity.

And, of course, when it pertains to crowd walking martial arts procedures, one shoujld understand both. Have the ability to be subtle, and blast at a second’s notice.

You can easily check into my specific Pa Kua Chang at Monster Martial Arts.

The Best Way To Do Gung Fu Kicks

I say Gung Fu kicks, but the advice of this article holds for Karate Kicks, Taekwondo kicks, or any martial arts kicks. There are two things that we need to cover when considering the best way to kick somebody’s, uh…fanny. One is keeping to the basic kicks, and the other is the mechanics of the kicks involved.

gung fu kick

Don't just focus your fist, learn how to focus your feet!

 


When doing Gung Fu kicks one can get carried away with a lengthy list of circus moves. This includes jumping, spinning, and contorting in all sorts of ways. These things, however, while a blast and a benefit to the student, are not always good in a street brawl. Thus, when practicing martial arts kicks one should stick to the four kicks: front, side, wheel (roundhouse), or spinning rear kick.

When training in these leg moves make sure that you raise the knee. Raising the knee commits the hips, and therefore the whole body. A good tool to help you do this is to practice kicking over a chair.

Make sure that you use the correct part of the foot when striking. The basic parts are the toes, the ball of the foot, the instep, and the heel. When selecting which part of the foot to utilize, remember that the smallest striking area will focus the greatest amount of power.

Always turn the hips into your technique. Turning the hips commits the whole weight of the body into self defense move. This must be done quick and whiplike, all pieces moving as one functioning unit.

Do not waste time in the chambering position. One must kick like a whip, up from the ground to the target point, and back down from the target point to the ground. To hold in chamber is to take the power out of the kick, and to render it into pieces.

Kick at the right distance. Just as you shouldn’t fist when at foot distance, don’t foot when at fist distance. The better strategy is not to rob yourself of power and range, but to get so good at the basics that you can’t be stopped.

Most important rule of all: do hundreds, even thousands, of kicks every day. The fool who thinks ten kicks per foot per kick per day is enough is just that…a fool. Only by dedicating oneself, by going fanatic and mad dog in your training, whether in Gung Fu kicks, or whatever type of leg movement you are practicing, will you hope to obtain the best benefits that your martial arts discipline has to offer.

Real Shaolin and the Fight with Beavis and Butthead

The Case for Real Shaolin Kung Fu

I practice real Shaolin Kung Fu, and the rest of the world doesn’t.

Don’t you just love a knucklehead statement like that? I mean, the fellow who makes it has broken rule number one: he thinks he is the only one, and therefore he is knee deep in loco.


shaolin kung fu
That said, let me give you a rundown on real Shaolin Kung Fu, and what the rest of the world is practicing.

If you are learning a tradition with respect, no matter who the teacher is, no matter what the argument is between form and function, you are learning real Shaolin kung fu. And, hey, while we’re at it, this statement extends to other styles of Kung Fu, such as wing chun, hung gar, preying mantis, or whatever.

And, to put it another way…are you learning, or are you fighting?

Now, here comes the part where I offend people. The UFCers and the MMAers are fighting, so they are not doing a martial art. They are doing a martial sport.

A lot of people get upset with me when I say something like this, they take it as a personal attack,and then explain how their school is different.

And that is the dividing point, is their school teaching, or is it promoting fighting?

It is a simple question, with a simple answer, and Beavis and Butthead can’t answer it.

You know Beavis and Butthead? They are the fellows with bad grammar who go to forums and sites and drop comments like UR STOOPID! (note the misspelling), and F*** U! (No asterisks)

Brilliant fellows these, and they don’t study real Shaolin kung fu. They study ca ca humor and eat with their mouth open and it’s really important who won the fight.

But it’s not important who won the fight. What’s importnat is whethere an individual is actually learning, becoming more disciplined and aware, exploring the manifestations of spirituality that a human being is.

The real fight, you see, is not between the gladiators in the ring, it is between the edification of the human spirit, and the degradation of the human meatball.

That’s why I study real Shaolin kung fu, and that is the dividing line one must find in their own art if they are to win the martial art war.

Making use of Shaolin Meitation to Rule the Globe

Shaolin Meditation Breakthrough!

I had been studying Karate for a while, and I was fasinated by the concept of Shaolin Meditation. I had read of it in a book, and it definitely did seem like something I desired to do. Heck, one book I reviewed pointed out that if a guy might focus on merely one thing for as little as 3 minutes he could rule the planet!


shaolin meditation3 minutes? Heck, that was absolutely nothing!

And if I did it I would certainly be the most effective martial artist in the planet! I could easily knock over walls, be a wafting, disembodied intelligence. No wall could control me! No changing booth could be immune from my kung fu powers!

At the time I was working in a plastics factory in San Jose. Being rather burnt out with making heat shrinkable tubes, I made a decision that the day had actually come when I would certainly understand martial arts concentration and command the planet.

Lunchtime, and I walked out to the parking lot and into the orchard next door. I chose a round stone for my one thing, and sat down on the curb. My thoughts filled with plans for exactly what I would probably do when I had actually vanquished the globe, I consumed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and psychologically equipped myself.

Done with sandwich, I positioned the round stone on the ground and sat cross-legged just before it. I could not do a zazen sitting posture, or a yoga lotus asana, or anything like that, so I figured sitting Indian fashion might probably need to do it.

I gave myself a shake, lowered my gaze, and concentrated on the stone.

It was round. Probably I touched on that, however I did observe that it was round. And the colour dirt. Well, of course, I had actually gotten it from an orchard and … I psychologically shook myself and required myself to cease thinking. I needed to concentrate, be a laser, command the planet. My eyes stared at the rock.

A short time passed. I speculated just how I was expected to realize when 3 seconds passed. It sure was a very long time. I tossed that thought out of the way and stared at the stone once more.

After a while, I was sure 2 minutes had actually passed. I proceeded, awaiting the heavens to open, anticipating God to bow down, awaiting the cosmos to open and enjoy me as their rightful ruler.

And, 3 minutes … at least I think it was 3 minutes … I was bored. Absolutely nothing was occurring.

I picked up the rock, tossed it over my shoulder and back into the orchard and … I all of a sudden recognized something. The rock had not been dull … I was boring. The rock was merely sitting there, doing nothing, it was me that had actually made it, and reality, and life … boring.

I stood then, and life was never ever the same after that. I was never ever bored ever again. I occasionally ponder where that round stone is. Heck, if I could possibly discover it I might be up for one more 3 minutes of martial arts meditation … the things I could quite possibly discover!

Knock Out Somebody with a Good Kung Fu Punch

Kung Fu Punch Knocks ’em All the Way Out!

If you would like to knock out someone Kung Fu is a great device, however it does take a bit of understanding.

Hardest punch

A Tight Fist is a Heavy Fist!

 


Initially, you can easily knock someone out with a Kung Fu punch to the body, and I in fact encourage it. I’ll go into that very first, and explain the very first knock out procedure.

85 % of the people toss a right hand to the face. This is generally an ill become pregnant round home punch, and it is predictable and quickly stopped. So you establish for a really good, challenging punch to the face, then you drive a straight line to the intestine.

Mind you, this is a thrusting punch, and you wish to lock your arm and go all the way with the fellow.

Many fellows do not have exceptional conditioning, and so the body support system collapses, and they are down, and can also be entirely unconscious. It takes a heck of a wallop, however it can easily work. Practice driving your punch with a heavy bag every day for an hour. Get the idea that you can not be ceased. Watch the bag bounce away.

The additional and more confident knock out, is the punch to the head. When you punch the head you are attempting to rattle the mind inside the head. To in fact make it slosh from side to side so challenging it flattens out on the inside of the head, and the fellow you hit drops unconscious.

And, yes, you can easily thrust through the head, the same as if you thrust through the body.

However, the far better strategy is the light flick of the Kung Fu fist. It takes no energy, is mounted by a solitary clear and to the point notion, and it explains the ‘invisible punch,’ that Mohammed Ali made use of to knock out Sonny Liston. Individuals thought that the punch didn’t connect, that Liston took a dive, however, actually, Ali simply flicked a fist easily, you can easily see Liston’s head duck down somewhat, then he is merely falling.

To do this punch you need to be light and easy. You must hang a rate bag and float by it, and simply snap your hand like you were snapping a dish towel. You desire the bag to rattle from side to side like rocks in a can. The fellow will not see it coming, or he will definitely dismiss it as light in weight since there seems to be no mass behind it. However, when it connects, bingo, lights out!

In closing I will certainly point out that it takes work to make this kind of speed punch work, and I might advise that one find out ways to break bricks with excellent Kung Fu punches if they would like to truly master this Kung Fu trick.

Chi Power through Unique Martial Arts Breathing Practice

Martial Arts Breathing and Chi Power

The capacity to generate beams of energy, though I have actually never ever seen nor become aware of it went over, is at the heart of martial arts breathing practices. I feature pressor or tractor or any other sort of beam in this conversation.
A beam is a line of energy drive outward from the body of the martial performer, and this beam is normally built upon a line, though it need not be.
martial arts breath

It can be pointed out that your martial art is not a real martial art unless it creates the capability to produce a beam of energy at will.
Many martial practices on world globe are aspired towards constructing muscle, or the shabby pretext of stimulating body parts. The function of this post is to awaken the reader to the capacity of developing beams of energy.
The first thing to be recognized is that the body is absolutely nothing more than just an appliance. It is a natural machine built of meat and bone and several connecting systems. Definitely, to the individual unused to a body, it can easily appear like a Rubic’s cube, however, in fact, it is remarkably straightforward to make use of.
To utilize the body as a beam power generator one need to engage in classic forms, and comprehend the value of classic postures.
To engage in the classic postures needs work, which work demands the production of energy in the Tan Tien, which is the one point, which is absolutely nothing more than just an energy power generator on a body/machine degree.
This work must be supplemented by breathing in accordance with the development or contraction of the body.
To posture, to work, to breath, to focus interest along the course of the arms, to envision. It is creative imagination that sets us apart from the beasts, and it is creative imagination that is required to produce the concept of a beam of energy coming out of the body. You need to engage in till the mind is calm then it will definitely have the ability to picture.
To check your capacity to beam it is essential to make use of an easy and frequently over looked trick. Set up a candle and face it, punch, and cease your fist an inch from the flame.
Do not trick flick the flame by leaving the line of the beam, however focus, and keep the line of the beam as straight as feasible. With success over time, cease your fist 2 inches from the flame, then further. Enhance distance till you can easily put out the flame from throughout the area. At some point, with fantastic persistence and want, you will certainly have the ability to just examine the flame and make it go out.
There are those that laugh and such practices as detailed right here are of little value, and there are those that will definitely not linger, however look for the instant gratification of easy battling. Then there are those that will certainly find out the depths of their being with this easy activity.
The distinction between the two is faith, view in yourself, and the need to awaken your real capabilities, and therefore awaken yourself, and this is at the heart of the Neutronic idea behind generating a beam of energy through Martial Arts breathing.

Neutronics And Chi Power In The Martial Arts

Chi Power is probably most measurable in the Martial Arts. There are instances in all the styles of kung fu, especially Tai Chi Chuan and Pa Kua Chang, of people using chi energy to accomplish spectacular feats. From breaking bricks to ripping the bark off of trees to balancing a handstand on one finger, chi has proven to be real.

pa kua book

This writer’s first introduction to chi was in the fact of breaking bricks. This was back in 1967, when he witnessed people shearing bricks with chops, and literally shattering bricks with half knuckle punches. Breaking bricks was just the start, however.

In the early seventies Inside Kung Fu magazine came out with a piece of writing which highlighted various chi power feats. The photographs in this article were grainy, but done in circumstances which didn’t allow room for fraud. The feats shown were not normal in any meaning of the word.

There was one photo in which an old man severed a six foot length of green bamboo in half–very springy stuff–while it was perched on a pair of eggs. Another excellent photo was the fellow who held an empty 5 gallon glass jar with an upside down, open palm. This writer’s favorite photograph, however, was the fellow who took a punch to the belly, then kept the punch ‘glued’ to his belly with Chi Power.

It is unarguable that chi power exists, and it is a fact that modern science cannot explain it. There is one technology, however that has made great strides in explaining Chi energy. This is the physics known as Neutronics.

You won’t find descriptions of Neutronics in any textbook, and even google will have a hard time finding the subject. This is because it is a recent discovery. It doesn’t help that neutronics was put formulated outside the empirical theory of modern day technologies.

There is actually good reason that this new technology was–had to be–formulated outside the realm of normal methods. Neutronics, you see, is the physics behind normal science. While normal science measures the universe, Neutronics defines the actuality of the universe.

Neutronics is not concerned with formulas having to do with distance and time and measurement of heat expansion or that sort of thing, but in the reality of that which is to be measured. What really holds a pebble together, that is the essence of this new technology, and this was more easily realized through a study of the martial arts, than in western laboratories. Neutronics is the study of the motors that hold this universe together, and any student can understand this, and chi power, once they begin learning martial arts such as pa kua chang, or tai chi chuan, and immersing themselves in neutronic theory.

To discover more about Neutronics and chi power in the martial arts, check out the new martial arts book, The Neutronic Motors of <a href=”http://alcase.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/release-pa-kua-chang/”>Pa Kua Chang</a>. Go to <a href=”http://www.monstermartialarts.com/NuetronicMotorsPaKuaChang.html”>Monster Martial Arts</a>.

Slow Martial Arts for Fast Martial Arts Students

Slow Martial Arts make for Fast Minds

I hear people, every once in a while, speak derogatorily of ‘slow martial arts’ like Tai Chi Chuan, Pa Kua, and that type of art. It’s not often, mostly just Beavis and Butthead types on youtube or etc.

slow martial arts

The fact of the matter is that it takes a lot of muscle to hold the limb up, or the body in a tai chi pose. This creates a unique type of strength I call ‘suspended strength,’ or ‘suspended energy.’

Of course, the Chinese masters of Tai Chi tend to call it all Chi, and they wouldn’t be wrong, but Chi tends to be a catchbasket phrase that describes too much stuff.

Even if I am slightly off in my definition, at least it separates the data into recognizable pieces.

The real kick on this slow martial arts thing is that after you have practiced long enough, you turn into a real fast martial arts practitioner. All that suspended energy becomes real usable.

It’s interesting, the explosive energy, the fahjing stuff, is incredibly fast and efficient. I think Karate has more fast, but the Chinese are more efficient, and the training methods are more body friendly.

Two peoples, two different methods, how fun.

And, not to change subject, just to slide off a bit, the Tai Chi Chuan does seem to elongate life span, make for better health. I think the Okinawans have a longer life span, but they likely have a better diet than the Chinese. It’s an interesting thing comparing and contrasting the various martial arts and martial artists and styles.

If you really want to compare and contrast, however, you need to matrix things. It’s the only martial science in the world that teaches you how to combine martial arts.

Karate and Tai Chi are basically the same, but the confusion over terms, jealous instructors, small minded students, they make it difficult.

Look, algebra is mathematics, and there are ways to combine them. The same holds true for the various martial arts. Unless you have opposing concepts, like the linear stances of shotokan karate and the circular hands of Chinese kenpo, almost everything can be made to fit together. It’s just a matter of knowing how, of knowing the devious little, hard to figure out tricks. But those are all in the first matrixing course, Matrix Karate.

Anyway, I have gone too far afield, this has been a page about about slow martial arts and fast martial arts students, and you have a great day.

 

How to Achieve Light Kung Fu…How to Walk on Water

Light Kung Fu, sometimes called Light Body Kung Fu, is one of those ancient myths behind which there might be truth. There are directions in old kung fu manuals concerning the discipline, and every once in a while you see something really amazing that makes people think that such things are possible. This article is going to be concerned with directions for getting to that exalted Kung Fu ability.

light kung fu

Can you Use Light Kung Fu to Float?

 


Basic directions for learning light kung fu, and being able to do martial arts techniques like leaping six feet straight up, are usually childish, or esoteric. The childish instructions are things like, ‘dig a hole and leap out of it one thousand times. Take one cup of dirt out of the earth every evening, and in ten years you will be able to jump out of a twelve foot pit.

Let’s look at this: one inch a day, 365 days times ten years, 3650 inches divided by twelve…guy should be able to  leap over 300 feet. Maybe he was supposed to take out a cup of dirt every week? But he would still be able to jump near 30 feet vertical.

The more esoteric directions said things like one must breath to the tan tien while you do the Leopard gives birth move. The third chakra must be engaged on year two, and the seventh chakra will ignite on year six. Burn incense to Jesus constantly while you do this.

Leaving the childish and the esoteric aside, more confusion is often injected by scientists. I happened across the following directions for light kung fu on a martial arts forum. Gigong is just the ability of transition of body weight between the two feet in such a manner that the body weight never fully rests on any of the legs in any period of time…and the paragraph goes on to describe how to shorten the cycle of stepping.

This last description is most fascinating, but there is always a problem when somebody tries to describe something that is beyond science with…science. What I mean by this is that science describes how the universe works, but it doesn’t really tell you how to use your mind to move it around. I know people trained in science will argue with what I have just said, and try to inflict their reasoning on the phenomena, but science can’t account for supernatural phenomena such as light kung fu, raising the dead, or, say, walking on water.

One of my students could walk on water. His particular trick was to run across the corner of a swimming pool. He would get a running start, do something interesting with his mind, and run over the surface of the water without sinking under the waves.

The key here is what he was doing with his mind. Gravity can be measured; it can be described by science, but it is still an idea that must be believed in. We are raised up to make physics work (trained by schools geared towards scientific reasoning), but the secret of light kung fu is to untrain your mind, to get over the idea of gravity, and that is something that takes a lot of kung fu discipline.