Vitalii

When I started practicing Zhan Zhuang, my Shifu told me to do it from 5.00 untill 7.00 a.m. every day. I stood for 2 hours every day, and sometimes 3-4 hours pauseless. I often stood outdoors, even when the temperature was below zero. In the beginning, it was very hard to stand, but when the circulation of my Qi became better, my body never felt discomfort.

you're a bit wrong Pre-Heaven - 先天 Post-Heaven - 後天

About strength training in Taijiquan: "David Gaffney (co-author of the excellent Chen Style Taijiquan) has an article on chen tai chi strength training (PDF) that mentions methods such as stone lifting, pole shaking, the taiji bang (short stick), taiji ball (akin to a medicine ball), and training with intentionally heavy weapons: "While it may come as a surprise to many, strength training is not a new phenomenon in Taijiquan. In the past, it represented one aspect of an all-encompassing training process. In Chenjiagou, within the garden where 14th Generation Chen clan member Chen Changxin is said to have taught Yang Luchan, founder of Yang style Taijiquan, can still be found an eighty kilogram stone weight that they are said to have regularly trained with. Traditional strength training methods such as pole shaking and practicing with heavy weapons continue to be used up until today. ... Lifting heavy stones is done as a means to training the waist and lower body. Chen Ziquiang explains "the strength training method is highly specialized. You are not training to develop 'stupid strength' (brute or localised strength). This is training strength in the waist. Your hand strength is like the hook you use when you are towing a car. You have to remember that your hand is the hook. Your strength is coming from the waist and how you push into the ground, combining the strength of the car and the rope. The hook is only the implement that connects the two. So when you lift the big rock, it is the strength of the legs and waist...".

Funny Zhan Zhuang

you can continue to doubt, no problem.

Ma Chuanxu say that he does not do it, but he do Paidagong and it is also hard training Master Wang Ziping and many other masters of taiji/xingyi/... practicing with a stone lock. Also "In Chenjiagou, within the garden where 14th Generation Chen clan member Chen Changxin is said to have taught Yang Luchan, founder of Yang style Taijiquan, can still be found an eighty kilogram stone weight that they are said to have regularly trained with. " "Lifting heavy stones is done as a means to training the waist and lower body. Chen Ziquiang explains "the strength training method is highly specialized. You are not training to develop 'stupid strength' (brute or localised strength). This is training strength in the waist. Your hand strength is like the hook you use when you are towing a car. You have to remember that your hand is the hook. Your strength is coming from the waist and how you push into the ground, combining the strength of the car and the rope. The hook is only the implement that connects the two. So when you lift the big rock, it is the strength of the legs and waist..."." Therefore,I think we must distinguish exercise for training brute force as in bodybuilding, and strength training in Traditional Wushu.

You should know that the separation on the internal and external martial arts it is a modern trend and it did not exist in ancient times I did not say that. I only say that different representatives of the Yang family taught their students in different ways, and did not disclose all of their secrets not only to a wide audience, but sometimes even to their close disciples. We can find a lot of proofs of this.

no

yes, I do.

Lower Frame

Banhou's Fast Frame Yang Shaohou's Fast Frame

Banhou Fast Frame (Kuaijia) Yang shao hao's fast form

sorry, but you do not know some information about Taiji I believe that Yang Chengfu was a good fighter. Large form allows you to learn the basic skills and principles of Taiji, but for real fight Yang Chengfu practiced Fast Frame”. Also known that he only once publicly demonstrated Fast Frame (or Changquan) in Shanghai. Before moving to Shanghai in 1925, Yang Chengfu taught not only a large frame, but he also taught Changquan for his advanced students. When Yang Chengfu came to Shanghai for popularize Taijiquan, he excluded Changquan from his training program. The reason was that in his trips on major cities of China, he did not have enough time to train students there, and he taught only Large frame. You can find information about Changquan in Chen Weiming's book. Chen Weiming was one of the senior disciples of Yang Chengfu. Also from Wu Tu Nan we know that there were only six students of Yang Shaohou, who knew Fast Frame. There are many other records about Fast Frame, Lower Frame, Small Frame, etc. Also there is information that one of the foremost disciples of Yang Luchan was Fu Zhou, he was a descendant of a noble family, and a General. Zhou was one of the chosen disciples, which learned a complete training system from Yang. Back in those days when the son of Yang Luchan, Yang Banhou, decided to change the system of transfer of mastery Taiji in order to keep the family art, Fu Zhou refused to change the system of training and continued to work in a similar manner as was taught to him by Yang Luchan. Later, he transferred his art to his son Fu Ying, who did teach all his knowledge to Xiao Gongzhuo. Some information from Master Li Zheng: "When Yang Luchan arrived in Beijing, he taught 10 taiji sets at the mansion of Prince Duan. These 10 sets form a complete taiji syllabus. Whilst teaching at the mansion, Yang accepted two disciples: one was Wang Lanting (whose teachings form the basis of Li [Ruidong] style taiji), the other was Fu Zhou. Both of these people were men of rank within the mansion: Wang Lanting was Prince Duan’s housekeeper, in modern terms he was responsible for the security of the House; Fu Zhou was a Manchu general with a very solid foundation in martial arts. Both of these men only became Yang Luchan’s disciples after losing to him in several challenges. And so Yang taught them these 10 original sets of Yang style taiji. A: Why did Yang Chengfu standardise Yang style taiji into the ’85-posture’ routine that is so common today? L: When, in his later years, Yang Luchan asked his sons Yang Banhou and Yang Jianhou to come to Beijing to help him with his teaching duties, the two sons suggested that they should make some changes to the original sets. And so Yang Luchan started the process that would end with Yang Chengfu’s 85 set. You have to take the historical background into account as well when thinking about Yang Chengfu’s promulgation of the 85 set. 3 generations of the Yangs all taught within the mansions of the Manchu princes. After the fall of the Qing dynasty, the princes quickly fell from grace, and so the Yangs found themselves having to teach commoners to make a living. And so they simplified their public form to make it easier to learn. Another reason for the changes was that they didn’t want to teach the full original system to the public. Yang Chengfu started popularising taiji in the late 20s and early 30s. As more and more people started to practice Chengfu’s 85 set, most people practicing Yang style only knew of one set, his 85. That’s why a lot of people have never heard of other forms – because most Yang stylists come from Yang Chengfu’s line."

yes, I agree with you We also know that after the fall of the imperial dynasty, Yang families were forced to earn their living by teaching Taiji Quan to everyone. In order to make it possible, it was necessary to make the style more accessible and easy. Moreover, the Yang families had no desire to disclose all the secrets of marital arts to anyone who wanted it. For these reasons, the style taught to a wide public had to be simplified. It is also known that the sons of Yang Luchan – Yang Jianhou and Yang Banhou – although had a full knowledge of the family style, yet taught only some of its sections. Thus, Yang Banhou taught mainly the Large and Small frame, and Yang Jianhou taught the Large frame and the Old frame. The son of Yang Jianhou, Yang Chengfu, taught mainly the Large frame to all students, and the complex Long Fist (Changquan) was given only to the elected disciples. In such a way, we can see that different representatives of the Yang family taught their students in different ways, and did not disclose all of their secrets not only to a wide audience, but sometimes even to their close disciples. Therefore, even direct transfer cannot always guarantee the completeness in studying of the art. For example, nowadays the Large frame, where movements are performed softly and smoothly, can be seen widely, but just a little is known about the Old frame, the Fast frame or training of the fast power issuing (Fajin) in the Yang style (and derived styles), and very few people know about their existence. The Large Frame (Da Jia), where movements are slow and soft, really is the first step in the mastery of Taiji Quan, but it’s only the first step. Surely, even by practicing only this form, you can improve your health and make your mind and heart calm and balanced. But it all will remain as a practice for health maintenance then. Meantime, if you are interested in martial aspect, then you cannot to stop at this stage. Apart from the Large Frame, there are still: “Lower Frame” or “Frame of the Earth” (Dijia), “Small Frame” (Xiaojia), “Fast Frame” (Kuaijia), “Old Frame” (Laojia) and that’s not all from the list. All these practices have different execution techniques and different purposes.

neigong is a very important part of any traditional style of wushu. Also we know that speed, strength, agility and precision are important for fight. Therefore, if somebody practicing only neigong and slow movements and does not pay attention on the methods of speed, strength, agility and precision training, it means that training is incomplete. So, what do we have today? The majority of practitioners of Taiji Quan Yang style do only one form, where movements are slow and soft. They usually say that, to use Taiji Quan in a real fight, one needs to practice them for at least 5-10 years. Frankly speaking, even if you practice a slow form for 20 years, you still will not be ready to defend yourself. It is a well-known fact that Yang Luchan and his son Yang Banhou trained a special battalion of the Imperial Army called Shenjiying, and their preparation for a real fight needed to be quick and effective, and could not last for years. Therefore, a complete traditional practice of Taiji Quan Yang style includes not only the slow form, but a number of other forms and methods, where one can work on strength, speed, agility, quick execution of movements with a focus on the release of the power issuing (Fajin); there is also training of fast and precision buffets, etc.

Great video! Many similar exercises like in my Xingyi and Taiji quan training

Wang Ziping practicing with a stone lock. Wang was known for his mastery of Chaquan, Huaquan, Pao Chuan, Bajiquan, and Taijiquan.

I opened a new topic about it - About strength training in Wushu

About strength training in Taijiquan: "David Gaffney (co-author of the excellent Chen Style Taijiquan) has an article on chen tai chi strength training (PDF) that mentions methods such as stone lifting, pole shaking, the taiji bang (short stick), taiji ball (akin to a medicine ball), and training with intentionally heavy weapons: "While it may come as a surprise to many, strength training is not a new phenomenon in Taijiquan. In the past, it represented one aspect of an all-encompassing training process. In Chenjiagou, within the garden where 14th Generation Chen clan member Chen Changxin is said to have taught Yang Luchan, founder of Yang style Taijiquan, can still be found an eighty kilogram stone weight that they are said to have regularly trained with. Traditional strength training methods such as pole shaking and practicing with heavy weapons continue to be used up until today. ... Lifting heavy stones is done as a means to training the waist and lower body. Chen Ziquiang explains "the strength training method is highly specialized. You are not training to develop 'stupid strength' (brute or localised strength). This is training strength in the waist. Your hand strength is like the hook you use when you are towing a car. You have to remember that your hand is the hook. Your strength is coming from the waist and how you push into the ground, combining the strength of the car and the rope. The hook is only the implement that connects the two. So when you lift the big rock, it is the strength of the legs and waist...".

In my school we use special Dao Yin exercises to make the body more powerful and flexible. Considerable attention is paid to work with spine, allowing to correct the body structure and open hip, knee and ankle joints, which prepares a person to sit in meditation in a lotus position. However, notwithstanding an active work with the body during exercises, the main role of Dao Yin is to work with energy that is directed to balance Yin and Yang, enhance the overall energy potential, and also to cultivate virtuous qualities of a human soul.

I described the general situation during practice in the lotus position. Of course, if you do some kind of special practices you can have other circulation of Qi

You are right, when you sit in the lotus position, then there is inner work/circulation of Qi in your legs, which comes from Qi in your dantian.