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True, I guess it would be more accurate to say that I'm not so much trying to clear my head of all thought, but to bring myself to the point wherein I can sit in a tranquil state and not be distracted by what thoughts will drift through my mind. Thank-you for the advice on bringing myself to extend the time spent in practice of Zhan Zhuang. I'm going to attept applying that, and pushing myself to go a little further each time. Yes, I can understand that now. When you said that, it reminded me of something I had read in a book on ninjutsu arts. I can't quote it exactly word for word as I don't remember where in the book it is; but the idea is that one should study, learn, and master the art, and then forget everything one has learned and simply be able to do it without thinking about it. So now that is another goal for me to shoot for. Thank-you so much.

I'm going to try my best to pick the practice of Zhan Zhuang back up. My biggest problem is lack of disipline to keep going. I'll take up the stance, and stand there trying to clear my mind... 5 minutes later a random thought comes to mind about something that might be fun to do, so I'll forget the rest of my practise and go goof off for a while and then not remember about Zhan Zhuang again until maybe a few days later. >.< I'm so easily distracted; the longest I've held a period of meditation was 45 minutes... but the fact that I could measure it may take away from the underlying quality of the meditation. >_<

Thank-you kindly for your wisdom.

I actually was taught something similar to that, but could never quite master it. But a while later, I went to visit my friend; a skinny 17yr old, aprox. 5'5" and about 110lbs. I was demonstrating the "Unbendable Arm" method I had learned in my Gung Fu training, and tried teaching her. She could do it immediately without any problem, so I decided to tell her about the method of the unliftable self... But her being a Catholic(as I am also) I figured that like most other Catholics that I know, that she wouldn't take to the idea of Qi very easily. So I worded it in a way that was less "mystical". So I had her sister and I stand on either side of her, and we lifted her up right away without any problem. We lifted her a good foot off the ground and then let her back down. Then I had her focus really hard; focusing on visualising that she was glued to the earth, and that all her weight was being pulled and attached to the core of the Earth. I'm not sure how much of what I gave her for suggestions to visualise she actually applied, but sure enough, dispite all the effort her sister and I put behind lifting her up, we couldn't get her off the ground any more than prehaps 1cm. I am so amazed at how she doesn't even understand the basics of QiGong, but can still do these things better than I can...

Hehe, the number is actually l33t-speak for "TAOIST" 7 = T 4 = A 0 = O 1 = I 5 = S 7 = T But yeah, I look forward to learning so much from this site. Thanks for the link. Yeah, I'm also a Catholic at heart. I personally don't see anyreason to disbelieve Qi ... and if the Church itself actually stated that Catholics CAN'T believe in it, I would write the Pope myself explaining that Qi is no "supernatural power", but a part of life as much so as the elements on the periodic table of elements are. Thanks for the response.

Hello everyone here at TheTaoBums.com, I've been very interested in QiGong, Tai Chi, and the Taoist arts for several years now, and as I enter my 20th year of life, I've decided to become more serious in my practice. Any help, tips, and/or guidance from anyone is greatly appreciated. Last night I spent a couple of hours debating with my father about the existance of Qi. He's a very strong Catholic, so the idea of Qi sounds like mystic mumbo-jumbo to him, though anyone who can belive in something as mystical as GOD shouldn't be putting off the idea of Qi just because it sounds like a mysterious force. I'm hoping to one day be able to prove to him that Qi is real and can be expirienced, but that's not why I'm studying. I study Taoism as a way to better myself, and increase my health which has over the years been very erratic, and so I hope to find a way to stablize and strengthen it and prehaps teach my friends a little about it also that they may benefit from it as well. I look forward to learning a lot from this site and everyone on it and if I can be of any help to anyone(which at my present level, I don't see happening) I will humbly offer what I can.