Ten Thousand Methods

Which internal style should you practice? I think you should talk to people on other forums (that are dedicated to CMA) about the different definitions of internal and what arts are commonly thought to be neijia arts. I think you should consider relocating if you don't have good local teachers and you are serious about wanting to learn. The best places in America have the most CMA teachers. It's not rocket science. I also think you should consider whether you want to learn one CMA style or multiple CMA styles. If you want to learn multiple CMA styles it could affect your choice. All of the neijia arts can help you but some could be better than others at helping you excel in other styles and seeing connections between different CMA styles. I'll say something about Baguazhang. I didn't want to learn Baguazhang at first because I was studying other CMA styles and I thought Baguazhang would not help me with those arts. I didn't understand anything about it. It looked strange and it didn't seem like something that would help me learn other things. I was completely wrong. Baguazhang is unique but it really helped my footwork in a way that no other style could have. If I do circular stepping in another style I don't use the bagua frame (obviously) but my experiene in bagua makes it easy. It taught me a lot about body movement. The coiling and uncoiling motions also helped my kicks a lot. I never did any kicks in my Baguazhang class but my kicking in northern styles improved because of it. It sounds odd but it's true. I realized that it was something that could help me in other areas. It's also a very powerful style on it's own. I think it's a great choice but only if you have a really good teacher. If you have more questions you should try using a CMA discussion forum. Good luck.

I'm assuming that you are talking about Chinese martial arts. TTB is not really a great place to discuss traditional wushu much less internal styles. There are a few experienced people here but this just isn't a martial arts forum. You need a teacher to learn any style. You can't learn on your own. My advice is simple - if you go to a good place you will find good teachers. Are you living in a sophisticated and economically advanced place? If not then consider moving. The most options will always be in the following places: The Northeast Corridor (Boston + NYC + Providence + New Haven + NYC + Philadelphia + Baltimore + Washington DC) San Francisco Bay Area Sacramento Houston San Diego Florida (Miami + Orlando + Tampa) Seattle Vancouver Chicago Los Angeles Atlanta I assume you are American so Vancouver may not be an option for you. Training in this stuff basically comes down to motivation, finding a good teacher, and money. There are good teachers in other places but you will have fewer options. My advice is simple - if you don't live in one of those places you should consider relocating. I'm from the northeast and I love the East Coast. Right now I'm living in China but I miss Boston, Providence, and NYC every day.

I want to be able to enter my WeChat (Weixin) ID on my profile. I live in China and everyone uses WeChat (Weixin). In some other countries (South Korea) Kakao Talk is very important. As I understand it Blackberry will also release an instant messenger app for iOS and Android before the end of summer. Maybe we could have the option of editing the label for an instant messenger field so we could tell other people which service we are using. When I was in the US I didn't know about WeChat but it's very fast and it seems like the standard way to contact people here in China. From what I have heard Kakao Talk is huge in South Korea. They are advertising here in China and I know they are advertising in Indonesia. It could get bigger. Maybe TTB needs to change its profile options.

Well said. Thanks for posting that.

This book looks really interesting. I knew this book was in the works but I didn't know when it would come out. I also had Jerry Alan Johnson's Medical Qigong books and they were very good.

I have the Understanding Qigong series from Y.M.A.A. publishing and I love it.

I'm really excited about this! I am one of the people that has been interested in this material and I plan to get it.

Thank you for posting this! I am also interested to hear more about your experiences with that organization. I read somewhere that the organization has many gongs including an Iron Shirt method. Did you learn any additional practices?

I love this book! For one thing I think it predated TTC showing that Lao-Tzu was not the creator of Daoism. I have the book and I'd be interested in contributing to the discussion, albeit in a small way because I don't have a deep grasp of a lot of things that are in the book. If anyone wants to pick up a copy it's available at Amazon.

Thank you that was very informative.

His method is different than Chia's but you would need to read the book to see that. The muscles that he tell you to use are different and as I've said he actually defines the lower gates differently. I really can't explain any further without posting his method here. I didn't start this thread to explain his technique as it's available in the book.

Hello. It's great to see you here!

It is less detailed than Chia's method but my opinion is that it's nice to not have to worry about various channels. I find that I can use the technique and the energy comes up easily without having to focus on all the various points (ming men etc). I agree it could take some time but the good thing is you can integrate Reid's method into any qigong movement you are already doing. I would recommend that people get used to using Reid's technique during qigong before they try it during sex.

I would say it's the best simply because he shows you how to use the muscles and therefore you don't need any visualizations or any particular qigong form. It's very easy to do. The technique will work during ordinary cultivation and even during sex although you would have to be careful and make you sure you use it before you are close to the edge.

In my experience the closing portion of any practice is the most important. If I were teaching qigong I would not want anyone to leave without doing the closing. If they didn't want to show you the closing then they shouldn't have had you there in the first place. I've heard that there are a few advanced moving forms later in the system. Not sure though. I agree that not all practices are compatible. I would talk to my teacher about it first.