spiraltao

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Awesome post Trunk! Very succinct. Enthusiasm is contagious.

If it were me, I would want santishi. Explanations on moving and power issuing. I hope it gets recorded no matter what the venue. Erle usually recorded his seminars and sold the DVDs. Maybe?

Arm swings and Zhan Zhuang, holding the ball (embrace tree) BOTH played a huge part in my liver healing. Also the eight brocades are wonderful to balance everything out. Also,you could choose to do the Maoshan standing posture for your wood element, which is simply holding arms out to the sides and relaxing shoulders, chest, etc; all the qigong rules apply. I have had great results pulling up earth energy through simply facing the palms toward the ground around solar plexus or dan tian level. These two should balance you out. Also don't forget to start and end with wuji. Wuji is the best diagnostic we have,IMO.

excrement

I happen to own both of these books! Tom makes it easy to understand the theory behind meridians and energy travel. Also there is an exercise in Tom's book that made it worth the price for me! I was pleasantly surprised with the book overall, Tom is an excellent author. Now about Liu Bin's bagua. I absolutely adore this book! It contains some history but mostly focuses on the correct way to step, breathe and how to perform the single palm exchange. I also recommend the second volume! I wish to recommend Sun Lutang's book too. I have the Fick translation, most I have talked with prefer the previous translation, but this book goes DEEP. Just like in real world training you get out of what you put in it! Also Park Bok Nam has two volumes on his Yin style. They are wonderful, IMO. Same with JAJ. I say these books are great because if one has any prior knowledge of the internal arts each of these has more than meets the eye to learn, to cliche it. For a stark beginner I would recommend Opening the Energy Gates by BKF. Regardless of your lineage/style/play/system this book is wonderful for a beginner as the requirements for neijia are layed out in any easy to understand manner.

I can say that it is very complex, but per Lao Xie he breaks it down. It's an interesting qigong system. Lao Xie describes it as Daos'ing. ...or at least I think that is what he meant. It is a unique way of dealing with ailments looking at things from the spine. There is nothing in the body that the spine does not "link" to. As I absorb more I will attempt to explain. I would say though, it's not for the fighter, but the true internal players who wish to take their qigong and start applying it to others(healers). Ex-Tui Na. Nevertheless, it is FULL of awesome info.

Thank you soaring crane and blue eyed snake! This is one of the best things I feel that I have ever done was sharing my story and guess what, Im still getting stronger. As an aside, never let your heart close off or your spirit fall! It is our own choice you know? I have not mastered this yet, but the attitude sure helps and I never want to feel the way I did while I felt the sickness again, this is only part of what keeps me going. Blessings and best wishes to all of you!

I am interested in any others who use this breathing method. It is emphasized by Lao Xie and I have employed it for a few yeas now, I now am able to feel breath along the spine or at least sensations on the inhale and in the palms and heels on the exhale. I should just remain on this same breathing path right? It has served me well so far. I have heard when the central channel opens all the other channels and/or meridians open. Anyone here with experience or advice? Are there any no nos I should be aware of?

The 70% rule should always be used! I also see many trying to twist the upper body out of alignment with the lower thus upsetting the six harmonies. and if one plays their bagua this way they will surely get poor results or even health problems, also I see many people turning the front foot inward, this is bad! It should slide like as if one was on rollerblades at an angle while the outside leg hooks in. Find your natural gait, not to wide, not to narrow. I think one of the biggest things that many people might hurt themselves with is trying to skip steps in training, one's body take a while to transform and we should not push it. No pain no gain, is the antithesis of baguazhang play. It should leave you feeling full of energy and long breath. If done wrong, one may get dizzy or even have heart issues. The eyes should follow the hand, this will help keep one from looking at their feet, this will lead to bad posture and if we train bad posture we are not training bagua. I hope this helps. I am very sleepy and for some reason I kould not kopy and paste so no "see"s, sorry. I fully agree with the above poster that Zhan Zhuang is a must when doing any martial art even external ones have stanse work. The ZZ shows us the path to long, easy, unlabored breath and how to maintain proper body posture. It is harder to stand still than move.

Thanks for the link to the interview! I must say I was very fortunate for Zeroztao to turn me on the DGS!

I would recommend starting with standing meditation (Zhan Zhuang should be great for you if you have done yoga) and longevity breathing, simultaneous. The five animal frolics are wonderful moving qigong as is the ba duan jin (8 pieces of brocade.) I think sitting is only needed for the elderly to ensure no leaking of the triple warmer. We can move qi with intent, but through moving meditations (some qigongs, taiji, baguazhang) we also move lymph fluids, blood and hopefully wind up circulating fresh oxygenated blood and lymph. Not only the dantian is a great place to store energy, but so are the femur bones! This is something not that many people mention, it was only a matter of intent and visualization to me. I would recommend getting to know your dantian as Joe said. Not only through breath, but as in moving from the dantian. Like tea cups, or silk reeling for movement. Joe gave a great post, IMO. The more experience you get the more connected your body will get as one unit! I Quan has lots of wonderful walking meditations as well.

I have recently dug into a book about Liu Bin's baguazhang, I really like the drills in it! I haven't finished the book yet, but I was wondering if anyone knows of where I can find any vids of his disciples or the style itself? Apparently it is not that prominent. Seems to be heavily cheng influenced.