ChiDragon

You welcome...!!! You will feel the soreness for the next few weeks but don't give up. You were soaking wet because your muscles were not relaxed. Relax means do not apply hard intentional force, 陽力(Yang li) in your muscle. Go slow and easy with the soft strength, 陰力(Yin li). When you have done it correctly, you should only feel a little sweat on your forehead and in the area above the lips where your sweat glands are.

It is a good idea to practice by doing the movements, but it is not necessary has to be accurate as a beginner. It takes lots of time to get acquaint with sequence of the movements. They can be corrected some place along the line in time. I like the Yang Style Tai Ji more than the Wu Style(武). I saw my brother-in-law teaching the Wu style last week. It seems to me that the Wu style doesn't lift up one leg at a time as often as the Yang Style.

Yes, just follow one, and only one, system that you are believing in.

Ji Ben Qigong(基本氣功) , fundamental Qigong. It is not the accuracy of the movements. It doesn't matter how you do it. Just go through the movements slowly with breathing deeply.

This is the only valid quote or something is close to that effect.

Tai Ji is for you because it is a form of Chi Kung, Chi Kung will help you to enhance your immune system, Another words, it will increase the production of white blood cells to the maximum number which your body allows. Having a maximum number of white blood cells means your immune system is fine tune to its ultimate efficiency. I have practiced Tai Ji for more than 38 years, I hardly get sick. I only get a cold couple times in the last 20 years when I was lack of sleep. I'm 65 years old now. Time for medicare but I hardly have to take advantage of my medical insurance benefits because I hardly pay any visits to the doctor's office.

Wu is not a mystery. Wu is only a given name to represent the invisible state of Tao with a potential power to create. In Lao Tze's philosophy, Tao always exist but only sometimes it's visible and sometimes invisible. Tao is not a mystery. It is only how do people view Tao.

FYI The 13 postures are the basic movements which included in all the Tai Ji Chuan. These postures are repeated many times during the Tai Ji practice. It doesn't matter in what set. Another words, the 13 postures were classified as a set of fundamental moves to form the whole Tai Ji Style. 太極十三勢：掤、履、擠、按；採、挒、肘、靠，進、退、顧、盼、定。 四正：掤、履、擠、按。 四隅：採、挒、肘、靠。 五行：進、退、顧、盼、定。 These 13 postures were arranged in respect to the positions of the ba gua(八卦). 四正：掤、履、擠、按。 are based in the four main directions such as east, south, west and north. 四隅：採、挒、肘、靠。 Are the four positions in respect to the four corner positions of the ba gua. 五行：進、退、顧、盼、定。 are based on the five elements(五行, wu xing) .

"being" and "nonbeing" are a poor example for duality. An existing object and a non-existing one cannot classified as dualistic.

Libra

My last offer. 吳起(Wu Qi3) was a general in the Chu State during the Warring State Period. He carry his own foods and slept with his soldiers side by side.

It seems to me that you have given 有 & 無 a good analysis. However, one cannot interpret the characters to their literal meaning without applying Lao Tze's thought into his term. I think in Chapter One, 有 & 無 were defined by Lao Tze as follow: 有, when Tao is at the manifested state. 無, when Tao is at the non-manifested state.

Sun Tze.........???

Yes, take more than that but not just one time or one day and please keep us dated,

Based on your new input..... You don't know what is lower dantien and you don't do deep breathing, are a good indication of lack of energy instead of energy imbalance. There is no such thing as "energy imbalance", it is either you have energy or not. It seems to you have not received the proper instruction from you teacher or you had not learned the MCO procedure correctly. Please keep in mind, all martial arts and Chi Kung practices require the leaning of breathing. All the conditions in the above is an indication due to hypoxia, lack of oxygen. Especially, when a man was doing some self-pleasure on his own will cause him all these symptoms. The reason you feel slight headache and nauseous is because you don't know how to breathe. Especially, in you present condition, you are definitely have a breathing problem which need to be corrected. You should not do deep breathing but just breath slowly deep down to a comfortable point then stop and exhale slowly again. Most people will tell you to do deep breathing but they do not tell you how to correct your breathing problem before you can do deep breathing. Only breathing oxygen into your body will help you to generate energy. You can do all kind of the Chinese methods without breathing will lead you no where. Believe me, I have when through the same thing as you are experiencing now. Tai Ji or Chi Kung is you solution. PS... "And then there's of course the insomnia, as a result of the excess energy." This is a fallacy on your part. You are really lack of energy instead of the excess energy that was causing the insomnia. Energy always do you some good not something bad.

You meditate with your heart but not your mind. Concentrate on your breathing, when you inhale that you are inhaling; when you exhale that you are exhaling and think of nothing and hear of nothing. However, you want to hear all the sounds in your environment and let them pass by you. Let the sounds be natural to you then they will become voided. Just like that how you have stated and you knew already.

What are Post-Heaven QI and Pre-Heaven Qi to you......???

How does that affecting your quality of life....??? Physically or mentally......??? It seems to me may be both. Can you give more details. You do not have to publicize if you so desire. Thanks.

That is true, but let's not ignore them totally.

In the Taoist practice, "emptiness" is to have the mind in a state of serenity, quietness, or tranquility. "Reducing" is to alleviate the unwanted desires or ill will.

I guess you are not following my different points of views. There are many meanings for the character "氣". It is not advisable just to be stagnated in half of what you had learned.

Don't worry. Only the words from the one reveals what one knows. I never just a person by one's character.

The former is always the case, not just nowadays. Nowadays, I do consider Qi is air from a linguistic point of view; and Qi is oxygen from a Qigong breathing point of view. However, as far as Qiogong goes, I consider that Qi is "breathing". For what has been said, I considered that Qigong is the ultimate method of breathing.

I would like to point out couple things. This article mistranslated the term Tuna((吐納), The way I have it is correct in post #181. Few thousand years ago, the ancient Taoists did not know any about oxygen. However, they knew something was in the air which is good for our health. Actually, the character 氣(chi) means "air"; but the later Taoists thought air was something else. They were assuming that they were breathing something else in the air which was "chi". In the article, it was mentioned as "external chi". If we give it a subtle thought, actually, it is the "oxygen" in the air. We cannot deny the fact that modern science is telling us that it was the oxygen in the air has been given us all the health benefits; rather than not some other unknown imaginary factor.