ChiDragon

Nobody is perfect because there is something missing in the process to get there. If one doesn't look for the process, then, one is not in the pursuit of perfection.

Yes, I do breathe.........

That was perfect, you were able to make correction to be perfect. I thought there something was missing......

I think what you meant is: if one cannot do the full lotus then do the half. Let's not force oneself to do something that is going to regret.

If you ran out of resources, try this to exercise your body holistically but slowly.

1. Most perfection seems lacking, 2. Its function is endless. Even though one has reached perfection, but it seems there is still something missing because nobody is perfect. However, for being perfect, it helps to accomplish all other things.

These two lines seem paradoxical because that was writing style of Lao Tze. He never mean what he say nor say what he meant. One must understand his thoughts to interpret the TTC. Have you read Post #4 for the annotation....???

So did he..........

It sounds like you are not ready for the abdominal breathing. In Chi Kung breathing, you don't need to breathe into your perineum but into your abdomen so to speak. For a beginner, you may not be able to breathe into the abdomen or lower dantien if you have a breathing problem to begin with. What you need to do is give yourself a breathing test to see how far down can you breathe. Find out where does your breath stops to establish a baseline. What I meant is for a good start, you practice your breathing by stopping your breath at the baseline and increase the depth progressively. Why don't you try to stop your breath at the baseline each time you breathe and see if your cramp goes away. If it does, then you are on the right track. Later on, you can increase the depth slowly in your breathing until the cramp is gone.

Invisible chair.

Everything to a westerner is energy but qigong is the ultimate method of breathing to a Chinese Chi Kung master.

Tuna(吐納) is the genuine and authentic Taoist breathing method. It is the ancient ultimate method of breathing. Nowadays, it has been known as "Chi Kung". Tu(吐): Exhale Na(納): Inhale Since it is the Taoist breathing method, therefore, inhale with the abdomen fully expanded outward; and exhale with the abdomen fully indented inward. Edited to correct the character from 吶 to 納.

Half or full lotus has nothing to do with the energy flow. It is only a matter of capability of the practitioners can they do it or not.

I wouldn't depend on HS for metabolism because most of the energy were directed to the leg muscles. For metabolism, I would do static Chi Kung such as Zazen. Sitting in Zazen is less stressful than zhan zhuang. So, most of the energy will be utilized for metabolism because the energy was not used else where. During the performance of HS, the leg muscles are demanding for more oxygen to generate the energy for contraction. Since you are not doing any fast movements, therefore, you will not breathe faster. Instead, you are breathing slow and deeper. Thus the heart will be contracted fully which is actually doing the cardio exercise. Another words, the cardio exercise was done by the full contraction of the cardiac muscles rather than breathing beating faster.

You are right about that. Despite to "one term can be translated in different ways," the only correct translation for the term is to interpret the character with context, rather than just interpret the character by itself.

I will reserve my comments on this part. I hope you'll reserve some of your own qi for yourself before you give it all away to your students........

To clarify this, Yin and Yang are just a concept rather than a thing. FYI Yin is like something that was lack of, when the lack of something was fulfilled, then it was said that the Yin becomes Yang.

Only if you regulate your breathing and breathe down to the low dantian. BTW Zhan Zhuang is not the only method to build up qi. QiGong is mainly to build up qi. Zhan Zhuang is mainly a prerequisite for those who have weak physical condition to build up their body strength. Most sifu(s) make their students to start with Zhan Zhuang on the side or before teaching them any martial arts.

Neidan is more complicated than just Zhan Zhuang. Zhan Zhuang is to make a structured and holistic body for a person. Period. The spiritual aspect is only the religious beliefs of the individual practitioner. The spiritual beliefs do not have to be logical nor reasonable. For a beginner, the physical condition may not be suitable for a limited time of 30 to 40 minutes. It is not advisable to force a new student to practice Zhan Zhuang beyond the physical capability of each individual. Unless otherwise, each individual has the innate physical condition to meet such requirement.

回春功(Return to Spring Method) is a method of Chi Kung which suppose to be helping one to return to one's youth. The first of the four reasons is Spring. It symbolized "youth" in the Chinese thinking.

Let's review. Condition 1: The heart rate increased was by the natural responses due to the lack of oxygen or low blood pressure. In Condition 2, to assist the heart to have a strong contraction at one beat is by intention. This time, let's talk about the contraction of the heart. The heart needs energy for contraction. It gets the energy from the glucose and oxygen. The glucose is from the food which is stored in the liver already; and the oxygen is from the constant breathing. How strong the contraction of the heart depends on the amount of oxygen that was provided. Therefore, if one can increase the amount of oxygen with a method to regulate the breathing, then, one can assist the heart to have a strong contraction at each beat. If the heart has ample amount of oxygen for contraction, then, it doesn't need to beat as fast as normal in delivering the oxygenated blood to the body cells. Another words, the heart rate will be slower and squeeze a greater amount of blood out of the heart. It means that the heart is more efficient with less effort to perform its function.

Just isolate the facts from the fallacies. Then, there should be no doubt.

There is nothing weird about the soreness of the leg muscles. It is very normal for a beginner. Please keep in mind, the practice of horse stance is not an one minute thing. At the beginning of the practice, your leg muscles will be sore for the next three months or so. You have to let your leg muscles to adjust to the extra stress that you put on from bending the knees while standing in a fixed position like that. If you practice daily, the soreness will go away in few months, and you will have better muscle tone in the legs. You should be able to do the stance, at least, for 20 minutes or longer with no more pains on the thighs.

It is not how long can you do the low horse stance. Rather, it is how long did it take you to do it....??? One cannot do the low stance at the beginning; It takes time to practice to get there. A knowledgeable instructor will tell you to start with a high stance, then slowly go into the low stance. It is not a matter of how long can one do the stance for the heart; it is the regulating in breathing which does the trick. Please give me a chance to finish my explanation on Condition 2 in my OP. Then, you will know what I mean.

The trick is on the stick. There is a horizontal bar attached to the vertical stick for the guy to sit on.