ChiDragon

If you believe in the Five Elements, here is how they react with each other. You can follow the Opposing Cycle of the Five Elements. Metal opposes Wood Wood opposes Soil Soil opposes Water Water opposes Fire Fire opposes Metal. Based in the Opposing Cycle in the TCM theory, since Water is against Fire, you should find something that is in the Water attribute.

The initial body strength of a beginner is the normal strength. The normal strength was scattered in the muscles which is hard to be controlled. In order for the normal strength to be effective, one has to punch with the arm all the way out straight to have a maximum impact. With the continuous practice of the Tai Ji movements, the normal strength will be incremented progressively to become the inner strength. The inner strength is distributed evenly throughout the muscles which can be easily controlled by the Yi. The Yi can control the amount of the inner strength to be exerted by any muscle at any position and any time. With the combination of the Yi, inner strength and Xing all putted together, it is the most effective way to Fa Jin. PS.... This is all based by my intuition in lieu with the Fa Jin and Jin principles written by Cheng Man Ching for the Yang Style Tai Ji Chuan.

It depends how broad their knowledge and minds are.They don't know it but it doesn't mean that you don't know....

Yi(意) is the intend of the mind. At the first level, Xing was to learn the fundamental movements. The Xing of the beginners are very awkward and not smooth at all because the Yi(意) was not there. When the Yi was not there, the practitioner doesn't know what the next move is going to be. In order to have the Xing to look smoothly, the movements must be registered in the mind of the practitioner. Indeed, that has to be accomplished from the practice. While the arms and legs are moving slowly and repeatedly, all the moves are registered in the mind. Thus next time the Xing will be taken over by the Yi. The Yi will direct the body what to do exactly, so all the moves can be done smoothly.The practitioner will get to a point as soon each move was triggered by the Yi, the Xing will show each move exactly what was in the mind. That was why it is so important to practice the moves diligently. Now, let's talk about the body strength by distinguishing the nuance between the normal and inner strength by defining them. For the sake of discussion, let's say that the normal strength is for a non Tai Ji practitioner and the inner strength is the body strength of a Tai Ji practitioner or may be referred as Jin(勁).

Xing(形) is the form of each movement. The Xing will display all the aspects of each form such as the correctness, the amount of softness within the hardness, the smoothness within the motion of each move. In later stage, the inner strength will be displayed also. The Xing will reveal the skillfulness of the practitioner. A skillful practitioner will demonstrate the movements very smoothly and accurately. After a long time practice, the Jin will be eventually showed a little strength in the moves. The arms and legs will be moving in an orderly fashion by having each move continuously flowing non stop one after another. For a novice, the muscles in the arms and legs of the practitioner are very tight and stiff. Hence, it was recommended to loosen up all the muscles and joints while performing the movements. Loosen up the muscles is very important in Tai Ji as a form of NeiKung(internal practice). If the muscles weren't relaxed, then it would be considered external practice such as in any martial arts. While learning the forms and have the muscles to be relaxed was the hardest thing to do for a beginner. However, the Xing of the moves will not be showing very smoothly then. A final word for Xing, actually, it is the gesture of the whole body including the movements. It would be very pleasant to watch a skillful practitioner to perform all the Tai Ji moves smoothly.

The main characters are known as 氣功. It doesn't matter. They are all phonetics in other languages anyway.

Tai Ji Chuan is a very unique form of NeiKung. At the beginning, Tai Ji is a form QiGong then it becomes a martial arts. QiGong is an internal art and martial arts is external. However, Tai Ji won't become QiGong until it becomes perfected by the practitioner after a long period of cultivation. If one thinks that Tai Ji is a form of martial arts to begin with and practice it as a MA, then one will just practice it as MA and may never learn Tai Ji as Tai Ji. If one thinks Tai Ji is an internal art, then one will practice it as an internal art and will learn Tai Ji as Tai JI. The first year of Tai Ji practice is most significant for how it turns out to be. First, it was to learn the forms of the movements. That was the initial mental training by remembering the moves. During the course of the practice, there are some subtle things happening to the practitioner without being noticed by the practitioner. There are three basic elements called xing(形), yi(意) and shen(神) which taken place simultaneously. Xing(形) is the form of each movement. Yi(意) is the intend of the mind. Shen(神) is the spirit of the body which indicated by the body language. These three elements are to be the goal of achievements for practicing Tai Ji. All these three criteria will show the progression level of the Tai Ji practitioner. In addition, these three criteria will also indicate how strong the inner strength of the practitioner is. Another words, the inner strength is the amount of Jin(勁) which the practitioner can be exerted. Jin is the most unique feature about Tai Ji. Jin can only be developed by the diligent practice of Ti Ji Chaun day after day. Indeed, this part may be considered to be the internal art because it was taken place inside the body; it was also known as NeiGong . Most people preferred as "cultivation of internal power" or by other similar nomenclatures in the west. It was also called QiGong because the effectiveness of breathing was also enhanced spontaneously during Tai Ji practice. PS... I will elaborate on the three criteria of Xing(形), Yi(意) and Shen(神) in the near future. Of course, this is all my personal understanding and intuition.

There is something good about Tai Ji Chuan. One just need to learn the basic movements at the beginning without any basic knowledge. One by practicing these movements diligently will have significant results. Even with a good teacher explaining the theory, one without the experience from their practice still would not understand it all. The teacher can only guide one through the practice. One can only learn 50% from the teacher, 25% was from the practice and the rest was from the wisdom of the practitioner. It is because the teacher can only tell one so much. However, how much one can absorb or digest is a different story. Some do have the wisdom to go on one's own by the enlightenment of one's intuition, while the others may not have the wisdom but just have to be relied on the teachers for further instructions at all times. There are many ways that one can tell have progress taken place or not from a long time practice. One can tell by the physical changes like the muscle tone with the increase in body strength and the increase in the speed of one's reaction. The most significant difference was in breathing. After years of practice, the breathing is much deeper than the first day of the practice. The basic movements of Tai Ji will help the body to increase the coordination of the arms and legs and to loosen the joints. The coordination is very important for enabling the body to move freely at any position at any instance without jeopardize the twitching muscles from over stress. In Tai Ji Chuan, the inner strength of the body was developed from long time practice was called Jin(勁). In QiGong, the Jin was referred as Chi or energy. I need the emphasize that this 'Chi' is the body energy but not the cosmic energy going through the body as one might think it would be. Of cause, anybody can think of it anyway as one pleases. Physically, I would personally consider that the inner strength is 'Jin' which developed from the long time practice of Tai Ji and I have many native documents to substantiate that. Whatever people want to call the inner strength is. It is either Chi or Jin, but to me it is still the inner strength was developed from practicing. There was a term, in Tai Ji, to exert the inner strength is called Fa Jin. To Fa Jin, one must has the Jin(勁) in order to Fa Jin(發勁). Fa Jin falls into the Neikung(內功, internal practice) category. From the term "inner strength" itself, it was self explanatory as internal practice.

This parable teaches us many lessons. The first lesson was not to think that you own the whole world only acquired with a little knowledge. Secondly, the story of the shaman was warning us not to view only one side of the story without knowing exactly what was going on. At the end, it was just ended up no where but running away from it all. Thirdly, life is too complicated; it is better off to live in a simplest way. Finally, as it was pertaining to the title of this chapter, the parable was suggesting that the rulers not to use shamanism to rule a country.

Chapter 7 Section F In the State of Zheng, there was a divine shaman. His name was called Ji-xian(季咸). He can predict when the people are going to die or stay alive, what will happen in the future and how long one will live. He can predict the time of death with an accuracy to the year, month or even date. He seems like a deity. When the people of Zheng saw him coming, they turned around to stay away far from him. They were afraid that they did not leave soon enough. Lie-zi saw him was admired and indulged by his witchcraft. When Lai-zi returned to home, he told his teacher, Hu-zi(壶子), the situation. Then said: "At the beginning I thought teacher's Taoism was profound, most prepare and complete. Now, I have found someone is even more profound." Hu-zi(壶子) said: "What I had taught you about Tao was only superficial; it has not even reach its core yet. However, you thought that you have understood Tao for a long time? Even though there are lots of females without a male, how can one obtain an fertilized egg? How dare you showing off the egg in your hand by claiming a principle of using an egg to produce a chicken. Letting people know that the egg has been fertilized. This is equal to letting someone know your own background. Then have someone to give you a divination. Let's try to bring him with you and have him try it on me." The second day, Lei-zi(列 子) brought Ji-xian(季咸) to see his teacher Hu-zi(壶子) again. After Ji-xian(季咸) had a glance, then he stepped out the door and told Lei-zi(列子): "Alas! your teacher will die soon, he will not live! He only has ten days left for his life. I saw his face has changed form, and also his facial appearance was cold as burnt ash; that was the sign of the end of life." Lei-zi(列子) went inside the house while crying and told Hu-zi(壶子). Hu-zi(壶子) said: "I was just placed myself in a Yin-state as an earth. I was appeared to him that I was weak and look deformed and askew. I am afraid that he was judged by my sign of lack of vitality? Let's try again and bring him over. The next day, Lei-zi(列子) brought Ji-xian(季咸) to see Hu-zi(壶子) again. Then stepped out the door and told Lei-zi(列 子): " How lucky! Your teacher saw me and his illness is going to recover. Right now looks like he is full of life. I saw that his deterrence of life has gone and his vital soul is coming back into livelihood." Lei-zi(列子) went inside and told Hu-zi(壶子). Then Hu-zi(壶子) said: "I was just place myself in a Yang-state as heaven. Thus the sign of pretense or actuality cannot enter the body which left a sign of vitality from head to toe. I am afraid that his result was judged by my vital sign. Let's try again and bring him over. Another day has gone by, Lei-zi(列子) brought in Ji-xian(季咸) again.Then stepped out the door and told Lei-zi(列 子) : "The sign of vitality on your teacher is very unstable. It is impossible for me to come out with a result. Let wait until he is more stable then I'll take another look." Lei-zi(列子) went inside and told Hu-zi(壶子). Then Hu-zi(壶子) said: "I was just placed myself in a Yin-yang-state which was in the two complementary states. The revelation showed that neither state can be defeated each other. I am afraid that his words were spoken by seeing my skill of balancing the the chi of yin and yang. The place that the whales do not enter was called abyss. The deep pool of stillness was also called abyss. The deep pool where water can move was also called abyss. There are nine kinds of abysses. It was just like 'Tao'. I had only said three kinds. Let him come again. Another day, Lei-zi(列子) brought in Ji-xian(季咸) again. Ji-xian(季咸) saw Hu-zi(壶子) and took off right away before he could become standing still. It seems like he was really out of control in running for his life. Hu-zi(壶子) screamed: "Go after him." Lei-zi(列子) did not catch him, came back and told Hu-zi(壶子): "he was out of sign and got away. I did not catch him." Hu-zi(壶子) said: "I was place myself in my original primitive state like my ancienter. I was entangled together with the Great Void, who can tell who is who. It was because once I was like a pile of mud, then again once I was like water flowing. He cannot distinguish my true self, thus that's why he ran away." Finally, Lei-zi(列 子) reckon that he had not learned anything but returned home. He have not gone travel for many years, he helped his wife to set fire for cooking. He paid much attention to raise pigs with extreme care. He prepared foods for the pigs as careful as he would have prepared for a human. He treated all things with equality. He was intended to live an austere way of life. It would be like an emotionless sculpture just standing there. He pays no attention to the quarrels of others. He lived in such way until he dies.

Welcome...!!! You are very wise.... You had given me the impression that you are a highly cultivated person and a wise one living in seclusion. Thank you for opening the gate to all wonders. PS..... As I always say to all the wise ones, you are a gentleman and a scholar.

It is just a descriptive term used by TCM for something that was too potent which has to be slowed down or eliminated. For example, if you are having a high sexual drive, it was said to be that your "yang fire(陽火)" is too strong.

Is this a threat..........??????

Sorry, I didn't finish but I'll let you know in advance. He did all the tasks of a housewife. Another words, he had done something that normally a man wouldn't do in a male dominated society. ZZ was trying to show that he went back to a even more primitive world like a matriarchy.

"Tai Chi makes you wee. QiGong makes you strong." This is an understatement. Whomever wrote this statement doesn't know the difference between Tai Chi and QiGong. It was understood that Tai Chi is a form of QiQong. Both involve deep breathing or abdominal breathing whichever one prefer. However, Tai Chi requires more extensive movements as compared to the other types of QiGong. Especially, in Tai Chi, it was putting some stresses on the legs by some movements which requires the practitioner to stand on one leg. As far as in cultivation wise, both have the same health effect as well as the physical fitness too.

"chi travels slightly slower than blood," How do we know this is true or not.....???

第二天，列子带着季咸，去面见壶子。季咸看了壶子一眼就出了门，对列子说：“哎呀！您的老师快死了，不能活了！没有十天的阳寿了。我看他面相变形，又见神情冷如灰烬，是生命将尽的徵兆。” 列子进来，泪水沾襟的告知壶子。壶子说：“刚才我处置在阴态，以地文示之。显得脆弱无力而又歪又斜。是恐怕见到我的杜绝生机的办法而判断的吧？再试试带他过来。” The second day, Lei-zi(列子) brought Ji-xian(季咸) to see his teacher Hu-zi(壶子) again. After Ji-xian(季咸) had a glance, then he stepped out the door and told Lei-zi(列子): "Alas! your teacher will die soon, he will not live! He only has ten days left for his life. I saw his face has changed form, and also his facial appearance was cold as burnt ash; that was the sign of the end of life." Lei-zi(列子) went inside the house while crying and told Hu-zi(壶子). Hu-zi(壶子) said: "I was just placed myself in a Yin-state as an earth. I was appeared to him that I was weak and look deformed and askew. I am afraid that he was judged by my sign of lack of vitality? Let's try again and bring him over. 隔天，列子又带季咸去看视壶子。坐一会出了门对列子说：“幸运呀！您的先生遇到了我病症有愈了。现在看来充满生机，我观察他阻塞生命的东西已經灵活自 如了。” 列子进了屋，告知壶子。壶子说：“刚才我处置在阳态，以天壤示之。虚与实的徵兆都不可进入体内，其生命迹象从脚跟到头顶。他的话恐怕是见到我善于展现生机 的状态而判断的。试试再带他过来。” The next day, Lei-zi(列子) brought Ji-xian(季咸) to see Hu-zi(壶子) again. Then stepped out the door and told Lei-zi(列子): " How lucky! Your teacher saw me and his illness is going to recover. Right now looks like he is full of life. I saw that his deterrence of life has gone and his vital soul is coming back into livelihood." Lei-zi(列子) went inside and told Hu-zi(壶子). Then Hu-zi(壶子) said: "I was just place myself in a Yang-state as heaven. Thus the sign of pretense or actuality cannot enter the body which left a sign of vitality from head to toe. I am afraid that his result was judged by my vital sign. Let's try again and bring him over. 又隔一天，列子又带着季咸过来，见过壶子后出门对列子说：“您的先生神态不定，我无法从相上看出结果，等到神态安定后，才能再次看相。” 列子进屋将原话告知壶子，壶子说：“刚才我处置在阴阳相冲谁也战胜不了谁的状态，此话恐怕是见到我平衡阴阳二气时的技巧而说的。鲵鱼盘桓的地方视为渊，静 止的深潭也视为渊，水能流动的深潭也视为渊，渊有九种，就像‘道’一样，我只说了三种。让他再来。” Another day has gone by, Lei-zi(列子) brought in Ji-xian(季咸) again.Then stepped out the door and told Lei-zi(列子) : "The sign of vitality on your teacher is very unstable. It is impossible for me to come out with a result. Let wait until he is more stable then I'll take another look." Lei-zi(列子) went inside and told Hu-zi(壶子). Then Hu-zi(壶子) said: "I was just placed myself in a Yin-yang-state which was in the two complementary states. The revelation showed that neither state can be defeated each other. I am afraid that his words were spoken by seeing my skill of balancing the the chi of yin and yang. The place that the whales do not enter was called abyss. The deep pool of stillness was also called abyss. The deep pool where water can move was also called abyss. There are nine kinds of abysses. It was just like 'Tao'. I had only said three kinds. Let him come again. 又隔一天，列子又带着季咸过来，见到壶子还立足未稳，像控制不了自己一样落荒而逃。壶子喊:“快追！”列子没有追上，回来告诉壶子：“已无踪无影了， 他逃掉了，我没能追上他。” 壶子说：“刚才我处置的是以原始未化生的我祖宗的状态。我与太虚缠绕在一起，难分清是谁。因为他看到我一会像倒在地上的一滩烂泥，一会又像水一样流淌，他 无法看出真像，所以逃跑了。” 后来，列子自认为什么也没学成而回家，多年不出家门，为其妻烧火做饭。仔细养猪，猪食精细得与人吃的一样，对所有事物、物种一视同仁。刻意恢复朴实无华的生活，像一块无任何表情的木雕泥塑立在那里，对人世上纷争，闭而不闻，一直这样结束了一生。 Another day, Lei-zi(列子) brought in Ji-xian(季咸) again. Ji-xian(季咸) saw Hu-zi(壶子) and took off right away before he could become standing still. It seems like he was really out of control in running for his life. Hu-zi(壶子) screamed: "Go after him." Lei-zi(列子) did not catch him, came back and told Hu-zi(壶子): "he was out of sign and got away. I did not catch him." Hu-zi(壶子) said: "I was place myself in my original primitive state like my ancienter. I was entangled together with the Great Void, who can tell who is who. It was because once I was like a pile of mud, then again once I was like water flowing. He cannot distinguish my true self, thus that's why he ran away." Finally, Lei-zi(列子) reckon that he had not learned anything but returned home. He have not gone travel for many years, he helped his wife to set fire for cooking. He paid much attention to raise pigs with extreme care. He prepared foods for the pigs as careful as he would have prepared for a human. He treated all things with equality. He was intended to live an austere way of life. It would be like an emotionless sculpture just standing there. He pays no attention to the quarrels of others. He lived in such way until he dies.

Good, I was not surprised about that. This is only the beginning, let's wait until the rest of the translation. You will have a big surprise coming at the end.... PS.... Actually, this is the first paragraph, I just broke it into two.

郑国有个神巫，名叫季咸，他能知道人的生死存亡、祸福及寿命长短，占卜的死亡时间可以准确到年、月、旬，甚至到某一日，仿佛是神。郑国人见到他，都远远躲避，唯恐逃脱不及。列子见到他，被他的巫术所折服，执迷如醉。回来后，把情况告诉老师壶子，并说：“开始我总认为先生的道化最深、最备至，现在又有更高深的了。” 壶子说：“我教给你的，才刚接触到‘道’的表面，还未及‘道’的本质，而你却认为久而得‘道’了？雌性再多而无雄性，怎么会有受精的卵呢！而你以蛋能 生鸡之道在世人面前炫耀你手中的‘蛋’，让他人相信是受精卵，这等于把你的底细告知了他人，然后才给你看相。尝试让他与你一块来，用我来试试。” In the State of Zheng, there was a divine shaman. His name was called Ji-xian(季咸). He can predict when the people are going to die or stay alive, what will happen in the future and how long one will live. He can predict the time of death with an accuracy to the year, month or even date. He seems like a deity. When the people of Zheng saw him coming, they turned around to stay away far from him. They were afraid that they did not leave soon enough. Lie-zi saw him was admired and indulged by his witchcraft. When Lai-zi returned to home, he told his teacher, Hu-zi(壶子), the situation. Then said: "At the beginning I thought teacher's Taoism was profound, most prepare and complete. Now, I have found someone is even more profound." Hu-zi(壶子) said: "What I had taught you about Tao was only superficial; it has not even reach its core yet. However, you thought that you have understood Tao for a long time? Even though there are lots of females without a male, how can one obtain an fertilized egg? How dare you showing off the egg in your hand by claiming a principle of using an egg to produce a chicken. Letting people know that the egg has been fertilized. This is equal to letting someone know your own background. Then have someone to give you a divination. Let's try to bring him with you and have him try it on me."

These are TCM terms. Never mind. It's confusing enough....!!!

Thank you, Marblehead... I'm amazing how much one knows and converge all the thoughts including one of the interpretations into Zhunang Zse's philosophy. No offense, MH, let me finish my translation and see that would make you revise your thoughts. Let me ask you a question, when you interpret this section of the chapter, have you kept the title of this chapter in mind....??? Just in case you have not, would you change your mind about your initial thinking and give it another thought...???

"The internal arts are complete in themselves." Based on the above statement, internal means exactly what it says INTERNAL. So, what does Internal involve...??? To the best of my knowledge, it has to do everything internally which involves the mind and the inner strength of the human body. One wants to have the greatest impact when strike. One should be able to exert any amount of force at will. Thus that is where the mind comes in. Mentally, one should be able to control the body parts to move in any direction at any speed and the magnitude in strength. So, Chi Kung was considered to the the ultimate method for the internal art. Chi Kung involves in learning to breathing to give the body more energy to increase the inner strength. It give more mental power to manipulate the internal organs to perform their functions to the maximum capacity. So far, no external arts have been mentioned here. Now is to say that the external arts would be the punches and kicks, etc. Thus it is a complete different art than the internal art. Would you say...???

There is a reason behind the practice of hard and soft(nei gong). Hard was for someone who is already born with a good physical condition. In the contrary, those who are born with a weak body need to start with the soft to build up their physical condition such as muscle tone. PS.... This is only my BSO....

marblehead..... May I hear from you what is this parable saying here.....???

雄鞭: Male Whip (A TCM nomenclature for deer penis) 龍雄: Dragon Hero; Dragon is the symbol of male sexual power. 剛陽: Harden Yang; Yang was referred to the male sexual power or male penis as well. All these are the terms of the TCM for male potency.