Celestial

I wonder if he's using the upper magpie bridge technique though... that could be part of the problem: "The tongue is placed into the roof of the mouth known as the 'Magpie Bridge', which acts as a kind of switch which completes the energy circuit so that too much energy cannot build up in the head which can lead to headaches or even hallucinations." [http://en.wikipedia....rocosmic_orbit]

After watching some of the trailers for his videos, all I can say is: ugh. He's gasping for air after every move he performs, so perhaps he should stop being ignorant about Qi as it's clearly holding him back. I'll look into the other videos but it seems as if Chen-style is just really hard to come by. I can find a million things online regarding Yang-style though.

How do you know when your LDT is filled? And is Qi rising into your head a bad thing?

I'm doing Position One from the book by Sifu Lam. The Neikung book was just something to cross reference the standing pole position. One book says one thing, the other says something else. I'm trying to figure out which is correct. Anyways, perhaps I'm not feeling any pain at all in my kneecaps but rather a dull aching sensation. Which like I mentioned before goes away after the first few minutes of practice. No offense, but I used to be an athlete (who still to this day trains 5 days a week), so I am pretty sure I understand the concept of bending a little bit at the knees -- as instructed and illustrated in the book. It's just that when I feel something that hurts I immediately associate it with pain. Which can be sharp or dull depending. I see your point about aches though, but at my age the likely hood of anything in my body aching is rare; other than the occasional headache. In other words, I believe the aching could just be a result of not being used to this kind of training (Zhan Zhuang) and holding a single posture for a set amount of time. Thanks for clearing some stuff up for me though. Appreciate it.

Thank you. I'll keep trying this until I feel it a little more. Probably easier shown than written, like you mentioned. In the Book of Neikung, the author says something about placing the knees 'outward' as if you were holding a big ballon between your legs. Any validity to this?

Oh it looks like he teaches it in the 38-form dvd.

Thanks for the link. What about learning the silk reeling technique?

I want to learn Chen-style Taijiquan. I just can't find any 'good' videos or teachers that know it well.

It's joint related located in the front (kneecaps). But the pain goes away about a minute or two after I am done standing. According to 'The Way of Energy', knee pain is felt for the first couple of weeks of doing Zhan Zhuang; apparently this is normal. And when you say open up the knees more, what do you mean by that? According to the book, you're just supposed to stand roughly shoulder width apart and bend your knees slightly. Never bend past the toes.

Haha exactly! The minute I think about everything going black, it goes away. Can you explain why it goes dark in the first place?

Same. And it's been like this for sometime now.

Cool, because 8 strands is the warmup practice before Zhan Zhuang. I don't know why, but I was always under the impression that if you were moving you were using Chi not generating it.

Thanks for that post. Do the '8 Strands of Brocade' count as movement practice? And do you suggest any special type of clothing (100% cotton shoes/pants, etc) while sitting on the earth meditating?

I agree, if someone forces the path of immortality (or playing Football) then yes, that is gross. The quest for immortality doesn't always mean that you fear death. There are more factors to immortality than just living forever in this physical body, there's the spiritual which is what most Taoists are referring to when speaking of immortality. They do not fear death, in fact, they have to embrace it before becoming immortal.

This is my 6th day of doing Zhan Zhuang for only 5 minutes each day (I am following the books instruction to the letter). I only do the first position, and my knees still ache like hell afterwards. I notice powerful energy moving in my hands and feet but no where else around my body. I also notice the whole world in front of me going almost completely dark even though my eyes are open the entire time.

Sometimes the things you love to do require sacrifice(s). Plenty of successful, happy people who do what they love have made sacrifices in their life to accomplish their dreams. This is the way of life, young or old, it doesn't make a bit of difference. Some people love to cultivate inner power in the hopes to achieve immortality. If this requires letting go of attachments/desires and long periods of semen retention, then do it. If you find that during the process you don't love it, stop.

Haha that's a great story. Yeah, all I drink is water and tea. A lot of supplements are scams or filled with a bunch of crap, never buy supplements from a drug store. I take a multi, iodine, and fish oil. All natural, no fillers. I might be switching from fish oil to krill oil though. I'm hearing great things about it.

Coming from someone who has two doctors in his family and married to a pharmacist, I can tell you that western medicine is about as corrupt as it gets. I used to get sick - a lot - pills weren't helping. I changed my diet and started exercising, guess what? I haven't been sick in 2 years, not even so much as a cold. I see people RUSHING OUT to their doctors asking for all these prescriptions but on the way home stopping for some McDonald's. After they down a 40oz super gulp, DIET COKE mind you, they drink SLIM FAST. I've lived it, seen it, been there done that and back again. Edit: I hate to burst anyone's bubble on here but we're living in an unnatural state. Our biology is struggling to keep up with our technology. We're sitting majority of the time and not moving our bodies. We're stuffing our faces with PROCESSED FOODS and expecting some cure in the form of a pill. Like I said, I've been there, I see it all around me wherever I go. People are sick and western medicine isn't helping. That is to say however that eastern medicine isn't the cure either. The cure is within you. But of course no one wants to hear this, they would rather live in their own delusional world believing every little thing a 'white coat' tells them.

Guys, just wait for my product line of bottled JING. You're all going to get JINGY with it.™ CHI and SHEN bottles are on their way shortly after. Open up your pocket books.

What's the trick? Oh and steam, thanks to you I discovered Zhan Zhuang. I clicked your 'stand still be fit' link and have been doing the practices for over a week now. POWERFUL stuff.

This is exactly what is going on. I know someone who went to Peru (deep in the Amazon) and had an Ayahuasca experience under the guidance of an authentic Shaman. He told me about the different things he experienced such as seeing, reptiles, dragons, etc during his trip. The Shaman confirmed to him that these were projections of his subconscious fears. Fear of contracting a deadly disease such as cancer is common amongst a lot of people (especially in America). This fear will project lower vibration entities such as snakes into your mind while you're 'tripping.' The only thing that creeps me out about Max is the fact that multiple people have gone on record stating that after their first Kunlun experience, they dreamt of Max kissing them. While his method could be completely sound, he still might be a creepy guy who's just in it for the poon.

Standing on some dead animal fur can't be good for your karma. Back in ancient times, the people who killed animals did so to survive. After skinning them, they ate the meat. The fur was a bonus. I personally believe (after reading the responses in this thread) that as long as your feet are not freezing cold and have some form of NATURAL insulation, then it's okay. Synthetic anything is not natural and could lead to problems.

Will do! I want to repost this in case anyone missed it: What did ancient masters wear on their feet before the modern shoe was invented?

Reading about the Kunlun system, then the thought of calling people who practice it: Kunloons.

Jim isn't the best example; and I don't want to go there with this thread. I was basing my post on what John Chang said not to wear, perhaps Jim just didn't listen. So 100% cotton pants + shoes that insulate your feet (cotton/rubber) should be good then?