zhang zhuang and the eyes

[Ramon25]

So what do you do with the eyes? gazing foraward, unfocused, closed? Ima little unsure and cant find any clear info, thanks

[Aetherous]

There are different methods of standing, but if you just want to do one way: eyes open and relaxed looking at a 45 degree angle downward.

 

Your attention should be within the dantien, and not in your eyes looking at the ground.

[Prince...]

Eyes forward watching last week's episode of Glee on Hulu.

[island]

Eyes forward, not fixed, soft focus, be aware of an inner smile in the corners of your eyes, attention is turned inward.

[Jetsun]

Double post

Edited November 21, 2010 by Jetsun

[Jetsun]

There are different methods of standing, but if you just want to do one way: eyes open and relaxed looking at a 45 degree angle downward.

 

Your attention should be within the dantien, and not in your eyes looking at the ground.

 

Wouldn't attention on the lower dan tien make it a completely different sort of exercise? I have limited understanding but attention there would involve sinking your qi and making it a form of meditation whereas I thought in zhan zhuang was just standing with your mind free to do whatever it wants

[johndoe2012]

Wouldn't attention on the lower dan tien make it a completely different sort of exercise? I have limited understanding but attention there would involve sinking your qi and making it a form of meditation whereas I thought in zhan zhuang was just standing with your mind free to do whatever it wants

 

Yes, I think you are correct.

 

Zhan Zhuang is with attention on internal phenomenon not only on the lower dantien (this is stated multiple places, Way Of Energy, Yi Quan manuals etc.) and of course attention on your posture.

[Aetherous]

Yes, it's different...a more effective way of practicing.

[Martial Development]

Watching Glee is bad for your chi. The ancients recommended watching LXD on Hulu instead. And you have to use a low stance because the episodes are only 5-10 minutes long. That is what the ancients said in their ancient Taoist manuscripts.

[Gerard]

You can try closing your eyes and see how this affects your practice. No set rules.

[mYTHmAKER]

You can try closing your eyes and see how this affects your practice. No set rules.

 

I like closing my eyes - no external distractions

[Mal]

Watching Glee is bad for your chi. The ancients recommended watching LXD on Hulu instead. And you have to use a low stance because the episodes are only 5-10 minutes long. That is what the ancients said in their ancient Taoist manuscripts.

 

Must be a different translation as I usually see this logogram

While I quite like Glee, I've never really got into practicing while doing something else. Don't watch much TV and I tend to start gyrating and forget to stand still when I listen to music

 

re: Eyes position. Yes, try out some options and see how they feel to you. Personally I feel a big difference between eyes open and eyes closed.

[SeriesOfTubes]

I like closing my eyes - no external distractions

 

 

Same here

[Prince...]

Must be a different translation as I usually see this logogram

While I quite like Glee, I've never really got into practicing while doing something else. Don't watch much TV and I tend to start gyrating and forget to stand still when I listen to music

 

re: Eyes position. Yes, try out some options and see how they feel to you. Personally I feel a big difference between eyes open and eyes closed.

 

You should try it sometime, Mal. I was serious...I often watch movies while standing.

 

I slacked off when it got cold, and I've had to move back to Nashville to assist aging family members. When it was warm, I practiced 30 minutes of standing just before sunrise before going off to do my Taiji & kettle bell workout. In the evening I would spend about an hour on Yiquan and watch a Shaw Brother's movie.

 

When I was outside, I was not focusing on the dantien or what was going on inside. I was watching the squirrels play and making adjustments to my structure.

 

I did this everyday from mid-July until early October when it started getting colder in Kentucky. I don't have any chakras spinning or active chi sensations. What I can do is stand a lot longer than I could last year this time, and my pushhands partners have been telling me that I'm holding back way too much (meaning I'm a lot stronger at pushhands now).

 

Sorry if this doesn't help you with your original question. I've given up on the cultivation/chi mastery stuff. I just do zhan zhuang because I like my teacher's gongfu and Yiquan is the foundation of our Taiji, Hsing-Yi, and Bagua.

[sirius]

don`t close the eyes while practising chi kung. it`s not meditation.

 

happy standing!

 

sirius

[sirius]

when i wrote chi kung i meant zanh zhuang chi kung.

[Ramon25]

Thanks for all the responses guys!

I like closing my eyes as well.

So when you guys say internal phenomena you mean, sensations, posture, emotions and such?

Also sirius I know I see BK closing his eyes during zhang zhuang, I would also say it is mediation at some level. And if eyes are not closed what do they do in your opinion?

Also can ALL postures like the tiger and dragon and archer from the way of power be done eyes closed or should they be open?

Even if eyes are open, the focus should still all be internal on aformentioned list above?

Edited November 23, 2010 by Ramon25

[Ramon25]

bump

[Prince...]

Thanks for all the responses guys!

I like closing my eyes as well.

So when you guys say internal phenomena you mean, sensations, posture, emotions and such?

Also sirius I know I see BK closing his eyes during zhang zhuang, I would also say it is mediation at some level. And if eyes are not closed what do they do in your opinion?

Also can ALL postures like the tiger and dragon and archer from the way of power be done eyes closed or should they be open?

Even if eyes are open, the focus should still all be internal on aformentioned list above?

 

We don't practice those postures in Way of Power, also our hand positions are slightly different. My Yiquan comes from a different student of Mr. Wang. One of Yao Chengguang's students posted an article about eye training during zhan zhuang where he says to notice the things around you, try to follow falling leaves, birds, etc. There are visualizations that many schools do--some of them can be done with the eyes closed. My teacher says not to close the eyes until we reach a certain point.

 

The internal phenomena that I've been told about is a feeling of fullness. I have not reached this point yet. Generally I hear it takes about 3 years. Of course this is all from the Yiquan community, and the only people I know doing this are concerned with developing peng jin for fighting ability.

[Palmer]

I also was taught eyes open and slightly closed but have met people that were taught it as a meditation with eyes closed. With that said I was taught to work with visualizations at certain stages of my practice that required the eyes to be open and focused in front on something in particular. My opinion is that you can take zhan zhuang practice in so many different directions that depending on what you are trying to achieve any of the methods are appropriate.

[Mal]

You should try it sometime, Mal. I was serious...I often watch movies while standing.

 

I gave it a go watching 20 min of TV. While I couldn't help but think "Watching TV isn't practice" None the less the way I felt after the 20 min was at least somewhat similar.

 

So thanks for the recommendation

[Prince...]

I gave it a go watching 20 min of TV. While I couldn't help but think "Watching TV isn't practice" None the less the way I felt after the 20 min was at least somewhat similar.

 

So thanks for the recommendation

 

Haha, told you! I'm sure someone turned their nose up at my advice. It's whatever... my tai sigung started practicing his Yiquan while watching the news. At 83 he stands for 5 hours a day. You gotta get the body there first, that's how I've been taught.