Shaolin Yijinjing Gengmenpai neigong workshop with Dr. Jiang Feng in China, Fall 2013.

[grady]

I think most people still experience various health benefits from taiji practice even though many people may not practice taiji everyday. Few people have the motivation or time to practice taiji for several hours everyday like many of the taiji masters of old did, so it is not surprising that many people do not achieve a high level in their taiji practice. People getting all sorts of health benefits from taiji is certainly a fair bit more than 'achieving nothing at best after years of taiji practice' however.

 

I am inclined to think that any people who cause harm to themself from taiji are probably actually for the most part people who mix in other qigong, breathing, neigong, meditation, and 'taoist sexual practices' and that sort of thing from stuff they have learned in books or elsewhere. They may say they were 'practicing taiji', but I would guess that it was mixing in other stuff or otherwise greatly diverging from taiji's basic and simple principles that caused the issues for them. Taiji practiced at all correctly is very natural and should not likely be harmful. In my experience most people who just mainly practice taiji itself get various real health benefits from it, and that is what most people seem to be mainly looking for in taiji practice these days anyway. It may seem to you that many people who practice taiji cause problems for themself because it is likely only people who have caused harm to themself (likely through other practices other than taiji) go to shifu Jiang for healing. The majority of people who practice taiji get good health benefits from taiji so do not need to seek out a healer in China or elsewhere unless they have other unrelated health issues. You are probably getting a fairly one sided view at shifu Jiang's clinic in China.

 

The problem is magnified by the fact that the majority of taijiquan is taught with these things "mixed in" already.

 

Ditto for almost any asian martial art taught in the West, although taijiquan & aikido's widespread association with mysticism makes them particularly susceptible.

Edited October 13, 2013 by leandro

[Iskote]

Edited October 13, 2013 by Iskote

[gendao]

In terms of comparison the results generated by our practices seem to resemble most closely those of John Chang's "Mopai", and while I personally believe there are as many similarities as their are differences in what we do and what they do, we are emphatically *not* associated with the Mopai school in any way, and we do not practice or teach Mopai methods.

So, you do not intentionally (if passively) cultivate Yin qi through physical grounding to the Earth to later "fuse" condensed Yin & Yang qi and then become able to discharge Yang qi in high enough amounts to feel like electricity?

Dr. Jiang’s qi is most often “injected” into the patient through the doctor’s palms or fingers for either diagnostic or therapeutic purposes, but this is something much more than a mere “laying on of hands”. The sensations caused by the qi entering the body are shockingly palpable and undeniable, causing entire muscle groups to involuntarily contract, and is usually described by the patient as something similar to a strong electrical current. One is reminded of the sensation of grasping an electrified fence or sticking one’s finger in a wall socket.

 

Any given “field” or “current” of qi has both yin (陰) “negative/female/passive/cold/etc.” qualities and yang (陽) “positive/male/active/hot/etc.” qualities, and depending on the specific pattern of disharmony being treated Dr. Jiang can modulate the injected qi such that the sensations experienced by the patient will differ from that of a strong electrical current, to a burning heat, to a pleasant cool feeling. Please understand that the terms I have using here do not refer explicitly to the modern physics terms denoting “electromagnetic field” or “electric currents” but these are the closest terms we have in English to describe the corresponding classical concepts.

Also, is it possible to restore prenatal jing?

Edited February 11, 2014 by vortex