Differences between Eight Brocade styles

[Taoist81]

At our school they currently teach the Taoist 5 yin and 5 yang Qigong. Formerly, however, they taught the Eight Brocades.

Recently (in part because of the White Tigress discussion) another list of "eight brocades" (as listed by the Hsi Lai courses among others) was noted. Does anyone know the differences between these?

 

Most common:

1. Supporting the Heavens

2. Drawing the Bow

3. Penetrating Heaven and Earth

4. Wise owl looks backward

5. Swaying and shaking the tail

6. Leaning back and touching the toes

7. Punching out and gazing angrily

8. Bouncing on the toes

 

Less common:

1. Heavenly Drum

2. Shaking the Heavenly Pillar

3. The Red Dragon Stirs the Sea

4. Rubbing the Court of the Kidneys

5. The Single Pass Windlass

6. The Double Pass Windlass

7. Supporting Heaven

8. Grasping With Hooks

Edited February 20, 2009 by Taoist81

[joeblast]

Are you referring to the standing set or the sitting set? Sounds like your 'most common' & 'less common' correlate there...

[Taoist81]

Are you referring to the standing set or the sitting set? Sounds like your 'most common' & 'less common' correlate there...

 

Perhaps that is it. At school they only taught the standing set, so it had been assumed that the seated set was similar to the "most common" found set, simply adapted for sitting. The web seems to be lacking in discussion of the "red dragon parts the sea" etc.

Have you studied the seated set? do you (or does anyone here) have a description?

[rsalazar]

Hello,

The less common one you note looks to be the seated set that has been popularized by Stuart Olson - the seated set is supposedly the original form of the brocades set - I believe there many, many different styles of both the standing and sitting sets that are referred to as 8 Brocades - I originally started practicing a standing set from Geoff Pikes book "The Power of Ch'i" back in 1990 - Pike's book is interesting because he attributes his speedy recovery from cancer (as well as avoiding side effects from radiotherapy) to his practice of the brocades - the set he details in the book he learned from a teacher in the Philippines.

Cheers,

Rene'

 

Perhaps that is it. At school they only taught the standing set, so it had been assumed that the seated set was similar to the "most common" found set, simply adapted for sitting. The web seems to be lacking in discussion of the "red dragon parts the sea" etc.

Have you studied the seated set? do you (or does anyone here) have a description?

[joeblast]

Perhaps that is it. At school they only taught the standing set, so it had been assumed that the seated set was similar to the "most common" found set, simply adapted for sitting. The web seems to be lacking in discussion of the "red dragon parts the sea" etc.

Have you studied the seated set? do you (or does anyone here) have a description?

Stirs, or parts?

I learned Yang Jwing Ming's set, part 4 is lightly swing the sky post. Lightly turn the head to loosen up the tian zhu, red dragon stirs the saliva, drum rinse 36 times, 3 swallows.

[Fire Dragon]

At our school they currently teach the Taoist 5 yin and 5 yang Qigong. Formerly, however, they taught the Eight Brocades.

Recently (in part because of the White Tigress discussion) another list of "eight brocades" (as listed by the Hsi Lai courses among others) was noted. Does anyone know the differences between these?

 

Most common:

1. Supporting the Heavens

2. Drawing the Bow

3. Penetrating Heaven and Earth

4. Wise owl looks backward

5. Swaying and shaking the tail

6. Leaning back and touching the toes

7. Punching out and gazing angrily

8. Bouncing on the toes

 

Less common:

1. Heavenly Drum

2. Shaking the Heavenly Pillar

3. The Red Dragon Stirs the Sea

4. Rubbing the Court of the Kidneys

5. The Single Pass Windlass

6. The Double Pass Windlass

7. Supporting Heaven

8. Grasping With Hooks

 

 

 

Hello, I recognise both of them.

 

The most common (how do you know that?) seems to be identical with a standing form I learned from Yudeloves book "100 days to better..."

 

The Less common have the same name to each exercise as in the book by Stuart Olson, "Qigong teaching of a taoist immortal". That book is about the 8 brocades. There is an translation of the old text, oldest qigong text, and with comments from the immortal, Li Ching Yun, and also comments to all this by Olson.

 

I do this exercises Less common now regularly about 4 times each week. The most common form I did for about a year ago. The sitting form by Olson is much deeper and longer forms in time. The total 8 brocades and sitting and forrgetting takes about 1 hour following Olsons CD. The exercises are quite simple but anyway efective and deepening.

 

There is an easy descripiton of the exercises in the handbook "Eight brocades taois yoga handbook" by Phoenix taois center. They also have instruction DVD:s on the eight brocades. And of course the book by Olson is al good material of this.

 

 

F D