days 71 & 72: ball qi-gong & breathing

concepts:

• expansion & contraction
• breathing
• legwork
• awareness & imagination
  
• SLED
  
• structure
  

forms:

• ball qi-gong
• stances
  

i'm writing this about a week late. things have been a little busy. so i'm writing off memory, and things are going to be a little succinct.

day 71

we started class with a review of the Yang simplified 24 movement form. this time, however, Sifu broke the class into groups, and had each group do the form in front of class without him. i'm guessing he wanted to get a closer look to see how people were doing, particularly without anyone leading them.

Sifu told us there was a useful acronym to remember in learning how to do tai chi: SLED. the letters stand for the following

• Slow--do the moves slowly, to concentrate and focus on the body and the surroundings
• Long--do the moves with the body lengthening, to loosen the muscles and joints
• Extended--do the moves with extension, to train the mind and body to commit to each technique
• Deep--do the moves deep, to train the mind and body for good technique
  

Sifu said this was meant to help develop the 2 things he talked about before: awareness and imagination. awareness of the body and the environment, and imagination about the opponent. together, they train the mind-body relationship for more instinctive, natural application of good technique.

we then continued with more instruction about ball qi-gong. we first reviewed the ball qi-gong from last week. Sifu emphasized the following:

• we should connect the expansion and contraction of the ball and the timing of our breathing, with expansion of the ball timed with the exhale and contraction of the ball timed with the inhale; and
• the torso of the body should also be timed with the expansion and contraction, with the pelvis and spine curving slightly as we breathed in (contraction of the ball) so that the tailbone tucked in slightly, and the pelvis and the spine straightening as we breathed out (expansion of the ball) so that the tailbone extended slightly.
  

Sifu noted the idea was to integrate the entire upper body with the breathing, so that it became a unified movement working with the heart to stimulate the blood flow.

then we went to the next level of ball qi-gong, which combined the upper-body movements with the lower body, with our breathing and arms being timed with our legs. Sifu showed us how we were supposed to lower ourselves into horse stance as we expanded the ball (breathing out), and then rise into the standing qi-gong pose as we contracted the ball (breathing in).

Sifu said that the additional legwork acted to increase blood circulation, with the legs functioning like a pump to aid the heart in the qi-gong. in addition, it also acted to incorporate the legs with the breathing and upper body, in essence, increasing the qi-gong experience to the lower body.

we finished with stances.

day 72

we warmed up doing the Yang simplified 24 movement form, and then went into more detail about the ball qi-gong.

Sifu showed us another addition to the ball qi-gong. before, we had done the expansion and contraction with the palms of the hands facing us or the center of the ball. this time, he demonstrated that we can do it with the palms facing away, so that the hands push out.

we did the ball qi-gong the first 2 ways from Tuesday, with the palms facing inward as we went through the qi-gong standing with legs stationary, and then with legs descending and rising out of horse stance. after this, we did it with the palms facing outward, again without legwork and with legwork.

for the palms facing away with legwork, the qi-gong with hands in the diagonal position involve expansion of the ball with a turning of the waist. as the ball expands, the practitioner turns at the waist until they face backwards (legs still facing forwards).

Sifu then spent time noting the following:

• qi-gong is meant for several health-related purposes. it's supposed to increase blood circulation. it's also supposed to warm up the muscles and loosen the joints. in addition, it's also supposed to help calm the mind and thereby ease physical and mental tension.
• qi-gong also has martial arts purposes. it serves to heighten the senses, by allowing the practitioner to become more in tune with touch, smell, taste, sight, and sound. it also helps to increase awareness of the surrounding environment, as well as the practitioner's own body. this results in development of the 2 concepts Sifu has been stressing: awareness and imagination--awareness of how you fit with the world around you, awareness of the sensations in your body, awareness of the mind-body connection, imagination to visualize your body's internal operation, imagination to visualize your body's movements, and imagination to visualize your movements in relation to your surroundings.
  

Sifu ended class leading us through stances. he noted that stance work was meant to develop structure. he explained that "structure" meant 2 things: strength and balance. both are necessary to provide a stable platform for the body to properly apply techniques, and for the practitioner to remain standing against an opponent. stances help develop structure, because they develop lower-body strength, and also the body's sense of balance with respect to basic positions involved in combat. Sifu finished by telling us that we should practice stances as a form of solo homework.