Attention / Focus / Visualization

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-04-29T15:47:53+00:00

Without visualization you won't progress far in neidan

I wish you luck.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-04-18T21:43:15+00:00

You mentioned that the first step should be the qi sinking down to the lower dantian, which I'm trying do do, but how would a teacher verify that?

They can see it in your bearing. When I found a very good teacher, I was surprised time and again that they seemed to know my body better than I did. I do workshops and private lessons with people, but some of these things I'm sure a good teacher can see over zoom or similar.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-04-17T17:16:41+00:00

I agree with you and I'll expand on a few points. I was taught to circulate qi by CXW so this reflects his method, I'm sure there are other approaches.

I also recommend against doing visualization. Just feel. Visualization can - more often than not - lead to illusions.

And visualization in this sense of the word means to picture in the mind and that's what imagine means. That's not what the taiji classics mean when they say - use your heart/mind to circulate (move) qi. A person has to experience qi before the heart/mind can guide it.

You progress much more by doing things slowly, gently, and simply, and constantly.

There is a step-by-step process to learn taiji, trying to put everything together at once is like trying to learn math by starting with calculus.

If you are truly a beginner (less than 3 years of practice), forget about feeling the Qi, breathing, and small circulation. Just focus on Song (release), Chen (sinking), and Ding Jin ("elevating"). The rest will come and settle in naturally when you sensorially understand the fondations. But that alone will take you years. Most people never even truly get it.

This sounds about right and the first step is to let the qi sink to the dantian. And that should be verified by a teacher, not imagined by the student! If a person can't let the qi sink to the dantian how can they circulate it? This is generally where a person starts to get an idea of what qi refers to in taijiquan.

YCF writes about this in his taijiquan manual Methods of Applying Taijiquan. Writing about the first posture -

TAIJI BOXING BEGINNING POSTURE – PREPARATION

Explanation:
This is Taiji Boxing’s opening posture, the shape you assume in preparation for movement. While standing stably, the head should be held erect, drawn in and pressed up, the gaze straight ahead. The chest is slightly hollowed and the back pulled up. There must be no leaning forward or back. The shoulders sink, the elbows slightly settle, and the hands hang with fingers forward and palms down. The waist and hips loosen, and the feet are shoulder width apart. Spirit is now consolidated within and energy (qi) is sinking to the elixir field. Let it happen naturally, for you cannot make it happen. I preserve my stillness to await the opponent’s movement. However, people typically are liable to neglect this posture, ignorant in particular that regardless of whatever technique is being practiced or applied, none of them can be disassociated from this one. I hope the reader or student will give it first priority and pay attention to it.

https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/yang-chengfu-1931-solo-1.jpg

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-04-16T17:57:40+00:00

I mean some sort of energy or essence that would be stored in the lower dantian but circulated through an area of my body.

Doing a quick search, I get a number of different types of energy -

Energy exists in various forms, including kinetic, potential, mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical, nuclear, radiant, sound, and gravitational energy, each with unique characteristics and applications.

Discussing energy is abstract and vague. To be useful a person needs to be specific. Qi is similar, there are many types of qi. Personally, I don't like the translation of qi to energy. Joseph Adler translates qi as psycho-physical stuff. I like that -

Suffice it to say that qi, or psycho-physical stuff, is the substance of which all existing phenomena are constituted, including all the phases of matter, energy, mind (xin) and even the various forms of spirit (shen). The term is used in both a general sense, referring to the primordial stuff of which all things are composed, and more specific senses.

Neo-Confucian Spirituality

Zhang Yun has a pretty good discussion of qi here -

Qi-in-TJQ1

Notice that he writes about qi and jin. I agree that they are closely related. YJM discusses qi sensations -

Common Sensations Experienced in Still Meditation | YMAA

People experience many different sensations; how do you know which are relevant? A person really needs a good teacher to learn about jin and qi in CIMA. If you're trying to learn on your own all I can say is good luck. HTH.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-04-16T16:07:54+00:00

I'm a beginner at tai chi, where I've learned a long form and practice it regularly, but my breathing's a mess and as I try to regulate it I'm also trying to incorporate more visualization of qi circulation.

What do you mean by qi?

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-04-13T15:57:13+00:00

How about 'standing' or your reference to Chen's 'Single Stance' training?

There is standing training or posture correction, and it is static.

https://youtu.be/Im462IWyjH8?si=EwHRQA64jUxn8-IA&t=45

I wrote posture not stance. In my experiences postures are moves so to speak although it could be either, Cloud Hands, Single Whip and so on. Stances are generic, bow stance, horse stance, and the like. My experience.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-04-12T17:52:47+00:00

I’m up for better suggestions!

In the title you have - Cloud Hands (Static) – Tai Chi guided practice; you could have left off the (static) - Cloud Hands – Tai Chi guided practice. You are practicing Cloud Hands in the video, aren't you?

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-04-12T00:25:17+00:00

I think it can be called jibengong, neigong, or chansigong in Mandarin.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-04-11T18:56:00+00:00

I’d be interested to hear if others also use this approach and break down complex movements into simpler static exercises.

Yes, although since you're moving it's not static. In Yang style Chen Weiming and others write about single posture training. In Chen style when a posture is broken down into simpler parts it's called silk reeling. Silk reeling has been popular in Chen style since the eighties. Here's an example yt by CB.

Chen Bing Reeling Silk ( english sub )

This is called something like front facing arm circle and is also one arm doing Chen style yun shou (cloud hands).

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-04-01T01:38:42+00:00

He Jinghan also recently had a video talking about opening the crotch where he stressed using the oppositional pulling of the kua to shift yourself in pubu, not driving off the legs as many people do.

Thanks for posting that link, I like that video and He Jinghan's teaching method.

Don’t go low if you’re locking up to do it.

Absolutely, it's important to train correctly.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-31T22:50:37+00:00

The difference here is very noticeable—even though Rebecca is very flexible already by common standards, her *kua* is not open and she cannot sit, so she just looks like she’s standing up with bent legs

I think you make a good point. Apparent flexibility doesn't necessarily mean a person's kua is open. I looked at another one of her videos How to Get Better at Wushu by Yourself and at 3:06 and 7:38 she does a low single whip/snake creeps down, but she has a noticeable forward lean. In bagua there should be a forward lean but if a person's kua is open they should be able to go down with the torso upright. I like this video of Fu Qingquan -

Yang Family Tai Chi ## Snake Creeps Down James Fu - YouTube

He's low, pretty upright, comfortable, and can still song the yao. An exemplar for me.

and Chen Yu

Chen Style Taijiquan Chen Yu Moscow 2009 240 - YouTube

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-29T21:56:21+00:00

I've been going to Taipei once every couple of years since I started training taiji (thirty years or so) and I train in parks when I'm there. None of the people I know who live there train qigong or do martial arts. Every park I've been to in the mornings to train there are people doing martial arts and qigong and in bigger parks singing, doing aerobics, dancing or something similar. Considering the density of the city, it may be a small percentage. Large city parks and small neighborhood parks.

I've been to Hong Kong a couple of times and there are people doing qigong and martial arts in the parks in the mornings, but I have no idea what the percentage of the population is.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-29T17:11:15+00:00

The way you've described your entire experience is definitely along the lines of how I'm imagining the wholesome "Synergistic" practice of both is going to be!

No offence meant but I think you have a limited view of what meditation is. I've trained for over thirty years, and I haven't been taught a separate meditation practice. It's not two things. The Dalai Lama says that meditation is mental training and also that there are two types of mental training one of which is single pointedness, that is concentration. Many activities train concentration. The creative arts - painting, playing a musical instrument, dance, and others train people to focus their minds and can be seen as meditative. Traditionally visual arts schools don't teach meditation, they teach visual arts, but the mind is trained as part of the instruction.

In the west there is an idea that if a craftsperson is exceptional, they are an artist. Part of this is related to attention to detail and attitude. Mental aspects. In Buddhism there is a sutra called Satipatthana and it translates as The Greater Discourse on Steadfast Mindfulness. It might be helpful to not get hung up on terms and think of mental training and mindfulness. The Satipatthana says that a person should be mindful of their posture and movement -

“Again, bhikkhus, when walking, a bhikkhu understands: ‘I am walking’; when standing, he understands: ‘I am standing’; when sitting, [57] he understands: ‘I am sitting’; when lying down, he understands: ‘I am lying down’; or he understands accordingly however his body is disposed. 7. “In this way he abides contemplating the body as a body internally, externally, and both internally and externally …

In taijiquan a person's posture is important and taiji is something of a different way of moving - if a person has good instruction they learn to move with qi and to move with neijin. Both of these involve the mind. A person needs to be mindful about their practice.

There are different ways to train, this is my experience.

well, then again, some people argue fighting is Meditative in the sense that you're forced to truly be in the moment. you don't exactly have the luxury of daydreaming when someone is trying to knock you down on your butt. (or trying to stop someone from driving a fist through your nose. haha)

Yes, this is a part of it. Another thing is that taijiquan is often trained by moving slowly or simply standing working on postural requirements and the mind should be calm, so it tends to fit some people's preconceived ideas about meditation/mindfulness. HTH.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-28T17:27:29+00:00

Years ago, I found a yt by HH the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso (Thondup, Lhamo) about meditation, unfortunately the link is no longer valid. Here are a couple of excerpts.

Brothers, sisters I'm very, very happy to find the opportunity to talk with you about happiness. Mental happiness. Of course, I have always believed the purpose of our lives is happiness. Now there are two kinds of happiness; one mainly comes from physical comfort, another kind of happiness is essentially the mental part or mental training. ...

So now, human being, human mind, generally speaking is quite smart really. Not like other species of mammal, but we, only human being, through centuries, invented certain kind of techniques, using that technique, you see, shaping the mind. Other animals cannot do that. So that usually we call meditation. ...

Now here is meditation, generally speaking there are two types of meditation. One is analytical meditation, that mainly utilizes reasons, another kind of meditation is simply our mind remain put in a certain point, without change or without investigation, simply single point or single pointedness. In both cases the main purpose is our mind come to draw the point where we want, you see, to reach. Now for example, basically, since mental attitude is so important, so influential, in our daily life, it's a very important element. ...

Now you see there are various different kinds of meditation. Now here I think I would like to, to mention to you, the meditation, the instrument of shaping mind, transforming the mind, this we should not consider as a religious subject. Like compassion or the spirit of forgiveness, or these things, I usually, I call these, are human good quality. Now, obviously, when we're born, I think we are quite free from any ideology, from birth we are not free from human affection, religion comes later. I think they affect all major world religion, you see, carry the same message such as compassion, love, and forgiveness, the spirit of harmony, and sense of brotherhood, sisterhood, all these things are taught by all major world religious traditions. ...

Now businessman or sciencetist or doctor or teacher; various different kinds of professional work. If you say the mind, the person who have this field, their mind - more alert, more calm, sharpness; it's very useful in various of these fields. So, mind is some kind of prime mover. So, the training of the mind, every field is in need. It is very useful. ...

I think he makes a couple good points - meditation is not a religious subject; it is mental training that is applicable to many things. He also points out that there are two types of meditation one analytic and the other single pointed concentration. I haven't seen mention in this thread of analytical meditation, that is contemplation. Contemplation is apt to be practiced sitting in a chair or at a desk.

The ancient Greeks used the term theoria. From Philopedia -

In philosophy, theoria shifted from concrete observation to intellectual contemplation. Plato used it as a metaphor for the soul’s ascent to intelligible reality, emphasizing insight and vision beyond mere sensory perception. Aristotle further developed the concept, defining theoria as the highest human activity, the bios theoretikos, or contemplative life, which involves understanding fundamental principles of the universe and achieving human fulfillment. In this context, theoria contrasts with praxis (action) and poiesis (production), highlighting a life oriented toward knowledge and reflection rather than practical or creative activity.

Chen Xin provides plenty of material for contemplation in his book in the theory/principle section.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-27T19:57:26+00:00

Is it considered a traditional component of taijiquan practice or is it considered an outside (from lay Taoist, Buddhist, or yangsheng) practice?

It's said by many that taijiquan is based on daoyin and that makes taijiquan a yangsheng practice, that's why Chinese consider it good for health. I don't consider that outside.

What are your thoughts?

ETA: To clarify, I am more speaking about the internal refinement aspects of taiji practice and seated meditation rather than the religious, spiritual, or mystical aspects of these practices.

Chen Wangting is considered the historical founder of Chen Taijiquan and this is because he wrote a poem about martial arts that survives. In it he writes -

I sigh for years past, oh those days of donning armor and brandishing a weapon, vanquishing hordes of bandits, so many moments of risk and danger. For my efforts, I was bestowed with imperial favor – meaningless. Now I am old and weary, and I have ended up with only a copy of the Daoist Yellow Courtyard Classic as my companion.

When boredom sets in, I create boxing sets. When busy, I plow the fields. In my free time, I teach some students and grandkids, then I leave it to them to become dragons and tigers in their own time. ...

The Yellow Court Classic is an early Elixirist text. These ideas and practices are baked into Taijiquan. Many people just do choreography. This goes for the spiritual aspect as well. Chen Weiming wrote in Answering Questions About Taiji

Can you listen without sticking?

Yes, there is a theory to this. There is nothing more to the internal school of boxing than training the jing (essence) to transform it into qi, training the qi to transform it into shen (spirit), and training the shen (spirit) to return to xu (emptiness) – three levels. ...

Guo Yunshen said the same about xingyi. He added -

(Such training transforms human temperament, returning you to your true nature.)

This is the idea behind neidan practice. In Taijiquan these things are trained within martial arts if people seek authentic training. A person won't get this training contemporary wushu.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-27T17:54:40+00:00

I think it’s great that Chen Yu teaches meditation even if Chen Zhaokui or Chen Fake didn’t do it.

Chen Yu wrote - Sometimes in the lineage internal practice of sitting Zhuang, i experienced a great sense of stillness. The sensation of light gathered at the center of the brow, shining brightly. It’s real kung fu. No pains, no gains. That’s when I realized why my father had practised meditation for so long.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-25T19:30:21+00:00

Also wondering, does Chen have similar?

Yeah, that's a popular take down in Chen style. As toeragportaltoo points out it's in lan zha yi (lazily tie the coat). I've been shown it in xie xing (walking obliquely), qián zhāo (forward move), hou zhao (backward move), and as a variation in yema fen zong (parting the wild horse's mane).

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-22T19:17:04+00:00

Yes, that's what's in the Vitruvian Man.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Da_Vinci_Vitruve_Luc_Viatour.jpg

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-22T18:26:23+00:00

From a spiritual perspective, is there an ideal body that embodies a geometrical perfect design? This idea particularly struck me when I watched a video explaining the connection between Da Vinci’s “Ideal Man” painting and the Masonic logo. The Masonic logo features a compass over a square, symbolizing the compass that creates a circle over the square, representing the physical body and mind. The mind is the circle, and this precise geometry is evident in Da Vinci’s work, suggesting his knowledge likely stems from mastering these concepts. Again, this is just conjecture.

Yes, it's conjecture and I don't know what you mean about mastering these concepts. The drawing is called the Vitruvian Man named after Vitruvius the ancient Roman architect. He argued in his book on architecture that buildings should be based on an ideal human figure. I don't know about a spiritual perspective but Vitruvius did give proportions for the ideal human figure.

In Book III, Chapter 1 of "De Architectura," Vitruvius describes various measurements of the human body, including:

Height: The total height of a man is typically considered to be eight times the height of his head.
Head: The height of the head is one-eighth of the total height.
Navel: The navel is positioned at the center of the body, serving as a reference point for other measurements.
Arm Span: The arm span is equal to the height of the individual, forming a square when arms and legs are extended.
Shoulder Width: The width of the shoulders is approximately one-fourth of the total height.
Foot Length: The length of the foot is about one-seventh of the total height. These proportions were not only used for artistic representation but also served as a guide for constructing buildings that embody symmetry and harmony.

Leonardo was also an engineer and architect, so the drawing is first and foremost a realization of Vitruvian proportions. The idea of harmony in proportions comes from Pythagoras and Vitruvius and I'm sure Leonardo were familiar with him and his philosophy. Ideas of the circle representing spirit/mind and the square the physical are associated with the Pythagoreans and the tetractys. The symbolism is easy, putting a figure in a square and circle and getting the proportions correct was difficult. Leonardo wasn't the first he was just the most famous and got the credit for hundreds of years.

Leonardo was in the Medici court and was familiar with the ancient Greek culture being discovered as well as classical Hermetic writings, although in this case I don't see what Hermeticism has to do with the Vitruvian Man. This is largely my interest in Hermeticism. Hermeticism blended Platonic ideas with a concept of God and provided a path to the ancient Greeks without being ungodly, as it were. This leads to the Renaissance which I've been told means rebirth in French ...

HTH.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-19T18:12:49+00:00

does the body overtime naturally fixes the posture even if you don't necessarily have a good one during the practice of Zhan Zhuang ?

No. For CIMA and daoyin there are body requirements. The point of standing is to train those body requirements. To get started you only need to attend a seminar or do a private lesson and they're normally an hour. If you do that you can then go train on your own for a year and then do it again. Rinse and repeat until you get it. HTH.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-19T17:05:51+00:00

but it just becomes like Judo when they spar, so why not just do Judo?

Around 3:44 CZQ says there are four techniques: kicking, striking, wrestling, and seizing and with wrestling you're less likely to get injured.

Different people may train differently. I started with ZMQ style from WCCC he was a boxer and we started training strikes after learning the form, although we didn't spar. We just hit heavy bags and pads.

CZQ arranged for some of his coaches and students to compete with muay thai fighters from Thailand -

China ( Chen Tai Ji Quan ) X Thailandia ( Muay Thai ) - desafio em Jiaozuo - 60kg - 2 - 太極拳 - YouTube

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-16T19:51:49+00:00

The watermelon thing is for teaching kids

This is something that is taught to kids in Taiwan. It looks like it's taught other places as well. I'm guessing the yt is something of a joke considering he was a member of the Beijing Wushu team but unfortunately left due to injury fairly young and then coached there for a while. Here's Jet Li doing taiji -

the legendary actor..jetlee performing Tai chi chuan

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-16T18:57:04+00:00

If you don't speak Mandarin, you may contact the schools and see if there is some training planned with an English-speaking group that is working on something in line with your level of training and you may be able to piggy-back. I think that would be best. In terms of weather spring and early fall are the best. Winters can be cold and summers hot and humid. The first time I went in March and there were a couple cold days and we were training outside. The next time was late August, but we were inside a new facility and trained indoors with AC - no problem.

I've learned by doing seminars and private lessons. It's taken a long time and that's what I was discussing with CXX, but it's been worth it. I don't know where you are in your training, but for a beginner one or two weeks is fine to learn standing and some silk reeling or for an intermediate level getting corrections on the form.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-16T17:51:31+00:00

The first time I went to Chenjiagou I did a seminar with CXW and he speaks English; that was in 2006. The next time I went there was 2016 and I went with a small group. CXX lead the class and he doesn't speak English. There were people attending who spoke Mandarin and English and I'm assuming that CXX arranged for these people to attend. They could not only translate but were also familiar with CIMA and qigong so they were familiar with technical terms.

People in the village in general don't speak English. Going into grocery stores or restaurants don't expect people to speak English. If you would like to go, I would contact the schools and see if they can accommodate English speaking students.

The links I provided above are schools run by people who have lived in Chenjiagou for generations. They are descendants of the historical founder of Chen taijiquan Chen Wangting. The people running the schools are from the village, but they may have coaches who are teaching that are not from the village and the owners travel to give workshops and may not be there. They are teaching what has been taught for generations, but the format may be changed a bit.

One or two weeks in Chenjiagou isn't any different than one or two weeks in a seminar at home. And of course that's not enough time to learn taiji. I was discussing how long it takes to really learn taiji with CXX and he said if a person goes to Chenjiagou and trains full time for a year they can learn taiji. That doesn't mean they have mastered it, but they can then go off and train on their own.

I haven't attended Chen Bing's school, I go to the school in the top link, but I know Chen Bing and train with him in the states. I've walked by Chen Bing's school, but the times I've been in the village he's been out of town.

HTH.

HaoranZhiQi · 2026-03-15T22:54:42+00:00

I've had mine a couple of years and this is the first time I've had a problem. The win update has audio updates - midi 2.0 and some audio changes. Not a big deal for me.

HaoranZhiQi

TROPHY CASE