Foundation: June 2007 Archives
The foundation of Chen taiji is built through a special form of Qigong, called Silk reeling on Chan Si Gong. Silk Reeling is a set of standing movements (I have seen a couple of "steps" also, but for the most part like many other forms of Qigong the form is done standing in one place) focusing on rotating the Dantian.
One of the key, basic moves is in fact placing both hands below stomach, on where Daintian would be (Dantian is the center of the body both vertically and horizontally, so the actual Dantian is inside the body) and rub it in spiral moves (some time in each direction). There are other moves in which you would move one hand in spirals, like the cloud-hands moves, and then two hands, and so on and so forth. In fact, these are the basis of most of the spiral moves in the form. The fact is that cloud-hands is built using these moves, so no wonder they do look like cloud hands!
There are also certain moves designed to stimulate the flow of energy by opening and closing certain muscles and areas around the Dantian, such as ribs.
Master Li says learning the form (such as the Chen routine) is relatively easy and can be done in no time. The real focus of a student should be on building the foundations using silk reeling exercises. Feeling Dantian and being able to control the muscles to rotate it is what takes time, practice, concentration, and patience.
One of the key, basic moves is in fact placing both hands below stomach, on where Daintian would be (Dantian is the center of the body both vertically and horizontally, so the actual Dantian is inside the body) and rub it in spiral moves (some time in each direction). There are other moves in which you would move one hand in spirals, like the cloud-hands moves, and then two hands, and so on and so forth. In fact, these are the basis of most of the spiral moves in the form. The fact is that cloud-hands is built using these moves, so no wonder they do look like cloud hands!
There are also certain moves designed to stimulate the flow of energy by opening and closing certain muscles and areas around the Dantian, such as ribs.
Master Li says learning the form (such as the Chen routine) is relatively easy and can be done in no time. The real focus of a student should be on building the foundations using silk reeling exercises. Feeling Dantian and being able to control the muscles to rotate it is what takes time, practice, concentration, and patience.
