Minimal Effort/Maximum Results!

Personal daily routines are all under THIRTY MINUTES.  Yes, the Yiquan training is so core and effective that it requires but a fraction of the time to gain exceptional rewards.  Hence the maxim: Minimal Effort/Maximum Results!  The time it takes us to exercise our mind/body/breath is equal to what most people spend stuck in traffic on the way to the gym or fitness club.  Life Nourishing Qigong is a special platform for developing extreme fitness.  There is nothing more simple or more effective.  For those who have just started training I recommend Ten to Twenty Minutes of Zhan Zhuang per day for two weeks as a fair test of this arts effectiveness! 

Some notes from Master Wang on the body:

"Posture-wise, we must avoid looking up and tilting the head back, because that breaks the straightness of the neck.  Also, do not arch the back.  The elbows and the knees should be neither straight nor overly bent.  The best way is to have them half bent and half straight, that is to say UNLOCKED; then the ligaments will be stretched.  Keep the head straight and also the lower back.  Then the Qi will be able to sink, and the mind will be quiet and at ease.  The tips of your fingers and toes should be slightly extended and every pore of the body should be slightly open. Practice this way, and your internal energy flow will expand outward easily of its own accord.  Your weaknesses will become strengths and you will easily come to self-realization." 

The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine (2nd Century BC)

"When the mind is calm and stable, the vitality of life circulates harmoniously throughout the body.  If the body is nourished and protected by this circulation of vitality, how can it possibly become ill?"

Jim Roselando on Exercise and Breathing

Exercise & Breathing

Regular daily exercise of the slow, soft, rhythmic variety keeps the joints limber, tones tendons and muscles, and promotes circulation of essence and energy throughout the system.  Deep breathing acts as a 'second heart' to circulate blood, switches the nervous system over to the rejuvenating, immunity-boosting parasympathetic circuit, enhances nourishment and cleansing of tissues by blood, and stimulates positive biofeedback between the endocrine and nervous systems. Together, soft exercise and deep breathing form a basis of Qigong, which remains one of the most important of all disciplines for promoting health and promoting life! 

Wang XiangZhai Pile Skills

Some notes from Master Wang Xiang Zhai:

"In daily life, the exerciser should, at any place or time, pay attention to body postures in walking, sitting, standing or lying, and regard them as part of proper training.  This is done based on Zhuangfa or "Pile Skills" - the skill of keeping steadfast like a pile under all circumstances.  One sets all parts of the body to an appropriate state, keeps the body erect, with a mind free from any distractions, regulating the mind and the breath, conserving the muscles, so that the natural energy of the cells can be directed from the inside to outside through the whole body.  In doing so, the practitioner trains muscles, bones, and nervous system without knowing it.  What is crucial here is that one should concentrate the mind on perceiving the delicate motion and stillness inside the body.  When such a realm is reached, one will certainly understand the magical effect of Pile Skills.  So Zhuangfa is the first thing one should learn to practice."

Jim Roselando on Tranquility

Date: 2/28/11

From: Jim (info@apricotforeshall.com)

Subject: Tranquility

     There are many arts that claim to return the mind/body/breath to the natural state via softness but the plain and simple reality is there are very few arts that practice and achieve the natural state.  Most of the so-called "Internal Schools" have swayed so far from the natural path that very  little to no results can be yielded and within the Yogic community one can clearly see most of the training is more related to Hard practices. Breath of Fire is one of the most common breathing sets found in classical Yoga and is the opposite of "tranquility" methods!  So, if you are tired of learning complicated sets, numerous movements and practicing un-natural exercises then it is time to experience the power of Zhan Zhaung!!!

Some notes regarding tranquility:

     The importance of "entering a quiet state" is not purely spiritual: IT IS OF GENUINE THERAPEUTIC VALUE.  The influences of mental overwork, worry, stress, and emotional distress are now well known to have far-reaching effects on the human organism as a whole.  The importance of nurturing Shen "spirit" and protecting it from exhaustion due to overwork or emotional stress was recognized from early times.  

In Chapter 15 of "The Book of Master Zhuang," Zhuang Zhou writes:

     When one is at ease and tranquil, worries cannot penetrate, noxious external influences cannot invade one.  Hence one's virtue will be complete and one's spirit not decline!

The Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor expresses it in similar terms:

     When one is tranquil and empty, TRUE BREATH (ZHENG QI) responds, and with one's attention inwardly fixed (guarded), how can illness take hold?

***

Jim Roselando

www.ApricotForestHall.com

http://web.mit.edu/qigong

The Simplicity of Standing by Wang XiangZhai

The wisdom of Master WXZ

"The standing exercise represents a very special accumulation of knowledge in China.  But in the past there were very few people who paid attention to it because most people thought it was too simple.  They wondered how, by standing in a single posture without moving, can you improve health?  When people wonder this, it is because they do not really understand the essence of standing.  In reality, in practicing the exercise of standing without moving, we can not only increase physical strength, but also awaken healing process within the body, allowing the body to cure itself of all kinds of chronic diseases it might have accumulated during a lifetime.  Therefore, in preventative medicine, standing exercises have great value.  In fact, it is one of the most appropriate ways of exercising." 

Presidents Day Qigong: 50 Minutes of Pile Standing!

Date: 2-22-11

From: JJR (info@apricotforesthall.com)

Subject: Great Stand!

Hello,

I just wanted to say last night we had a very good Zhan Zhuang sessions!  Every holiday night work out we typically just Zhan Zhuang the whole class.  Last night was no different!  After a short warm up we got right into Zhan Zhuang and out of the One Hour work out we did Fifty Minutes of Pile Standing!  The most impressive thing about last night was we had 4-5 new people and everyone did very well for such a long stand.  Zhan Zhuang is the heart and soul of Yiquan Qigong and truly there is nothing more core and effective for promoting health as Pile Standing Qigong.  

Monday Night Session:

5 Gathering Qi

15 Zhuang #1

15 Zhuang #5

10 Zhuang #1

10 Zhuang #3

5 Gathering Qi

Seal & Wash

Have a great week and I look forward to our next session!

Peace,

Jim Roselando

Presidents Day Email from Coach Jim Roselando

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Date: 2/21/11

From: Jim <info@apricotforesthall.com>

Subject: Strength From No-Strength

Just a little reminder that we will be training tonight @ MIT!  If you are off for today's holiday then this is a perfect night for a powerful session of Zhan Zhuang Qigong!  Bring some friends and introduce them to the pound for pound most simple and effective internal health art known to humanity!!!!   

One of the most common statements in the Yiquan art is: 

Develop Strength From No-Strength!  

Listen to what Master Wang Xiang Zhai had to say about this maxim:

"The Standing Pole exercises seek to develop strength from no-strength (non-exertion), movement from non-movement, and rapid movement from slight movement.  The more relaxed the body, the faster the circulation of blood, and the faster strength will develop.  If one exerts brute strength one will tense up, and the body will thus lose its spontaneous flexibility, often to the point of obstructing blood-flow.  This (relaxation's) type of strength is largely formless, and of the mind (shen).  If one uses the strength of "form", then the intrinsic nature of movement is lost...  When the body is relaxed as possible, the mind (shen) is completely collected.  Thence, though the form may appear base and sluggish, the mind is agile."