INTRODUCTION
What follow is based on my understanding based on books and experiences correct or not. This may consist on a detail that probably everyone knows about but I haven’t remark a discussion on site or forum on the impact on spiritual trainings.
SOFT AND HARD CHI KUNG
Chi kung can be resumed as using energy in our trainings which is also classify for westerner as part of magic. There is 2 types of chi kung soft and hard.
The soft one is natural and consist of doing training naturally. I take a cup of coffee with my arm, my body adjust naturally automatically according to the weight of the cup and the environment to proceed. Mind has given the goal/ intent and you have acted to proceed, no need detailed process or orders to your body as in programming (up arm, extend arm, open hand ,grab…). Application for microcosmic orbit, can be resumed as you do not force the flow, its your energy and part of you, goal first (take coffee) then attention to what use and act (1st focus is often hand for moving arm, you may choose a chakra for the wheel ). If there is an obstacle, flow by itself wil adjust and keep going like the sea until it succeed to pass (like piercing rock, eroding soil beach …). Soft is based on relaxation since too much contraction is said to impede the flow of energy. Squeeze too mutch an hoose, no water pass. We want veins wider without obstruction. Slow motion avoid also contraction.
The hard chi kung add the concept of voluntary added effort. I take the cup of coffee of 50 grams but act with my muscles as if it weigths 10 pounds or I do the motion as if it is harder to attain the cup. An example will be hung gar, it is asked in specific part of the form to add physical tension to the motion to push or pull. The concept is to act as if you pull or push a real object, sometimes we add idea of 10 000 pound on our head or 10 000 pounds are lifted by our arms. Naturally move in this time is slow and intense similar to using ral weigth.
Other kung fu style as Choy gar have the press too but they never said openly to add tension. But students were doing it repeating what has been taught without explanation (traditional kung fu school are military style, no question permitted or you are out ) . The same title in both chi kung are push and pull a mountain., push and pull sky or earth.
In choy gar, standing fix postures were also used with weight on arm holding sky or as hold object facing earth . Now I understand more that specific training , it was a prop to remember the feeling of resistance, a trick to keep intent of pushing and pulling. Obviously we have no idea of heavy is the sky, but with weigth you have a partial idea in your mind. Once you act without weight , you will remember to act as if pressing up a physsical weigth. Energy will follow mind to hand.
For modern martial artists, it is just the old way to do body building without weight. In gym that concept is also applied. Just believe that it takes more effort for weight lifting. Books like root of Chinese chi kung of yang jwing ming say that it damages and is considered inferior to soft way. I suppose it ties to Taoist way : increase progessively just what is needed to proceed. No violence, no coercion, just natural way.
MY THEORY
There is more to hard chi kung that weight training replacement . As you know, physical training imply added resistance due to gravity. When you do weigths as bench press, you put an extraweigth that make your physical motion harder and the result of moving against that extra resistance to motion is development of your muscles and strength. With time you keep adding weight. My belief is that the same concept of added resistance can be applied to any spiritual training .
The following is my attempt to do so and is based on the dragon technic of qicong empowerment book and dragon tiger form pdf. The shape used will be a ball like in the books. I kept a ball since it is simple to visualize and that the goal is training energy not detailled visualisation. Amount of resistance is your choice and can be done from any direction . There is 5 points to consider :
- The energy fixing in a shape (ball here)
- The contains of the shape (eg fire element, general., else)
- The action of the shape (eg. by itself move or energy inside it alter its shape )
- The programing of each (eg. What will do fire in ball, does shape adjust to expansion force in it …. )
- where or what is resisting
You will remark that it is similar to building a thoughform.
The reason I point about fixing of shape is based on healer practices. You send energy and program it to heal, but you must make sure it stays in the zone to treat (specific zone or whole person depending level healer). The principle is that Energy by default tend to dilute itself everywhere and out of patient once treatment is finished , eg. You treat lungs chakras or organ with intend sending energy to replenish it but once you stop, it will later go away. Choa chok sui : will at end treatment fix in target the energy given by a representation of energy around the zone to heal with intent fixing, a kind of sealing. He used blue color . I haven’t had opportuny to check if it is the color that fix or that is a prop to distinct healing energy given from the one sealing, I just used the color and it worked fine for me. The reason to separate in steps the technic, is to focus more on one thing at a time : feeling/scanning aura, correcting aura shape, cleaning aura, sending energy, fixing its goal , stabilizing it like a bandage on a wound. That idea is also in falun da fa but with idea of protecting the full work done since for them illness is black energy which is karma.
Just coincidence or my mind interpretation when I healed I remarked grey energy and under black energy on zone to treat , often red around (pain), when healing is in working there is green . The goal is to add green to patient. Only once have I seen yellow with these 3 but I still have no idea what’s the relationship, infection ?. Generally black stay there deeper but smaller and will just try an other way to manifest. Falun guy do not heal others since it interferes the karma to pay by suffering and that it will just search an other way to happen. In one word healer just postpone or smooth the trouble which explains that same illness due is later coming back again or by an other way (other illness, accident...). Make sure you do not focus on the red as you charge pain may be intensified, really not fun at all. NOt knowing back then I refused to treat after that. But the person had a lot of black. Soothing was ok but no real cure. If black wasn't seen on others i may conclude the problem was the kidneys. (the person had in fact kidney problem, urinbe was passing directly in her blood, the oldest poison use in japan : pissing on their shuriken and swords)
Now let’s check the exercises
MAKING A BALL :
The main goal here is perceiving the ball. We use energy to fix edge of the empty ball. In chi kung we try to feel the edge by moving hands around it or just pressing it.
We do have something similar. In pdf training, we use the exercise of 2 palms closing together slowly. It was for feeling repulsing energy between palms (both emit, as magnet ++ or - - imply they repulse each other) . With training emitting biolectricity increase, the resistance will be felt bigger and bigger. As in magnetism, the more you try emit with passes or eyes to a target the stronger your get at it .
The goal here is similar but instead feeling when start ending ray in energy emission, we try to feel the ball edge between palms by touching it (squeeze, play with it imply you feel he resistance of its shape).
The physical way in martial arts school served to feel the edge of a real physical ball in different manipulation. Then repeat without it. It serves to learn to fix a mind shape of ball (my conclusion) apart the use in martial arts to do properly some circular motions.
Once you get use to perceive the ball, we may add resistance :
- A ball by gravity tends to fall, do add weigth in it .Feel ,see you as if it is hard to hold it and is pulling you arm , body down
- Idem but with helium idea , ball float, keep holding it
As the way we train as rays, we can also add resistance , just think of magnet. Try press harms as rays (++ or - - ) are emitted or opposite, try opening arms as polarities (+-) , feel resistance agains your push or pull . But making a ball is here the real goal for the next trainnings and have other uses.
STRETCHING A BALL :
Goal here is to alter its shape. You program ball to be like kids balloon stretch it sideways and like an elastic it resists your attempt . When you stop pulling it goes back as the same ball.
Balloon stretch become flat. Ballon squeeze become like multiples balloon (inside air have to stretch somewhere).
EXPANDING / CONTRACTING A BALL :
It is a variant of the one before. The difference is that proprotions ball are kept. We talk about A tennis ball becoming big as a beach ball or reverse. Reducing or increasing shape.
Shape is program to grow and you do your best to squeeze it back to tennis ball but as soon you let go it goes big
Reverse is beach ball first reducing to tennis ball you pull it to prevent it so.
In chi kung forms, Size ball is tied to amplitude motion of arms. This is why in videos or in chi kung class some open only up as if holding a tennis ball, backet ball, as holding huge tree trunk or even to point their curved arms like a cross.
Stronger the idea of resistance to your attempt more spiritual effort will be. In my case, I remark body follow up and physical tension appear too naturally. Body follow mind.
There is a higher variant which add a bonus exercise. You do not program the shape bigger or smaller, the expansion or reverse is the result of the program of the energy you put inside the ball. You invoke or evoke energy in it as bardon . For me brighter represent its growing strength. Eg program the fire put inside to expand everywhere or to contract pulling all fire around it. Both cases imply brighter ball.
ROTATING A BALL :
Up now we had examples of squeezing a ball, expanding it, altering its shape. In the dragon form they also rotate the ball.
As last exercise used to feel the ball shape, a higher version exist also in chi kung in which they combine the rotation with increasing of ts size by adding energy in ball . A little like spinning chakra which makes it brighther combined to breathing in it which makes it bigger like lungs .
As said higher up, physical ball in martial arts is also used., In tai chi chuan practice we use a beach ball , In bagua a smaller one . Series of motion were done with fixed stances or moving ones .. It remember me of athletic gymnastic with ball in olympics. If you remember classic kung fu movies, they were training also with iron balls (heavier). I believe it is a prop, a beginner step , a continuation of first exercice. The adding of a moving object make it harder to feel and control.
To add resistance imply that it resist your attempt to rotate it in any direction . You may choose different images, they may be others :
- Object is heavier (must feel like it, not only an image, believe it is heavier)
- Gravity is stronger
- an elastic make it harder to rotate to direction you have choose
- brakes on wheels
MOVING FIXED SIZE BALL :
In the dragon form they pull a big ball and sometimes separate the big ball in 2, one in each hand. Numer of balls are up to you, more they are more concentration is needed. It may switch also to an other type of exercise as 2 balls acting opposite ways similar to yin yang palm.
There is 3 basic ypes of motion in all chi kung : push sky , push earth or push horizontal direction. You may also have variants eg. push 45 degrees to sky, turn to 8 direction, use one or 2 arms. You move ball with arms then release it in a direction.
The motion is seen on you tube without the inner details. They just say do it and by miracle you will be healthy. A little like wu style tai chi saying think nothing do nothing and the form develop your chi by itself. BUt when they teach they correct each inches of posture as holding your joints. Once at higher ranks they point up to put attention on each move of joints as relax muscle. IT explains why their correcting moves. Chi/prana follow naturally your attention and since moves are slow, it is soft chi kung . And as said on site there is minor chakras at joints. You may say chakras are a jonction of 2 forces and more (petals are nadis) .
Some soft style add resistance too like idea feel air, move it with the form . Harder version would be move as if in strong sea current or mud or moving under a cascade but it will make a switch soft to hard chi kung … As my teachers said, advanced Tai chi student will one day learn kung fu, kung fu students at final learn tai chi. Soft and hard are both to be mastered, same concept as white and black magic, contracting expanding energy, pulling and pushing, taking giving, a ray or a ball , etc…
The videos and images of the books can be resumed as :
Vertical motion :
- Ball holded in front body as tree posture
- Place arms to push up ball up (palsm under then) , imply closing elbow first (easier to push up something heavy) arm extend 90% (do not lock arms)
- Once at limit extension, one inch move 3% arms up (one inch) often usually faster ,push ball to sky with energy from palm as forearm rotate completely , extension fingers (prop). You choose the distance of the ball sent. Ball resist pushing
- Now place palms to calil it back , it resists then once at proximity hands grab
- Reverse placing starting posture in front of you
- Same idea, Place palms so you push back down ball in earth, often they add squatting which is better than bending (think of real weigth lifting as you pull it back). OFten they do both opposites onae after other. You understnad then teh reason of squatting is you were in fact using real physical weigth.
Horizontal Motion :
- Place palm to face direction
- Extend arm but ball stay close to palm , it is physical palm that push
- At end 90% extension see energy from palm pushing the ball to point choosen.
- Now pull it back to the palm, ball stick to it
- fold arm to chest
- If you ere pushin a real object, there is a leg work too. (bend leg to push or pull, pressure in leg is from front or back , Curving back or oppsoite, etc...)
I am sure that you understand the principle, and instead of the sky resisting your push to it, you can also instead use earth trying to impede your push to sky. Both for me concentrating is easier if resistance is in front. Once arms are at their limit, something of your choice must push the ball further. Focus of pressing rays from chakras will develop chakras of palm.
Do you need to move that much ? No, you can just sit and do arms motion and as you get better just do it with the aura or any chakra. Combining standing posture of martial arts (horse, t stance,cat stance, etc…) , extra move are just a bonus to physical training. The less physical motion, the less effort , easier the focus on energy . Up to now for me at least.
Do you use a special palm or claw ? You may but when done correctly it strain tendons and forearm . You may be distracted by the pain and physically tired too fast. Ttry correctly do hung gar press 10 times . It will gives strain to forearms and all needed parts to proceed, breathing will get faster, heart will race, etc… For your information these are ideas of motion, if you forget spiritual part, it will just train your body.
- Classic hung gar palm : panther fist fully facing target with index pointing sky,
- choy gar palm : crane palm with thumb at center
- hung gar tiger mouth : similar tai chi but finger stretch sideway separated to maximum with thumb facing target
- tiger claw, eagle claw or else. If you use the claws it implies pushing with fingers tips close partially as if claw ½ inch in target , then bring back arm.
- Horse punch either as old style punch (choy gar thumb on side) or modern one (common boxing one), elbow allways stay down as press, no push out as karate so fist parallel ground
- relax tai chi palms as yang style tiger mouth (fingers relaxed so curved), cupped hand with closed fingers or wu palm which is palm with auricular finger slightly up instead index of yang style.
MOVING BALL AS IT CHANGE SIZE :
No resistance on motion but on ball expansion/contraction at distance . Shape Ball expand when you want as it move . Try stop it. This as before can be combined with invocation evocation.
But if you choose, just see it getting bigger. As it grows your mind will react as if size imply heavier. Body will tense, particularly arms.
If the ball contract they are less tension,so you must keep in mind density makes it heavier.
For me it is more learning control of action ball at any distance.
CRUSHING BALL TO MAKE A RAY :
Qicong empowerment in a form crush the energy ball to expulse forward the energy stuck in it as a ray that one touch target put it on fire. (normally dragon = fire)
Crush egg imply it goes out by weakest spot. Pressure is made on by utside on egg shape except front. At end pressure make a blast forward.
Otherway to do is keep adding energy in it as keep same shape, which add pressure in shape. At one moment just open front damp. Consider a hoose system, from city conducts, water keep coming in it with intense pressure. What stop it to get out is the closing of the tap. Smaller is opening of tap stronger and further the flow.
Either ways, for a ray or blast of fire to exist it means a tunnel to direct the flow, a shape that force light/fire to follow a path. Visualisation combined with intent (no need talking) helps a lot. For blaze effect on target, programenergy in ball to do so (what you touch burn). Sure the guy will never goes on fire. But he will have somes effects tied to the quality of fire . Hard to say it is psycholocgical since you never told him what your program is to do on him. But is documented on internet martial arts site.
IMPLODING / EXPLODING BALL :
It is similar to crushing egg. But the ball is programmed to implode or explode at contact or in target . Ball can be in front of your palm, and as your palm touch target, ball is press inside target . An ther option is baseball, and once it touch target it does its job..
The intent in the ball will change the effect (contract everything it touches or explode, burning , icing, cutting, etc…) . A form/ image of impact as you touch target help too. EG: growing spikes as ice, cutting wheels (rudrakshasa) . You may say the image give a shape and programming of effect wanted to do. Shape in mind is a sort a way to materialize or program energy. You may have remarked when you use a hammer and put energyi n hammer with a goal in it instead of just adding strength in arms, a post enter easier in ground . The concept was told by henri and hector durville, in their books on magnetism, if your mind is in your tool to dig, it is easier to dig, less tiring, less efforts for result that if you focus elsewhere.
DRINKING BALL :
This is what you find everywhere in all chi kung . The ball send is programmed to absorb energy at target (sun, stars,elements, else) or as it move. Once you called back the huge ball, you put it in front face, you contract it to a peeble to pass by 3rd eye or mouth to bring it in microcosmic orbit or directly swallowing saliva to lower dan tian . Variant is justs emptying the contains of the ball by inhaling it .
Mantak chia do something similar, 3rdeye, center crown or back of crown, other pass ball in mouth to dan tian. I guess you may choose any chakra or part of the body as a point of entry.
HITTING
Some iron training is hitting yourself but I do not recommend any of these practices if you combine with energy. Pain may subside longer than usual without apparent damage. EG : program striking energy like thibetan fire palm imply fire spread slowly after making skin red. The common way is done just to harden body with flesh impact instead using ciment, bricks, iron peebles, bag of rice as put inside energy where will be strike (tien tao chi kung, iron shirt mantak chia). Still they never will try to make it too rough.
A variant with eenrgy is one hand strike charged as you put defending energy in target . The goal is similar to golgen armour or protective aura armour bouncing away energy of the strike or just aura redirecting effects of power strike. The problem is if you succeed more in defense or offense , either striking palm hurt either target, all depending on which is stronger. And contrary to real strikes the effect do not appear rigth away, and may last long .
Therefore better not combine energy if you train iron palms on yourself. Instead use punching bag or pillow (use in taichi to not loose sensitivy of hand ) . I remarked that Physical hit do not have same sound if done with energy. And impact target differ (hole).
CONCLUSION :
Resistance is common to train physicly in gym and martial arts. Working with energy (planet, elements, general…) will be logily an other step .
You will trace often particularly in palm training (iron, cosmos, sand palm, thibetan fire ,yin yang…) the same motion in 10 directions, with one or both arms without explication what is really done . Main difference here is instead using rays emitted by you, you control a ball . I believe both must be trained, direct hit and indrect hit.
Application :
Adding resistance will make your control of energy better and stronger. As someone with great strength (body builder) control is needed.
In case healing, no need adding resistance except if you want flow bigger as expelling. The ball concept can be use to absorb all grey patient then place ball in salty bucket instead direct contact (grabbing grey to throw in bucket). You reduce risk of being contaminated. But, even if you do it, wash after forearm with current water, then clean your aura. Old school magnetizers never did cleaning, and when they were old all had illness problems more than natural age will bring.
In forum one cleaning was a ball turning around us absorbing all our greys/ dull black then send to satan for its use. My concept is therefore not new.
Calling energy from universe can be used with resistance. It is a strategy as in tai chi or judo, you press him, he will press you to resist, than let go and he loose balance, following the direciton of his resistance
There is also an other application, martial arts. Is it the physical punch charged with light that hit target ? The specific charged auric zone around punch ? the full body auric field ? Or is it a ball between you and target that hit it ? Just remember that in real figth, you do not have time to concentrate on energy except when posing in guard. But you may have undesired surprises. You may have just put energy in tibia (imply ghardening it, lower iron shirt) as you block a roundhouse kick and bone will be stronger to point of hurting your partner stopping the training.
Concept of resistance here can be also applied in invocation or evocation energy . Put resistance to the flow. Greater pressure, stronger flow. Other cases, moving energy , Spinning chakra .
Important
In case physical body, what is important is to learn to relax, you do not concentrate on making or adding tension, your mind provoke it by default, it is a result. This clarify hard chi kung apart the concept of the hoose pressure. And Doing it fast is like moving too fast huge weight may or may not be damaging joints/muscles. I remark too that tension is stronger on elbow joint. Too mucth Tension is said to reduce flow of energy, hard chi kung goal is to increase pressure to send out, press too mutch and nothing oges out... . I guess people misunderstood the training. Just remember it is still chi kung therefore as soft one, at end training bring energy to navel, golden core/solar plexus or lower dan tian. This part is more and more forgotten in modern martial arts, even in tai chi. And if they still pose, no one sems to know why. They will jsut say it is just to recapitulate in your mind what you have done wrong in the form (in 30 seconds ????) or catch your breath.
Note that I remarked I got tired after so best by experience to empower yourself before and/or replenish yourself after (exercises are in the site). Also when you use palm you may have itchy feeling of center palm and tips fingers that last after exercising longer than 5 minutes. . Since I used palm strike my idea is pull press by center palm and minor chakras palm, the feeling is in them is therefore more intense.
You may resume the steps in :
- Use motion with real weight as prop
- Do same motion without physical object to feel object, and add mind resistance
- Meditation posture use only aura or any chakra, no physical posture
Ideas
As for Bardon way , basic exercise is seeing force at a distance of your body and pull energy from it which imply a soft resistance . Why energy remain there and is not coming naturally by itself ? After all in nature like cascade there is no need to do so. Water fall by itself on its target . no need to pull water down except if you want to accelerate the flow. A different intent and visualization is therefore done since it means directing and controlling the flow of water like a damp controlling the flow out of the lake. This is not pulling from a static well or taking water with a glass from a lake to drink (ball). Still, I believe both ways should be practice with adding resistance. You resist the push, it resist your pull , resistance to action on the shape or the shape to your action.
There is an other option to bardon way not talked about in his books. I haven’t seen reference to it yet in forum . Real exercices are often referred in myths with no details or with general reference as key names . They can be allegories but often trails to some training. When you read he sit and rays comes from him like a thousands rays brighter that the sun. It is a training that we do (light in aura put, is it rays outside in or inside out ? make it brighter and brigther aura).
In Vishnu puruna when Vishnu create brahma, a game of deciding who is stronger came : small brahma enter in the huge Vishnu, searching an exit in all directions in vain and once out said I confirm you are infinite but I am also infinite. So the giant Vishnu reduce itself and enter in the little brahma and conclude the same thing . You may see that exercise in claude Gerard sarrazin novels when instead drinking the blue drops of the sun by skin (pore breathing for empowering with arms facing sunlight, they had the idea less clothes possible since less obstacles, people used the rune kaum ) the hero search the suns inside him (atoms…) to do the same effect from the inside out to charge body. 2 opposite ways to charge.
The only inconvenient of that option is that I found it harder to visualize, and lis imited To yourself. By definition it is just a form of invocation, energy pass by you. The evocation form will be that you program ball/target to invoke by himself from its inside energy from its own infinite universe . Resistance may be used too.
REF:
Qicong empowerment from shou yu liang and wen ching wu
Pranic healing choa chok sui
Dragon tiger pdf