Harmonizing & Building

The acupuncture textbook "Applied Channel Theory" by Wang Ju-yi provides one of the most detailed descriptions of the dynamics of Qi movement and transformation in the English language. It has made a big impact on my acupuncture technique and also clarified my understanding of how this applies to the internal arts.
Two forms of Qi that circulate through the body are the Wei (defensive) Qi and the Ying (nutritive) Qi. The Ying Qi moves through the channels, providing nourishment to the channels. The Wei Qi travels outside of the channels near the surface of the skin and protects the body. Breath and the Lung network governs the movement of the Wei qi, while the muscle - as an extention of what is known as the Spleen network in TCM - assist the movent of the Ying qi.
When movement and breath are co-ordinated, as with practicing internal arts, the Wei and Ying are harmonized. When these two types of qi are harmonized, the body is protected from external causes of disease. (In Chinese Medicine, this covers a range of diseases from acute, like the common cold, to chronic, like arthritis, to serious, such as stroke.)
When these two types of Qi are harmonized, they also allow the Channel Qi to be strong and nourish the internal organs. This happens when Essence (Jing) which is activated and dispersed throughout the body, is drawn back into the channels at the extremities by the harmonized flow of Ying and Wei.
With the internal organs strong, the body is protected by the other important cause of diseases - internal causes. This outward flow to the extremities by the Ying and Wei and the inward flow of the Channel Qi to the internal organs happens simultaneously and protects the body from both internal and external causes of disease.
This unifies Jing and Qi of the famous trio of Jing, Qi and Shen (Mind). What about the Mind?
When the body is resilient, it is better able to contain the Shen. The Shen can then become anchored and relaxed, which results in clarity of perception and judgement. While complex, it is important to remember that the coordination of breath and movement is the key.

Making practice complete

Attended the first of two workshops with Chen Zhenglei in Ontario. During this seminar he pointed out that for Taiji, practicing the forms is only one part of the complete system of Taiji. Partner practice through push hands (tuishou) is an essential second half.
He went on to outline what I had often speculated - through the forms you are learning about yourself while through tuishou you learn to extend your capabilities. With forms practice, as I've mentioned before on this site, you learn to coordinate your movements, you learn to relax, and you build Qi within your body. Practice with a partner, on the otherhand, requires you to extend that awareness out to the other person and to learn how to apply the coordinated movements to control them.
The third part of the Taiji system is the process of character development. While there is a sequence that these three follow, the boundaries are not hard and fast. As one part will feedback into and influence the others. But essential to this is the understanding that there is more to practice that simply the forms.

Photo Gallery

Playing Chen Taiji 18 posture form