Chi Gung and Tai Chi

[Anonymous]

I like to do Chi Gung and Tai Chi in the same session. Usually I like to warm up with Chi Gung, then do a Tai Chi set. I have always wondered if there are guidelines on which should be done first. Since I have been in the Energy Arts Circle my Tai Chi is becoming more and more a Chi Gung practice so this may be a moot point.

Also I do other martial arts, Kung Fu, and Karate. Any ideas on that? Chi Gung as a warm up, or as a cool down?

Thanks,

John

[Anonymous]

IMO it depends on the type of Chi Gong. If we talk about 8 pices of brocade which I practice regularly it fits both ways. Depending on what you want to achieve. Recently I prefer it as a cooldown after conditioning or SanShow when I got tired or lost my breath. Also I practice it in the night before going to sleep to cool down especially after a good training in the evening. It helps to prepare to good sleep.
But it also fits in the beginning to become more soft, aware and full if you know what I mean.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Peter, good info.

[Anonymous]

Hello John and Peter, just to throw out another thought (has been mentioned in other places on this forum, but I find it important enough to remind myself, so hopefully this will be of value and not repetition)..

—just the question to yourself (overall, as well as within each session) of what you are focusing on: either performance of a certain way of moving, or of the opening-up/bringing-online functions.. and which of those you see as your “focus” may inform above question: how to setup practice

–ex (before/after, both or only one of the two.. longer or shorter % vs equal amounts and/or intensity… ie you may spend 80% of time of workout doing one, and 20% of time doing the other, and yet feel the same amount of effort, oomph, was put into each..
or the reverse: time split half&half and yet one as “warmup” just easing through.. and the other is where your juice is exerted.. or “warmup” could be much more of a concentration-focus on body-mind.. and the say freeplay-moving (vs partner, or solo-flow) then you focus on reactions and less on body-mind.. etc etc

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more specifically, one could look at it as embodying your mind, and activating your system is what you are “doing” (then chigung or martial-applications are the means of doing that), vs if your goals is making the martial-forms work flow more.. then your goals is to discover what may be in the way of that; thus chigung- moving-set, or sitting… circling hands, that may or may not have a step through in (now&then) during the circle.
[how can a step-shifting-movement flow in via the circling? -more than one way, try variations.. whether reverse circle then, or continue the flow unbroken… -how does the opening-closing pulse, rippling through your entire form, both boost and is boosted by such a step, or not?]

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(biggest determinate being time- not just how much time can you spend, but 70% (again), not just phy-strain, but how much can you do being fully-focused/present effortlessly? …
balanced with biggest-bang-4-yer-buck, ie return (try and see).. but potentially do before( as warmup) and then after (as cooldown).. and perhaps even “during-inbetween” as well (often reset pts, or pauses, or end of a seq until next- etc.. just 30-60secs.. stnd and sense, withorwithout pulsing.. perhaps look and see if your system is automatically/autonomically is doing ‘it’ (open-close, or sinking, or alignments, or whatever is in your chigung forums as neigung) on its own.. not that it may in the beginning, but a bit more over time…)

To quote a great summary statement, “what you practice, you become.” (and how you practice, shapes how you become- in many-all parts, even not related to your practice). -cheers

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