New to Zhan Zhuang

[Anonymous]

Hi just joined the forum….

I’m currently practicing Zhan Zhuang Qigong since I bought the book ‘Way Of Energy’ a month ago. Previously I’ve been studying Spring Forest Qigong but wanted a change. I like the simplcity of Zhan Zhuang though I’m not quire sure of all the details ?

1. I really don’t like the warm-up exercises. I find them unecessary so I skip them and go straight to the first two exercises. Is this wise ?

2. In the book it mentions that you should do the standing exercises for 5 mins for three weeks then 10 mins for three weeks etc…

I’m uncertain whether this means 5 mins total time or 5 mins for the two initial exercises ? I’ve basically spent three weeks doing 5 mins for both exercises…

3. I’m not clear on how long it takes before you can practice the Eight Brocade ? The book seems to indicate you need about 3-4 months on the basic exercises ?

3. I also pracitice Reiki and was wondering whether anyone here combines this with qigong ?

Regards

Jez

[Anonymous]

Hi Jez,

I am certainly not an expert on Zhan Zhuang, but…..

1. When I was practicing from the same book (The Way of Energy) I had a couple of lessons with the author (Master Lam Kam Chuan), one a private one-on-one and one in a group. In the one-on-one Master Lam specifically asked me if I was doing the warm ups and when I said “no” he said I really should, and took me through them in detail before we did any Zhan Zhuang. My takeaway from that was that they must be pretty important! Although it does also say in the book that you can do the Ba Duan Jin (Eight Brocade) set instead. (I never asked him about that).

2. I think the 5 mins thing is just him being extra safe. I think it should be ok to do 5 mins in the morning and 5 mins again in the evening and gradually extend the session time from there. In the group class he had us stand for nearly an hour, and we were all beginners.

3. As I understand it, the Ba Duan Jin is considered a fairly gentle Qigong set and ok even for beginners. I practiced it from the start and noticed no adverse affects.

4. I don’t know about Reiki!

Good luck with it,
Jim.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your reply….

By the beginning of Feb I will have completed 100 days of qigong (minus a couple of days over Xmas).

It’s going well I’m up to 20 mins on both exercises each day. It can be a bit boring sometimes and I do look at my watch far too much. Although conciously relaxing the body, burning essential oils and listening to music does help. I find counting down numbers not so good though.

I find 40 mins (20 mins each exercise) in one sitting a bit much. So I might split the two exercises between morning and night. I assume this doesn’t make much difference ?

I think my plan in February will be to limit the standing exercises to 20 mins total time and add in the Eight Brocade exercises at the beginning.

Any other advise is more than welcome

Jez

[Anonymous]

Jez,

You may have seen this already, but if you haven’t it’s worth checking out.

There’s a compilation of 10 10 min clips on YouTube in which Master Lam takes you through the material from The Way of Energy book.

Put “Master Lam Stand Still Be Fit” into the search bar, or go to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mbeZF28gtw&list=PLHgawOoy_2o8hTsa1GxRp4VN4PVo3Dac5

It’s particularly useful to see visually how he does the Ba Duan Jin exercises as it’s hard to get these right from a written description.

All the best,
Jim.

[Anonymous]

If there ever was a McDonald-version of QiGOng or BaDuanJin or Zhan Zhuang I would sell it in big boxes. You would be one of my happy customers, be sure. But there isn’t. There is a Path, there are the Dark Woods ahead, with dragons and tigers and sifu’s, and a lot to be discovered and enjoyed. Lots of fun in the Dark Woods, be sure, but step by step.
As a MD, I had a hard time to get to the idea of Qi of Power with Relaxation, and do much more: to be discovered, to be enjoyed. So what is the hurry? One minute of adequate Zhan Zhuang is worth a 1000 minutes of just standing there. BaDuanJin is full of finesses which a human can never master at once. And QiGong (and Badua) is an ever changing Art, when it comes to personal experience. Just walk the path, focus on the essentials (your Eternal Child wants to love this magnificent world and its people), and the essentials will start to love you. Try it movement by movement, step by step, and stay close to your tandien.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s difficult to know when you begin something if it’s right for you. You think it may be worth trying something different that may be even better.

I’ve been doing this style of qigong for nearly a year now (with the odd day off). The benefits are quite subtle it seems. But I feel more relaxed and better generally.

The single leg exercises are very challenging. I add a couple of mins of these at the end.

The one exercise I seem to get the most out of is the circle of the five exercises. Though it does take up some time so I tend to only stand for 20 mins with 2-3 exercises. I also get a lot of benefit from the final position (hands in front of face). Tend to do this for just five mins. Have gone up to ten mins but it’s quite tough…

Even after a year though standing holding the balloon for 20 mins is still challenging.

It is difficult to know how to progress from here ? I tend to vary the exercises a bit for variety. May be there is no need for such a regimented process and I should just follow my instincts ?

Jez

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