Training question

[Anonymous]

I’ve just decided to start training by myself in Hsing I chuan. I’m still working on pichuan, beng chuan and zuan chuan. My question is this. Do you recommend I do dragon and tiger Qigong before and after my training of the five elements? The second question I have is this, do you recommend me doing dragon and tiger Qigong before starting the santi stance or can they both be done at the same time right away? Another words do you recommend be doing dragon and tiger Qigong for a solid two months or so before even starting the santi stance or can the be done right away together. My last question is since I’m just starting hsing I chuan training, hsing I chuan builds up yang chi as they call it, if I were to do tai chi chuan after doing my hsing traing (five elements etc) would the tai chi chuan which builds yin energy chi conteract the hsing I chuan chi (off set each other and therefore have no yin or yang chi developed) so if I were to do a tai chi chuan form at the end of the day would it make my hsing I chuan training useless because the yin energy that is being created by the tai chi chuan form would offset the yang energy that I’m trying to produce with hsing I chuan?

[Anonymous]

HI Paul,

Each internal art that you practice patterns your physical body and your chi in a particular way. So figuring out how to practice them in combination is often a matter of trail and error. If the arts that you are practicing are all from the same tradition such as Bruce’s, then the advice he gave us was to practice them in the order of the simplest to the most complex. For some arts this is very clear, for example Hsing I’s Santi standing is obviously less complex than the Wu Style Tai Chi Short Form. For others you have to use your judgment. Is Dragon & Tiger simpler than doing the Hsing I Five Elements? I could argue this both ways.

Where it’s not obvious, then it’s useful to experiment with the order in which you practice things, and notice which order gives you a better experience of what you are looking to get out of your practice. Your question about the combination of Hsing I and Tai Chi is interesting along these lines. I always found that I liked combining Hsing I and Tai Chi, and their yang and yin effects. But I’d do them in a different order on different days. If I wanted to end my practice a bit charged up and ready to go outward, I’d do Hsing I after Tai Chi. If I wanted to end a bit quieter and more inwardly focused, I’d do the Tai Chi after the Hsing I.

If you’re practicing arts from two different traditions, I’d practice them at different times of day first, and over time experiment with practicing them sequentially and notice the effects of the combination on your system.

As for whether you can learn Dragon & Tiger and Hsing I in parallel, I’d say yes, no problems. But I’d try to practice them at different times of the day, so you get a really clear hit of what each does for you. When you’ve practiced them each for a while, then you can do them sequentially

Good learning,

Bill

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