Finding the Elusive Internal Energy in Tai Chi and Qigong
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- Опубліковано 3 лют 2025
- Dive deep into a conversation about energy through the lens of Tai Chi and Qigong. I share my experiences with qi and the evolution of my understanding of qi, energy and internal power over the years. This conversation on the Discover Energy Work podcast sheds light on intricate body mechanics, the essence of Qi, and the meditative practices embedded in internal martial arts.
Watch the full podcast video on the Discover Energy Work channel: • Shirley Chok - A journ...
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One of the most beneficial practices I've brought into my life is a standing meditation. I've found that the deeper you explore the seemingly "simple" things in life is where you benefit the most and create large scale change. It's the stuff that is commonly overlooked so we don't bother to explore it much, but it really is addressing your foundation of life both physically and mentally (which are one). Thanks for what you do!
Yes! Beautifully put. Explore the simple things in life ... for sure.
Yes 💯🎯❤️🙏
This is a deep conversation! Along the lines of structure and alignment, which are indeed at the very heart of the Internal, I like to think of my skeletal structure as a tuning fork. If a tuning fork is bent (misaligned) then it will not ring the way it should. Similarly, when I get locked into correct structure, I get a low amplitude, high frequency vibration that is quite pleasant. Too much post training will lead to muscle cramps and destroy the relaxed nature that we need to keep for the energy to flow. The next real trick is to keep structure and alignment while moving, I call that "linkage."
Your generosity in these vids is very commendable. Most (yes, most) Tai-Chi students spend a LOT of time and money in training, but do not get the gold nuggets that you are handing out here for free.
I love your description of it! Thank you 🙏❤️
This is very helpful. Thank you!😊
I had the same experience of the rotating chi in my lower belly as a child of 4 years old. My older brother disregarded it. I felt the energy and tried to use my will power and concentration to break an enoty Mayonnaise jar by squeezing it. After a while of squeezing, I felt the jar collapse into itself, I was not cut, but when my brother returned, he was mad. I had to clean up the glass. It has taken me many years to find my way. I study Tai Chi Chuan and Qigong with Michael Gilman in Port Townsend and know that he is the real deal. I had studied with Min Pai, in NYC and also learned Tai Chi Chuan after the Kung Fu forms which he taught. Thanks for your videos, they are very informative. You have had great teachers and it shows. It's good to see you honor them with these videos.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and your journey 🙏❤️
Hello, i like your explanations! I am trying to fix my broken body on my own, trying to do Tai Chi form, with my knee and lower back in a very bad shape, i was athlete once, and always wished for a martial arts, and now i found Tai Chi, i try to practice every day, but alone. And your story reminds me if myself. I wish i could build my power back and overcome the difficulties ❤
sending love and peace to everyone...
Thank you 🙏❤️
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience!
🙏❤️😊
Very interesting reflexion about influence of the tree position in your internal martial art improvement. I love it.
Thank you 🙏❤️
Thank you Shifu Shirley ❣️ 🙏☺️ I really enjoy listening to these thought provoking reminders. Even if the most of what you're saying is already familiar, it's good to hear it from another perspective (=conscious human), in a bit different way to get an even deeper understanding of the whole. The path always leads back to the basics ☯️ 🙏
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it 🙏❤️☺️
Thanks for this! Standing Post (as it’s often known) is indeed a powerful practice and often not explained why by masters or teachers. They just say “do it and you’ll see”. But this is a good explanation of the why of it and I (and my reasoning mind) appreciate that!
🙏❤️
I have just begun learning qigong and tai chi. I trained in aikido for 14 years but stopped because of a hip replacement. Now at 81 I am taking classes in tai chi and qigong. This video is very helpful. The teacher has us do tree posture but it hasn't been clear to me why we do it as I wanted to keep learning the form. :-)
I'm so glad you found your way to Tai Chi and Qigong ❤️ One of my assistant instructors has his own Aikido dojo and another one of my students currently runs her own Aikido dojo so it definitely lays down a great foundation for Tai Chi and Qigong. Thank you for dropping this nice note 🙏❤️
How many mins a day do you stand in standing meditation?
great video i got to one hour tree posture every day and my tai chi form felt so good
That is so awesome 🔥👏❤️
Being into taiji for a few months I have to say it's very difficult. Thanks for these videos 😂
😁🙏
You sure got banged up as a youngster. It doesn't surprise me that you were an Athlete. The story of your journey is fascinating. Tai Chi certainly helped you overcome your injuries. Amazing what it can do.
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Thanks so much I learnt the secret of Ming Men after training for near 15 years I never new how to expand this in holding tree position WOW thanks it made such a difference I also started three of your routines daily 27 May 2024
I'm so glad you enjoyed this video 🙏❤️
Thanks for the content Shifu, Ive been asking myself "is this simple posture supossed to be so hard?", now I have the answer. It is always very helpfull to hear about your experiences.
😊🙏❤️
Спасибо Мастер! Вы очень точно рассказали об энергии Чи, это трудно объяснить, но можно почувствовать на своем опыте🙂🙏
Thank you so much 🙏❤️
Thank you ❤
🙏❤️
Feng Shui as a spiritual practice. Kung Fu as power growth. Tai Chi as observable vision. Yoga as breath perception. So Tai Chi brings us all to what we can all see. It is the depth of what we are all allowed to accomplish. As Tai Chi changes; the external facet of the mind follows the light to the surface of the self you can perceive. Bushido and Tai Chi have important lessons for society if properly combined.
Namaste
Thank you for your beautiful insights 🙏❤️
in our school we have a lot of contact work to test positions in chi kung and in the forms, to see if they actually work in tai chi way. This starts on day one. One thing I have noticed (since being sensitive) that I can get most people to stand in the aligment and get a bit peng jin going on and getting my own energy back from them. Mostly people seem to feel something and it's nice to see the light bulb turning on behind their eyes :) It would be so much harder to find these alignments without somebody helping by hand and pushing gently in.
That is really fantastic ❤️ It would be so great if you could share that so others can see. I think the more we show the general public that Tai Chi is so much more than moving yoga, the more interest we'll get from people who want to learn about internal energy. And then others can incorporate that into their classes too 😁
Thanks for posting
🙏❤️
Such a great discussion. After so many years of studying wing chun, qi gong, and tai chi I still only occasionally get a sense of internal. In my younger days I started with taekwondo, then karate. You are right, internal is way harder. Way harder.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience 😊🙏❤️
@@AipingTaiChi thank you. I love your teaching style and episodes
My Ziran Men Shifu also says Zhan Zhuang is the best way to develop internal power. I've found Dan Tian rolling exercises from Chen Shi Tai Ji Quan and Song Taizu Quan to be very helpful too though, exercises I think have been lost from Yang Shi Tai Ji Quan, or at least the rolling is so small as to be imperceptible from outside.
It's like learning to ride a bicycle, one day you get it, I mean, that feeling in the belly and the famous chi flow, it tingles or something, but it's because we "drive oxygen in a more conscious way, and that sensation is too difficult to describe. 🤔 It's like a 🤔 tickle, I don't know., I got into this since I was a kid and it was easier to" don't think!.... Feel! " - li" Bruce "Yunfan, 🤔 😬 🤣 but how does it feel like?
Like when you finally can ride a bike 🤔😬🤣
I learned about Ziran Men last year and it sounds so interesting!
@@AipingTaiChi and I don't know anything except the name 😔 sorry for not contributing. 🤔 But I think the best thing we have learned is to automatically put ourselves in the right posture.
Like the two more 🤬🤬🤬🤬😫😓😭 articulated weapons I have used.. The double rod, and the triple rod. "nunchaku", and "sanjiegun" or "sansetsukon"..
, 😬😭🤬🤬🤬😞🥺🤬🤬🤬🤬🤔😃👋🤝
I started at about 15 years old and at this time I don't need to think specially with the nunchaku. It is cool too to feel if it hits something like a table, it bounces back and hits you. Unless you have enough practice to get it right. And it implies chi sao from my first impressions
My sifu forced me to learn tai chi along with kung fu when I was 18. Can’t thank that old man enough.
That is so 🔥🔥🔥❤️☺️🙏
Would you please direct me a place where I can view your lecture on "walking around in a circle". It was a wonderful lecture !
Hi Stuart. All the workshop recordings are in an Unlisted UA-cam playlist called Community Workshops. The link to the video itself and also the playlist are in a Patreon post. I'll also DM you on Patreon with the link.
25+yrs in MA B4 Taiji, & 1st 4 classes had 3 Epiphanies; asked Master Fang Wang- student of Wu Bin -? 3x & Shift said she had never been asked, & responded later- she was always so exited 2C me ☯️
I have something known anatomically as "pelvic tilt", which I think has limited my ability to feel chi nor am I able to root. It also makes all the muscles in my lower torso are very tight; I can't even sit on the floor. I don't think I will ever be able to expand my Dan Tien.
I don't know why ppl have forgotten but the traditional route was 10 years of standing and then taiji or hsingyi... 20 years or empty taichi. That simple.
My friend's old school teacher in China makes you do nothing but stand for 2 hours twice a day for 2 years before he will teach you a single move.
Min 5:00 - two points always align no matter what. Two points define a line. What do you mean by getting two points to align?
I think she means that the two points are positioned on the same vertical line, Baihui right over Huiyin, so there's no leaning of the torso while doing the form 🙏☺️
Yes thank you for clarifying 😊🙏❤️
Sometimes Tai Chi is how Chakra Scale Placement becomes self explanatory. When your breath contacts Feng Shui which is available to us/you.
Tai chi is how I find myself thinking before and after Kung Fu happens. Having the experience of Kung Fu; similar to Kundalini Awakening or perhaps Zen Moment. External or Internal the Kung Fu Memory Filter is difficult.
I love this 🙏❤️
🙏🙏🙏
Nice conversation, too bad you were cut short?
Thank you 🙏❤️ This is a short edit of our conversation. The full conversation is on the Discover Energy channel. I link it in the video description.
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👊🏾😎👍🏼
🌼🌻🌷🌸🌹🌹🌹🌞
Great video. Hello Shifu Shirley. As a complete beginner over 50, which style should I start with? Bafa Buwu? Yang? Sun? Very confusing where to start? Many thanks.
I know your question wasn't addressed to me, but - the teacher and the school are what matter, all the styles are good.
Although Chen is generally more physically demanding; however again, a good teacher of any style will be able to tailor the training to your personal needs and guide you as an individual.
Yes, I totally agree with Matt. Style doesn't matter, teacher and school matter most. I would say if you're looking for in-person instruction and you don't live in an area where there is a lot of good Tai Chi, you will likely have a higher chance of finding a good Yang Style Tai Chi teacher than other styles because there are many more Yang Style Tai Chi teachers out there. I would go to a teacher of any style that has the following attributes: 1) Studied extensively under a good teacher; 2) Focuses on fundamentals and not just following the steps to a form; 3) Is a hawk on knee alignment. I would go watch and/or try a class. If you see knees past toes and twisted in knees and the teacher does say anything to correct it, I would go elsewhere. Good luck and feel free to share what you decided to learn!
Good vedlo
❤️🥰
I know star wars was an influence on my study..
Then my i Ching studies when a little older
I love that :) I am in the early stages of organizing a TaiChiCon, celebrating where Tai Chi and pop culture come together and we will definitely have Star Wars activities like feeling the force and lightsaber training 😁
My teacher would say, "Tuck hip in."
Yes 😁
Yes, body mechanics is external.
Sorry for nitpicking, but I suggest you to use "structure" instead of "architecture"
Ha ha ha sifu.... So you hated meditation when you were young, I mean, younger than you are now,
Ok there is the straight spine position. Yes, that part of our rears 😅..
Now. Here is another application of the same principles. My wife has a degree in music. She specializes in musical education. Bel canto, singing.. We use the concept of Dan Tien.
The breathing she teaches is "abdominal", the rooting, relaxing, straight structure, and yes... The butt tightening is included here too. There's just more steps to this. Also the jaw is relaxed. Absolutely relaxed same as everything else...
OUUUCCH you got to the part where you broke your ankle 😬😔
Let's not digress 😅
There are also position of the lips and support for the control of Flux of Air, do you find this one familiar?
Or using your resonators, chest, nose, head. Chi... Air of course. You aim for it like going straight up to the top of your head... It's same as QIGONG
Tai Ji... 😅 I also started with it at that age but I was already wushu'ing 😅 my way at full speed and honestly a mixture of internal and external. Fortunately, I was taught qigong too... Ha ha you mentioned the dan tien, what do you feel inside your belly is a difficult thing to say, except with practice... Oh, then the video ends, I think you kept explaining. Because now how does the chi flow going up, and what does it feel like to get in Russian technique training for singers. It is very external. Getting a strong cardiorespiratory system, and being able to send a powerful air stream and the feeling is also that of chi flowing up. If you sing like that, and relaxing the vocal cords adequately, the throat too, it has to let air pass without other force like your belly, your diaphragm.
This is a fascinating topic and my wife is going to hsing-i my dantien because here is almost 12 noon and I have to fix our meal. It's cay lan sautéed with the usual ingredients and chasiu (😅I bought it)
Cheers master! Love to listen to you 🙏😔 siu zhe 🤔☳ 😅🤓🕉️😉
Thank you for your wonderful comments 😊❤️🙏
No. You are not being truthful.
I want peace but....please
You.are.a.liar
Real powerndoes not sound like this...