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Beginners
A tai chi beginner is not adept
with tai chi so they need to do a lot of qigong.
It provides the necessary fitness benefits by serving as a stopgap
pending higher level tai chi skill.
Stages
A new starter usually commences class with muscular tension, poor
bodily awareness and incorrect skeletal usage.
They cannot reasonably perform 'internal' qigong well.
It is necessary to work through clear stages of development:
Stage 1
- this is what the student starts with
- it reflects their initial capacity to perform each
exercise
- a crude sense of the qigong is gained
- the aim is to acquire a sense of each exercise
Stage 2
- the onus is upon relaxation of the muscles in order to drop the
shoulders, elbows & wrists, and free the hips, sacroiliac, scapula, knees,
vertebrae, neck, chest & ankles
- the hips, back and chest are opened and expanded
- functional alignment is established between key joints in order to rely on
postural muscles for strength
-
coordination of weight shift, waist turn and arm movement
- the student reaches to 50% of capacity
- square on the inside, round on the outside
- the
fitness benefits are increased notably
Stage 3
- lengthening takes place without straining the joints or provoking
muscular tension
- the muscles are encouraged to perform a more demanding, diverse range of
actions
- the body becomes open and expansive
- the pelvis is stabilised
- the tendons, ligaments and fascia are stretched
- the feet are always shoulder-width apart from one another
- the student reaches to 70% of capacity
- all actions tie into the centre
- the purpose of each qigong must be considered
- strength, martial utility and fitness benefits are amplified significantly
- there is a lot more squatting; and this promotes a mild cardiovascular
workout for certain exercises
Stage 4
- subtle neigong qualities are now incorporated
into the qigong exercises
- the exercises are dismantled in order to fully understand
how and why they work
- advanced biomechanical features are explored
thoroughly
Each stage is
significantly more mentally demanding than the previous one and there are no
shortcuts.
Seeking to force a result will lead to
injury and incorrect practice.
The body needs time to re-grow and change, the nervous system must be
attuned, and the mind
settled.
Perseverance
Qigong gets easier with practice.
Your body becomes conditioned and you no longer notice the difficulty.
Students who train regularly at home find that the exercises become
ingrained quite rapidly.
They gain a fantastic sense of relaxation and feel
energised. Their bodies also become far stronger and resilient.
When you feel good, it is easy to exercise. You want to exercise.
To bear that which you think you cannot bear is really to bear.
(Nitobe)
Results
Qigong is exercise.
It should be gently challenging, improve skeletal alignment, work your
muscles and tangibly affect your fitness.
Feeling good is not enough. Expect significant results.
Be prepared to practice weekly in class and between classes at home.
10 repetitions per arm
For the highest yield, each qigong
exercise needs to be done 10 times. If you do an exercise with the right
hand and then the left, the overall count will be 20.
Connection
Standing every day will encourage connection.
Although standing requires tangible muscular effort, the exercise must be
performed using the least amount of effort.
100 days
We propose 100 days of daily consecutive qigong training for a beginner.
No days off. No respite. No lies. No excuses.
Day after day after day of training.
This will lay the foundation.
It could be as little as 15 minutes a day. After 100 days you should be fitter.
The habit of training each day will be ingrained.
Page created 3 March 2016
Last updated
16 June 2023
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