Tai chi and Qi gong in your practice

[Könchok Thrinley]

Hi,

I quite enjoy doing qigong (especially zhang zhuang) and I was wondering whether someone here also enjoys qigong or tai chi and how it fits into your buddhist practice?

Especially after reading this article http://melong.com/tai-chi-and-dzogchen/.

[LolCat]

Are there any good videos you would recommend for a complete beginner?

I used to practice this one thing where you stand like a tree, but that fell by the wayside long before I started Dharma practice.

[Könchok Thrinley]

Are there any good videos you would recommend for a complete beginner?

I used to practice this one thing where you stand like a tree, but that fell by the wayside long before I started Dharma practice.

I'd suggest a class would be the best I think. There is a lot of fake qigong and taichi. Plus it is really better to learn from and instructor. However, there is this great video series https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 794EE191C1.

[Johnny Dangerous]

I have done martial arts and Qigong for years. I don't see see Qigong as a Dharma practice, but certainly you can do it with a Bodhicitta motivation, and dedicate merits, like anything. Martial arts of course are controversial to many Buddhists, and perhaps for valid reasons, it's a complicated subject, and the healthiness or destructivenesses of them depends deeply on the individual engaged in them.

As to learning Qigong from video, I think you can actually learn Zhan Zhaung from books and video, it is quite simple and with the right instructions and lots of caution and patience you can develop a Zhan Zhhaung practice yourself, with Taiji or more complex moving sets, it's probably best to seek out a teacher.

Hugging the tree is a great practice, wuji posture and that are of and within themselves powerful practices. I found that 20 minutes a day was needed for real benefit however.

The Taiji classics are also worth reading, while not Dharma per se, they contain a lot of wisdom.

[amanitamusc]

I have done martial arts and Qigong for years. I don't see see Qigong as a Dharma practice, but certainly you can do it with a Bodhicitta motivation, and dedicate merits, like anything. Martial arts of course are controversial to many Buddhists, and perhaps for valid reasons, it's a complicated subject, and the healthiness or destructivenesses of them depends deeply on the individual engaged in them.

As to learning Qigong from video, I think you can actually learn Zhan Zhaung from books and video, it is quite simple and with the right instructions and lots of caution and patience you can develop a Zhan Zhhaung practice yourself, with Taiji or more complex moving sets, it's probably best to seek out a teacher.

Hugging the tree is a great practice, wuji posture and that are of and within themselves powerful practices. I found that 20 minutes a day was needed for real benefit however.

The Taiji classics are also worth reading, while not Dharma per se, they contain a lot of wisdom.

I practiced Zhan Zhaung for a while 15 years ago.After the intense shaking around the 8min and you relax through it
you can start to enjoy standing.I worked up to 2 45min. stands a day.
At the time all the joints in both arms were inflamed to the point i had to tape a piece of
curtain rod to my tooth brush.
So standing really did help my situation.

[LolCat]

Hugging the tree is a great practice, wuji posture and that are of and within themselves powerful practices. I found that 20 minutes a day was needed for real benefit however.

I never worked my way up to 20 minutes, what benefits do you observe at that point?

Are there any good videos you would recommend for a complete beginner?

I used to practice this one thing where you stand like a tree, but that fell by the wayside long before I started Dharma practice.

I'd suggest a class would be the best I think. There is a lot of fake qigong and taichi. Plus it is really better to learn from and instructor. However, there is this great video series https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 794EE191C1.

That is what I used to do! My arms still sometimes go towards that holding the balloon pose when I am sitting instead of just staying in Vairochana posture.

I think I will try getting back into it slowly, I remember it being very refreshing, 10 minutes of that stuff would get rid of my after school tiredness faster than lounging around for an hour. I don't even remember why I stopped doing it, I think it was because I wanted to go deeper into it qigong and taichi and the other stuff I tried didn't really work out. I was learning purely from the internet and videos at that point, so there is little chance that I was practising correctly.

[kirtu]

I'd suggest a class would be the best I think. There is a lot of fake qigong and taichi. Plus it is really better to learn from and instructor.

You can only learn taiji or qigong from an instructor. Videos are for refinement after you have learned something.

Kirt

[Quay]

I find my practice of Tai Chi to complement my Dharma practice. Taoist ways of looking at things are often not dissimilar from basic Buddhist views & I look at it as if Tai Chi is helping me to go around the wheel more effectively while Dharma practice allows me to eventually disembark. Plus I've gained some remarkable health benefits from Tai Chi and find it just generally makes life more aware and interesting.

And I'd add that as others here have already said finding a real teacher is key. There are a lot of people who claim to teach it but are actually just moving around instead of doing any kind of practice. In the US at least Tai Chi is often seen as a kind of adjunct, poorer cousin to other martial arts & few realize it is the foundation and pinnacle of them all. If you can find a teacher who knows this then there's a good chance of finding good instruction.

[haha]

One can relate zhan zhuang with three pointed vajra posture.

Many of Taoist practices such as working on visualization, chi, channels, drops, etc can be useful for Vajrayana practice. Just my personal opinion.

[justsit]

A master. Beautiful.
(there is no sound with this video)

[Emmet]

I'm a big fan of Tai Chi; my ability to walk without falling down (much) I attribute entirely to Tai Chi. I was referred by a physical therapist, started in a chair, and eventually progressed up to the 104 form. In addition to balance, flexibility, and other more subtle benefits, I find it a wonderful meditative practice.

"The stillness in stillness is not true stillness; only when there is stillness in movement does the universal rhythm manifest"

https://www.taoist.org

[passel]

I learned a 20 minute qigong routine from a book around 2000 and have been doing it whenever I feel like it ever since, along with some yoga. I think it is a really good practice! I had a teacher refer to these qi/prana practices as having to do w “first-person physiology”, which I have found to be helpful. I am in very good health and comfortable w sitting in meditation for long periods (knock on wood!), and I am of the opinion that movement practices have helped me tremendously, by doing just a bit, semi-regularly, over a long time. I have two younger brothers, but my qigong-doing, meditator’s body is younger than theirs. I wish I could share but they don’t seem interested! “Don’t stiffen into a buddha!”