When practicing Tai Chi, do not coordinate with breathing. The internal energy of Tai Chi has a dual effect on the human body, both good and bad. When you feel refreshed, the internal energy follows naturally and has a positive effect, making your body better. When you are angry, the internal energy no longer aligns with your anger but continues on its own path. This creates a conflict between anger and internal energy. At this point, the body becomes the battleground for these two forces, causing harm to it. However, once the anger subsides, the body quickly recovers under the influence of internal energy. Those who have cultivated internal strength have deep insights into this. The greater the anger, the greater the physical suffering.
During the practice of Tai Chi, the role of internal strength is very evident. It not only corrects long-standing external joint and bone diseases in the body, unblocks meridians, massages internal organs, and activates the five zang and six fu organs. The physiological regulation effect of Tai Chi is obvious. However, the cultivation of Tai Chi is not something that can be achieved by seeking quick success and instant benefits; it requires slow and careful accumulation. Slow work produces fine results; only by slowly sculpting and refining can one gradually remove ailments from the body. The effects of internal strength on the human body vary from person to person, and almost everyone's experiences and feelings are different. Some people feel heat, others discomfort in their heads, some back pain, leg swelling, nausea, etc. When these symptoms appear, don't panic. This indicates that the corresponding parts of your body currently have some ailments, and the internal strength of Tai Chi is treating those areas and restoring them to normal. During the recovery process, some reactions are normal. But if things go wrong, it’s not just simple discomfort.
A key point in practicing Tai Chi is absolutely not to coordinate with breathing, especially for beginners. Many outsiders mislead practitioners by instructing them to coordinate with breathing. This is a major taboo in practicing Tai Chi. If you try coordinating with breathing, within two weeks, problems will arise: dizziness, brain swelling, feeling light-headed, overall discomfort. A hospital check-up might reveal gas buildup in certain parts or insufficient blood supply to the heart. Injections and medication won't help. This is what martial arts call "losing control and entering a demonic state." How to treat it? The method is simple; just return to natural breathing, relax emotions, and continue practicing, and you'll see some effects.
Tai Chi theory says: "Guidance at the entrance must be oral teaching." Honestly speaking, many people cannot obtain true skills even under the personal guidance of a wise master, let alone those who practice by imitating others. Tai Chi skills manifest in minute details, as the saying goes, "A slight deviation leads to a thousand miles of error." Yang Chengfu said: "When fighting an opponent, often distance isn't used, but rather proximity. Waiting quietly for movement, acting when the opportunity arises is near; hastily moving hands, looking up and down to strike the enemy is far. The cleverness of Tai Chi lies in the precision of inches and the subtlety of millimeters, so there should be no deviation. If there is a deviation, it's like being a thousand miles away. Practitioners of Tai Chi must pay attention to this."
Tai Chi is most importantly about refining one's thoughts. To make skills come naturally, your mind must accept the right things, and slowly the skills will manifest. If you defend yourself and reject correct thinking, you definitely won't gain true knowledge. Once thought improves, character changes. Hot-tempered individuals gradually become calm, and those with weak dispositions become strong. The mechanism of action of Tai Chi internal strength is simple: the scientific principle of "mutual nourishment of yin and yang, and the interplay of stillness and motion." Thought governs the body; without Tai Chi in thought, it's impossible in the body. Many people spread false things, and anyone knowledgeable hearing it knows everything they say is false and empty. Some people memorize books rigidly, reciting Tai Chi theories perfectly, but upon listening, it's clear they're merely talking tactics without real experience.
Tai Chi internal strength accumulates bit by bit, gradually becoming part of the body. True skill withstands the test of Tai Chi theory requirements. As long as you meet any single requirement of Tai Chi, it shows your skills haven't reached perfection. Existence is non-existence, and non-existence gives rise to existence. First, get rid of some physical ailments (existence), which becomes non-existence, then accumulate Tai Chi internal strength, which is creating existence from non-existence.
Tai Chi cannot cure all diseases; it doesn't instantly heal illnesses. Its effects are gradual and natural, not forced. People shouldn't blindly believe anything is omnipotent.
Tai Chi can cure all diseases. Tai Chi gradually strengthens the body, enhancing health, promoting smooth circulation of blood and qi, strengthening immunity—this is the mechanism of curing all diseases.
Breathing Methods:
Breathing methods also vary from person to person and according to time. Common ones include:
1. Natural Breathing Method: Used in the initial stage, or the first few minutes of practice. Gradually guide chest breathing to abdominal breathing with intention, maintaining continuous, uniform, fine, and slow breaths without chanting.
2. Guiding Qi Breathing Method: Used in the intermediate stage. Begin by exhaling finely towards the perineum while squatting. Guide the qi down through the legs, knees, small intestine, ankles to the Yongquan points. Inhale and guide the qi back to the perineum along the same route. Repeat continuously to circulate the qi.
3. Holding Breath Method: Used in the intermediate stage based on guiding qi. While standing, guide the qi to the soles of the feet, pause briefly, then inhale and guide the qi upward through the calves, knees, thighs to the perineum, then through the tailbone to the Mingmen. Simultaneously with inhalation, clench fists tightly, grip the ground with toes, lightly touch the upper palate with the tongue, tighten and lift the anus, inhale until unable to inhale further, then pause (pause duration increases with skill, up to 5 minutes). Then slowly exhale, guiding the qi downward along the original path to the soles, fingers, toes, gradually relaxing the whole body. Repeat this process.
4. Throat Breathing Method: Used in advanced stages, after mastering holding breath. Stand or use a dynamic step, forget mouth and nose breathing, use throat breathing with intention. Slightly open the throat, and internal qi rapidly fills the dan tian, expanding the lower abdomen; the dai mai is full, and qi spreads throughout the body. The entire process takes about a quarter of a second. This method is mostly used in combat situations.
5. Consciousness Breathing Method: An advanced inner breathing method used in combat after mastering throat breathing. Without needing to breathe through the throat, simply touching any part of the body to the opponent immediately triggers a reaction, filling the body with internal qi when needed and disappearing when not needed.
6. Internal Rotation Breathing Method: Guide the absorbed qi to the waist and abdomen, filling the middle dan tian (specifically referring to the area between Guanyuan and Mingmen). Then guide the qi to rotate around the navel in a circle. First, turn clockwise inside for 36 circles, then counterclockwise outside for 24 circles.
7. Sinking Qi Breathing Method: Mainly used for healing, it can also serve as preparatory exercise for other practices. Suitable for beginners or those with weak constitutions, especially beneficial for hypertension, autonomic dysfunction, and neurasthenia. Postures such as supine, reclining, leaning sitting, sitting, or standing can be chosen based on physical condition and illness. During practice, the whole body relaxes, focusing only on exhalation, guiding the qi to descend from the Mingmen, splitting into two paths to the thighs, calves, reaching the Yongquan points. Inhalation occurs naturally without added intention. With repeated practice, over time, one can feel a warm qi flow sinking from the Mingmen to the soles of the feet.
The above content is excerpted from Li Jingwu's Tai Chi Internal Work - Breathing Method.
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