Overall
movement: Stand quietly, relax your body and empty your mind.
Footwork:
The feet do not move. Stand with the heels together, toes slightly apart (up to
a fist's width) throughout this movement.
Action
One: Stand with the knees unlocked, lower back flat and the head raised (ding). Let the arms hang naturally,
palm in. Settle the hips and shoulders. Pull up the Yang Men point (just in front of the anal
sphincter) slightly, with no more force than like closing your eyes. Place the
tongue on the palate, opposite the soft spot on the top of the skull. Look
straight forward. Breathe into your dantian.
Action
Two: When you feel ready to move, pull the belly (proximal segment) of the
middle fingers slightly into the palms, and touch the tip of the middle fingers
and thumbs on the thighs. The middle fingers press the Feng Shi point on either
side.
Fighting
applications: Since you do not move, this position allows you to isolate the
practices of mental focus and breath control. To be able to react quickly and
effectively in a stressful situation such as fighting, an attentive, detached,
and calm focus is needed. Practise this first standing still, then throughout
the form, then in applications, and finally in sparring.
The
touch to the Feng Shi point is the first of a number of such touching,
pressing, and passing by pressure points throughout the routine. Each time you
touch points on yourself you remind yourself where they are. The light touch
you give yourself may serve to unblock meridians, and knowledge of the points
can be used to injure an opponent.
Internal
connections: The beneficial effects of a quiet mind and breath control in basic
qigong standing are well known. Stand until you feel that your mind is quiet
and that your breathing is happening on its own.
Use
reverse breathing – as you inhale stop the lower abdomen from bulging and
expand instead the lower ribs to the back, then as you exhale press solidly
with the diaphragm and lower abdomen without overly bulging out. This type of
flank breathing is natural and gives more power to all movements, and
especially explosive movements. It is best to practise in this posture first
before applying it throughout the routine.
This
position makes a deliberate connection of the middle finger and thumb to the
outer thigh. The tip of the middle finger accesses the hand's final-yin
pericardium [the membrane enclosing the heart] line. When the arms hang
straight, the middle fingers naturally touch the Feng Shi points on the midline
on the outside of the thighs. Feng Shi's overall action is to increase Qi and Blood circulation in the leg
Shao Yang channel, strengthening and opening the joints of the lower limb.
An
acupoint has a certain effect on the Qi dynamic of a meridian. During acupuncture, an
acupoint is needled to cause a change that will affect a symptom or disease.
When we put light pressure on an acupoint during taiji, we may change the Qi dynamic of its meridian. We
should not think that we will cure this or that disease. In other words,
pressing the Feng Shi point may help heal knee joint pain and hemiplegia
[paralysis of one side of the body], but probably not. This pressure may help
to release blockages of that particular meridian, though.
About
the name: Prior to starting the routine, you are still unbalanced and
disordered. The first task is thus to stand quietly, calm the mind and regulate
the breathing, to prepare for the upcoming change from chaos to balance. In one
version of the names, this is called the Position of Chaos, and the next move
is Three Openings and Closings of the Dantian. The process is blended smoothly
once you stand until you arrive in the balanced, differentiated, or taiji,
posture.
Additional
comments: Take your time in this position. Stand until you feel ready to start.
Stand until you lose yourself and give in to the taiji routine in which you are
about to embark. The beginning of movement should grow naturally from the
stillness, as a plant starts growing from a seed, do not start until your body
starts itself.
Do
not become sluggish while standing, keep the eyes open and remain alert. Your Qi should be circulating well even
when standing, you don’t want it to become sluggish, as this may result in the
routine starting sluggishly, and then you will struggle to bring energy to it.
Just
for convenience in describing the form, stand facing South. You don't have to
do the form facing the same way all the time, just face in the way most
practical to your training area.