Boasting about breathing, exhaling the old and welcoming the new, stretching the bear's meridians and birds, guiding and pressing the stilts, so adjusting their qi; calming their breath, grasping and consolidating their spirit, observing in the divine palace, and observing the five internal organs, so guarding their qi; regulating the law of heaven and earth, harmonizing yin and yang, mating with barriers and separating, using water and fire, so exchanging their qi. "- Liu Wansu," Su Wen Bing Qi Yi Bao Ming Ji, Yuandao Lun "
In our daily lives, we often see people practicing Tai Chi in parks and sports fields in the morning or evening. Every time we see their confident movements, we marvel at the profoundness of Chinese boxing techniques. So, what is the purpose of practicing Tai Chi? The Thirteen Forces Song of Tai Chi states very clearly: "What is the ultimate purpose of seeking, to prolong life without aging
Modern research has shown that practicing Tai Chi can prevent and treat osteoporosis and delay aging. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, these manifestations indicate sufficient kidney qi.
Why can practicing Tai Chi supplement kidney qi? Taiwanese Tai Chi master Zheng Manqing recalls his experience of learning Tai Chi back then. His teacher, Tai Chi master Yang Chengfu, once said that practicing Tai Chi can tighten qi into the bones, fill the kidneys with qi, and strengthen the bones.
Zheng Manqing recalled the feeling she felt when pushing hands with Teacher Yang Chengfu: "My teacher Chengfu's arm is ten times heavier than that of an ordinary person. When he hits someone with it, everything is indestructible. However, he cannot catch the teacher and is several times heavier than a person. It can be tested." This is enough to prove that Master Yang has sufficient kidney qi.
The first step in Tai Chi is to practice the feeling of looseness and heaviness, walking like a cat with a soft and relaxed gait. By gradually practicing according to its requirements, the internal qi will gradually gather into the bone marrow, the kidney qi will gradually fill, the bone marrow will be sufficient, and the bones will be hard, heavy, and dense. This kind of person gives the feeling of stability and heaviness.
I have a friend named Xiao W who practices traditional domestic martial arts and follows the descendants of a great martial artist to learn the family's martial arts. We often exchange martial arts experiences together. One day, when we accidentally talked about our weight, Xiao W said, "It's really strange. Our teacher is less than 1.7 meters tall, and we can't tell how fat he is, but his weight is about the same as mine, over 80 kilograms
After listening to it, I told him, 'Your teacher is truly a master of martial arts. Only those with abundant kidney qi can exhibit this kind of performance!' Because the kidney qi is full of bone marrow, the density is high, and the appearance is ordinary, but the weight is very heavy. Traditional martial arts practice can achieve this effect.
Xiao W's teacher is not practicing Tai Chi, Xingyi Quan, or Baguazhang, but rather practicing a family tradition martial arts. However, its training mechanism is in line with the principle mentioned earlier, that "different fists have different principles". The human body only has one body, so there is only one law. Following the law is naturally scientific, and the martial arts will be faster and more direct.
In nature, we see tigers, lions, leopards and other fierce beasts walking with their whole bodies loose and their muscles particularly relaxed; On the contrary, animals such as cows, horses, donkeys, and mules have well-defined muscles. However, if these two types of animals compete, unless there are special circumstances, the outcome is self-evident. So the requirement for the first stage of Neijia Quan is to change the strength! Replace the clumsy and rough strength of the cow and horse with the agile and powerful strength of the lion and tiger.
Because the exercise methods of tigers conform to the principles of health preservation, and tigers only mate once a year, their kidney qi is particularly abundant. When the kidney qi is sufficient, the bone marrow is filled. So the bone marrow of a tiger is full, dense and seamless, as hard as rock. Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that "the kidneys govern the bones and produce the marrow". How do you say that? Let's take a look at the evidence in daily life. For people with insufficient kidney qi, their bone marrow cannot be fully filled, resulting in osteoporosis and a high risk of fractures.
I have a friend who loved watching pornographic videos when he was young, often masturbated, and had a very poor physical condition. He broke his bones twice in a year while playing basketball, and others would collide with him without any problems. However, as soon as he collided, he would break his bones. His classmates quickly stopped playing basketball and accompanied him to the hospital for bone repair. This is a manifestation of bones being particularly fragile and not solid.
Everyone knows that the elderly are also prone to fractures, why is that? Due to the gradual weakening of kidney qi and osteoporosis in the elderly, they are prone to fractures, which is a natural aging process and a manifestation of insufficient kidney qi.
Tai Chi refers to the first step of changing strength as "inducing rigidity and softness", which means practicing the fist frame to transform the body's weak strength into a relaxed and soft internal force. The general entry-level martial art of orthodox martial arts is "stretching tendons and pulling bones", which is to use decades of habitual force to stretch and pull out the body, achieving the effect of "bone alignment and tendon flexibility".
We can tell from the memories of the famous Tai Chi master Mr. Wu Tunan's training when he was young that it was called "hanging legs", where he tied his legs with ropes and hung them on a big tree, pulling apart his leg muscles. In addition, there are repeated exercises such as leg skating.
Boxing techniques such as Xingyi Fist and Dacheng Fist abandon tedious training and instead achieve the effect of changing strength through standing stakes. As the stakes are fixed, internal strength is developed, and qi and blood automatically release the muscles and bones, giving a feeling of stretching the whole body, similar to the effect achieved by stretching muscles and pulling bones. The practice method of Baguazhang is quite unique and different from other boxing techniques. It was introduced in detail in the previous chapter 'Walking Circle Method'.
In addition, the practice method of Xingyi Quan can be described in one sentence, which is the synchronization of form and qi. By practicing fixed movements, the muscles and bones are directly transformed. This is more suitable for young children who have not broken their bodies and young people with strong kidney qi to practice. Generally, people with insufficient kidney qi practice too hard, which can damage their internal organs if not done properly.
I saw a young man practicing Gudantian in college, with a pale face and a serious expression. It was obvious that his internal qi was blocked. After he finished practicing, I asked him, "Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep, with dry eyes and palpitations
He said, 'Yes! How did you know?'
I said, 'From your appearance, it seems that you are considered light, and some people may end up dying because of it, which is even more troublesome.' In fact, when practicing boxing, it is necessary to choose based on individual differences.
In short, after the first stage of training, the muscles and muscles of the whole body become moderately elastic and elastic, and the bones become hard and dense. These are all manifestations of sufficient liver and kidney organs and smooth blood flow. The most important thing is to control sexual activity and preserve vitality in the first stage. Otherwise, if the essence is withered and the marrow is dry, without a material foundation, there can be no superstructure at all.
Disclaimer: This article is a sharing of health knowledge. The drugs, prescriptions, acupuncture and moxibustion and other treatment and health preserving methods mentioned in this article should be applied under the guidance of professional doctors, and should not be applied by yourself. We are not responsible for any issues arising from improper use.