Yiquan friends doing some Yi Jin Jing Qigong
Come and play with our Yiquan club every Thursday morning. Since Sifu Fong Ha comes here every September, a group of six or seven dedicated practitioners has began meeting every Thursday to continue working on his (and others) teachings. Since then it has become a great free-form “Internal Arts Day”
This is not a “class” because it is at Kamaole III Beach Park and the county will not allow a formal class: so I call it a club, there is no charge we just play.
Yiquan means “Mind (intention) Boxing” and it is a simple way to train martial arts and meditation skills. One of the main practices is just standing. There is a huge variety of postures used in standing work, also known as “Zhan Zhuang” lit. “standing like a post”. In Yiquan, there are eight main postures, you just stand and hold a posture, it is very simple.
Every Thursday morning starting at 6:30 AM with zhan zhuang, Qigong and Taiji walking, sometimes we take a break about 7:50 or so, look for us at a table at that time, then at 8:15 AM, we continue with Taijiquan until we are done.
The pre-dawn standing part is simple; just stand (or sit) in Wuji and if you want to, hold some postures or do whatever you want to! Try doing some “spontaneous qigong” also known as “Zi Fa Gong” or do the Yiquan postures.
The qigong that we originally did here consists of two sets and some “Taiji walking”. The first set is called “Yi Jin Jing” this is the famous “muscle and tendon changing classic” invented by Bodhidharma in about 520 AD. The second set is another classic qigong set known as “The Eight Brocades” or “Ba Duan Jin“. Most likely though, whatever we we do here now is pretty random, so many things we could do, it is never the same qigong at this practice session. “Taiji walking” in the sand is a favorite!
The Taijiquan part usually consists of doing the Dong (Yang) Long Form, we often do all three sections of the form or whatever we decide!
Come and play but know this is not a class…. I don’t do any real “teaching” I want to have fun with my friends, build some push hands connections, and keep the spirit of all of our teachers training active at Kamaole III
Overview:
6:30 AM to 7:50 AM
Wuji, Zhan Zhuang, Yiquan
Zi Fa Gong
Yi Jin Jing, Ba Duan Jin, or “Whatever Qigong”
Taiji walking
7:50 to 8:15 AM Break…
8:15 AM
Taijiquan
Tui Shou
See All Classes Here:
Taiji on Maui 
Qigong—Chinese mind/body exercises–helped me immensely in my successful battles with four bouts of supposedly terminal bone lymphoma cancer in the early nineties. I practiced standing post meditation, one of the most powerful forms of qigong–as an adjunct to chemotherapy, which is how it should always be used.
Qigong kept me strong in many ways: it calmed my mind–taking me out of the fight-or-flight syndrome, which pumps adrenal hormones into the system that could interfere with healing. The deep abdominal breathing pumped my lymphatic system—a vital component of the immune system. In addition, qigong energized and strengthened my body at a time when I couldn’t do Western exercise such as weight-lifting or jogging–the chemo was too fatiguing. And it empowered my will and reinforced it every day with regular practice. In other words, I contributed to the healing process, instead of just depending solely on the chemo and the doctors. Clear 14 years and still practicing!
Bob Ellal
Author, ‘Confronting Cancer with the Qigong Edge’
Thanks for sharing your healing process Bob Ellal. Sounds like it kept your spirit strong to keep you physically moving forward. Love to hear it. Keep that faith.
Having Sifu Fong Ha here to reinforce the value in standing has been helpful to me. I am much more aware of my balance in motion and that my skinny arms really are stronger than I ever knew. It reinforces all that we have been doing in Cory’s Taiji classes. I have been going to the thursday group. It feels early but the discipline and encouragement from Cory has helped me to focus. As always I like the Qigong sets. The movement and then in contrast the stillness to feel the posture. Mesmerizing for me. Adding in the Zi Fa Gong or what I like to call freeform was pure joy for my yin side. Thanks for keeping the rhythm going.
Hi Wanda,
Read “Warriors of Stillness” some years ago–Master Fong Ha was featured. Kept the juices flowing–for years I had stood in the “Embrace the Tree/Hold the Ball” posture exclusively for about an hour a day. These days I use half-a-dozen postures–easier on my cancer-eaten shoulders. But the qigong definitely helps with pain management–I pop a couple of Motrin now and then but that’s it. Hell of a lot better than being a zombie on opiates!
Thanks Bob
I will look into the “Warriors of Stillness”. It might be the one Cory talked about. I can now empty my mind and dissolve into wuji feeling transparent. A wonderful calm place but ten minutes of that and my body says hello the wind is blowing!!!!. As if a voluntary move is better than being swept away involuntarily. I gather from you and the old saying that, “patients is virtue”. Perhaps that also means that trust comes slowly. I will try and wait.
Aloha Teacher Cory,
In practicing standing meditation tonight a question came up. I have conflicting information in my mind regarding bending the knees. One, is to hold the image of a balloon or ball between the legs therefore maintaining a bow like stance and two, I have also heard that it is o.k. to have the knees collapsing towards each other to maintain integrity in the dantien, ovarian palace, and perineum. Would you please clarify?
yes… both those things are correct…. hold the “ball” between your knees..not so much “collapsing” as holding. wrap your self around your center… as if you were stuck on a pole above the ground…. the more you can round yourself around that pole the better grip you would have (so you don’t slide down the pole) this is going to have you both pulling the knees apart and at the same time holding them inward. It seems like a paradox I know but think of the pole you are wrapping your self around as expanding in circumference as you wrap your legs and arms around it.
ok…and the tailbone, part of the pole, is vertical, relaxed yet a little tucked in pulling towards the center of the earth as a third leg, at the same time aligned with the jade pillow and crown, the later are pulling towards the heavens; while the arms and legs are relaxed around the ‘pole’ right?
Still a challenge in the interplay between the tailbone and the jade pillow/crown area, I think you described it as a chicken like motion. At times, when I pull the crown up, the tailbone wants to pull back; I’ll continue to practice…
Cory is wonderful to see that you and your students are still continuing the practice since Sifu Fong and I left a few months ago. I now being retired and doing much more standing and Tai Chi practice and that has really leaped my awareness and understanding to a new level. I agree on the tailbone and hips being very hard to gain awareness in and believe that not forcing anything into position but allowing the standing to naturally more you into the most energetic position is best. Not everyones body is the same and one masters idea of proper alignment may be the worst for another. I look forward to seeing you again next fall in wonderful Maui ..Jeff
Aloha Jeff,
Nice to hear from you and training with you and Sifu Ha. Thanks for all the support and for helping Sifu get the word out, You guys were an inspiration to us here. We are looking forward to seeing you again!
Aloha & mahalo nui loa,
Cory
Balance and Harmony for a Better Life
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