Time to get real folks... We all know the classics tell you to practice forms five times a day, plus qigong. My teacher recommends two or three times a day, running through the form (15 min form for the body, 30 min form for the mind, 45 min form for the spirit) as well as at least 15 mins of qigong. Then there's drills, weapons and partner work as well as classes where you learn new techniques. Other practitioners recommend at least 2 hours of qigong a day, and that's just standing/simple qigongs, not your forms. We all know we don't do that much, but how much practice a day/week do you think is the minimum to maintain your level of taiji, and how much is the minimum practice you need to increase your skill level over time?
i read that running the forms 3 times in one sitting increases your skill... of course you have concentrate every time you do the form and not just run it on autopilot
Training About two hours a day. I do Chen style Tai Chi: Yi Lu 3-5X a day Also: Sil Lum Tao, Chum Kiu, Yang 24 short form, Fu style Yin/Yang bagua, LiangI Chuan, weapons Train daily. keep a log/journal. Do the forum until you've done it ten thousand times. Then, you will begin to master the form. Marty
By the way. Doesn't include class time I'm only able to go once a week with my instructor and I teach classes also. Marty
This is probally more a question of how commited to your training are you and how practical(important) is your MA in relation to your life. Personally,My practise has become an daily routine (ritual)rotating around the basics to advanced, to miss or do without it would considerably alter my life. I have found that changing postures every 20 min to be effective for meditations(Zhanzhuang,zuochan)but for a min of 40 minutes a day.But like you said thats me. Most days start with 2hrs morning routine involving meditations(including form),stretches, massages and some light bodyweight work.I can use the Chinese term if you want (not directed at you Nzric) This is a discipline at first,later it is an ever evolving necessiety In short make your practise a joy not a chore.Then improvement if this is your desire, is a forgone reality.
Ok - another question. How do you "fit it in with your lifestyle" (god I hate that term)? I work full-time which means I leave the house at 7:00-7:45am, and I am studying three nights a week straight after work, so I get home at about 10:30. I'm not a morning person so it's always hard to wake up early (even though my partner runs every day at 5:30am).
nzric, You could practice between 23.00 - 1.00 at night; it is said this is a good time for practicing neigong and qigong. Jimmy
Practicing between 23.00-1.00 and 5-7 o'clock AM (that's pretty early), is not so much a question of balance, it is more that the Yang-chi is developing after changing from Yin-chi. That is why, many people feel tired at noon, it is because the Yin-Chi is growing. The best times for practising is when yang changes to yin ( here practises of relax, between 1-3 PM ), or yin changes to Yang (energy practises). So, it is not only about balance (which is the popular thinking), it's the change that gives the energy and good opportunity. Jimmy PS: for clarification I should say that the Yang Chi is active between 12.00 midnight to 12.00 at noon, while the Yin-chi is dominant between 12.00 to 12.00 at midnight.
No i meant balance between practicing and sleeping. Where can I find out more about the stuff you've just mentioned, Jimmy? I've been trying to find out more about this sort of info and also chi 'dynamics'...
Darren, That write-up was a short summary on this topic from my knowledge (from many sources) + my taiji-qigong experience. Like you said there are many cycles in the body, spirit and nature, I still have to figure out how these cycles interact. Jimmy
Nzric Start off small and see what evolves.Get up with your partner and do 15 mins of qigongs, then go back to bed if you want (but I doubt you will want to).Sometimes the hardest step is starting.
I’ve read it in some book (can’t recall name) and Chikung teacher also saysthe same thing, that the best time of the day to do ChiKung is: 1. Just after Sunrise 2. Just before Sunset 3. Midnight 4. Midday This is because these times are “ Change Overs” and the Cosmic YinYang energy flow is the highest, and therefore optimal for absorption into the body during Meditation/ Chikung . ( Incredibly so , these change over times seem to approx corrspond to Simple Harmonic Motion points of Circular motion ie. The 0, 90,180, 270 degrees point - ask your Math teacher ) Some other bits of advice I picked up: If living in Northern Hemisphere, face South. Conversly in Southern Hemisphere, face north . Avoid doing it near large bodies of water ( min 10 meters), in the rain or on wet grass.( Too much Yin energy) Avoid doing it in Windy enviroment ( Too much bad Chi ) Avoid sexual activity for 8 hours after Chikung Do not eat / shower 30mins before or after
quality, not quantity I think an important point here for those who are really into it, is to ask one'sself what are you actually practicing instead of how much. There is a threshhold that one must rise above in practice before they can actually fist begin to even grasp the work to be done, and then make progress. Once that threshhold is crossed, the question, at least in my world,, is not how much should I practice, but how deep should my practice be. For those of us that say they practice their form 3-5 times a day I can say this; I used to do that and then I learned some other ways of practicing that changed everything. At this point for myself and my gongfu brothers, most people find it a great accomplishment to get through one or two sets correctly. Upon finishing such forms, no one has the feeling to even walk down the street and just sitting is a fairly sore experience. I am not even going to address the "lifestyle" question, because it jjust makes little sense to me. I do understand that not eveyone can really learn gongfu for various reasons, but there is not much in between really doing it and really not doing it. The more serious the practice is, the better the result will be. A very serious practice should not be able to be repeated many times per day. Basically a couple hours of form should put one basically out of commision, but partner work can be done all day if you work up to the endurance and skill level. M www.taijigongfu.com
I haven't "had enough time" to practice very much lately, but last sunday I went to the park and did a big session. First went on the rowing machine at the gym, worked up a sweat, then took a brisk walk to a local park and quickly ran through the form (15 mins). After that I did 15 mins standing qigong and some stretching, then ran through the form again at medium/slow speed (30 mins). I was reaching the end of the third part when I felt a huge warm wave of heat and I was suddenly practicing smoothly in sung. I sat back and "watched" my body doing the form and had the sensation I used to have when I was practicing. I thought "this is really why I practice". Some drills, a couple of rounds of bagua circular form and a swim later, I can tell why it's so good to give the cobwebs a good shake every once and a while.
