Find center!
Relax the chest.
Raise the back.
Enclose the solar plexus.
Protect the cheekbones.
Lift the head.
Suspend solar plexus.
Loosen the shoulders.
Sink the elbows.
Be evasive.
Avoid conflict.
( Wu-Yü-hisiang )
Many qigon practitioners and masters skilled in the internal martial arts say that the most difficult position to achieve is Wu Chi – just normal stance!
Taiji is born of Wu Chi. It is the origin of dynamic and static states and the mother of yin and yang. If they move, they separate. If the remain static, they combine.
( Wangzongyue )
Stand with the feet in shoulder wide position. Big toes in line with nipples. The feet are pointing straight forward and are parallel. Do not let the toes point inward. The weight is evenly distributed on the hole foot of both feet.
The arms are hanging loose and relaxed in a normal position by the side of the body. ( After a while arms are naturally arching slightly to the front as a consequence of the flow of chi. Do not to force this posture or think of achieving it. Just think of the sensation and the new position of the arms as natural! ) Fingers are slightly extended (without stretching) and pointing down towards the earth. Keep your structure effortlessly.
Imagine that the top of the head is slightly pulled up by a golden cord or thread to heaven (Alternatively imagine your head is floating on water and the body settles underneath). Connecting heaven and earth.
Hips are settled and relaxed as if sitting on a horse. Wu Chi is sometimes referred to Ma Bu (horse stance). Tuck in the tailbone, but relax buttocks, straightening the lower part of the back into the ground. Bend the knees slightly so the tip of the knee is over the center of the foot. Knees must not stick out over the tip of the feet. The lower part of the back and hips are relaxed so you can move freely. Neither buttocks or the abdomen are sticking out.
Have a sensation of sinking or melting into the ground on the outside of the body. Have a sensation of inside structure growing up from the knees below ground up through the soil to heaven like the first spring seeds.
Angles, knees, hip, shoulder and ear are perfectly aligned in a straight line over each other. Align navel and nose as well.
Breathing is calm and normal. Your tongue optional touches palate behind the teeth. Send mind to the top of the head when breathing in. Energy stores in center an inch below the navel (Tan Tien). Mouth is closed. Make optional sound of HEN with breath when breathing in. Relax from the lower part of the back and feel the feet when breathing out. Relax chest. Mouth is closed or slightly open. Make optional sound of HA with breath. Observe the movements of Dantian. Keep calm, breath deeply like a long thread and gradually forget the breathing.
Be present in the body. If necessary send mind around as a repair unit or heat projector to relieve tension and open up joints and blockages all over in the body. Pain is normal, body can endure. Send mind to relieve tension by breathing in and out with the point in mention. Shoulders, knees, thighs and sole of feet is normal places of tension.
Relax the neck, chest, shoulders, sink the elbows, relax the hip, knees, angles and feet. Do not lock the joints. Keep the joint light and agile, they should feel like a balloon floating on air! Picture a thread from the knees to the heavens. Make soft upward pressure to the top of the head orginating from below the ground with the feet, angles and knees as gateways to relieve tensions. Make roots well below the ground from knees and down, rising steady like a tree above.
You are sitting on a balloon inflated whit hot air. In fact there are small balloons everywhere in and out of your body – under your armpit, around all joints, between fingers. Go ahead and find them! You are a one big balloon. Project your mind to the horizon. Keep a light natural smile on your face coming from within. Let go of all tensions in you body and mind.
Start standing in the beginning for 5 minutes in the morning then slowly increase to 30 minutes several times a day on your own convenience.
So simple, yet so difficult. Gradually, it seems that the boddy no longer exists, with a feeling of emtiness and transparency both inside and outside. Relax the body and mind, let the spirit raise to the top of the head and observe the wonders of the world without judgment.
We are centered, stable and still
as mountain.
Our Chi sinks to the tan-t’ien and
we are as suspended from above.
Our Spirit is concentrated within and
our outward manner perfectly composed.
Receiving and issuing energy are
both the work of an instant.
( T’an Meng-hsien )
