Precious set of 8

Posted by: Reiki

Precious set of 8 - 06/22/05 04:11 AM

Does anyone else do these?

We are just learning them at the moment so I'd be interested in some feedback in particular from some of you more experienced guys in qi gong like Laf, Bossman, butterfly palm, nenipp, meijin, kempo[GivenupModerating]man, Inuyasha etc.
You all know who I mean anyway.

So far we have learnt The Eye of the Tiger and Searching the Clouds. I'm assuming that we do them in sets of 9?

Anything interesting you want to share with us?
Posted by: Kosh

Re: Precious set of 8 - 06/22/05 05:54 AM

Do you mean Ba duan jin? There are many versions of it. I know two (and I got a video about another one, but haven` checked it out yet), but I only practice one version. Unfortunately I don`t know any of the names of the forms.

I like it a lot, and is at the moment my main qigong practice, I practice it almost every day. For me it`s really relaxing. I use it as a warm up a lot, before doing any kind of other qigong or meditation. It gets your energy flowing.

I repeat the forms between 1 - 3 times though, depends on the time. I don`t think I ever tried doing more repetitions than that.
Posted by: nenipp

Re: Precious set of 8 - 06/22/05 11:29 AM

I don't think I can be of much (if any) help, sorry!
We do practice a set of eight exercises, our teacher calls them "eight qigong exercises" I don't know the names of all the individual movements, but one is called something like "archer" and one "boxing with angry eyes" (free translation)

They seem to me like pretty much basic exercises strung together, but they probably have nothing to do with what you're talking about, not among my fav's BTW.
Posted by: Kempoman

Re: Precious set of 8 - 06/22/05 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Reiki
So far we have learnt The Eye of the Tiger and Searching the Clouds. I'm assuming that we do them in sets of 9?





Quote:

Originally posted by nenipp
We do practice a set of eight exercises, our teacher calls them "eight qigong exercises" I don't know the names of all the individual movements, but one is called something like "archer" and one "boxing with angry eyes" (free translation)

They seem to me like pretty much basic exercises strung together, but they probably have nothing to do with what you're talking about, not among my fav's BTW.




This is the ba duan jin or eight section brocade. It is a very good general health based qigong. It is good to do to start the day or as Kosh mentioned as a precursor to other qigong work.

The number of sets is usually 2,3,6, or 9 but the important thing seems to be to keep the number of set consistant throughout the entire practice.

Here is one set of names for the postures...

1. Pressing the Heavens with Two Hands

2. Drawing the Bow and Letting the Arrow Fly

3. Separating Heaven and Earth

4. Wise Owl Gazes Backward

5. Punching with Angry Gaze

6. Bouncing on the Toes

7. Big Bear Turns from Side to Side

8. Touching Toes then Bending Backwards

Like Kosh said there are many flavors of this exercise and none will cause any adverse symptoms (like running fire).

--KM
Posted by: nenipp

Re: Precious set of 8 - 06/23/05 04:24 AM

Yep. that must be it, thank's kempoman!
Posted by: BuDoc

Re: Precious set of 8 - 06/23/05 06:23 AM

Not sure of the reason why, but I was always taught to do them in sets of 5 if possible, sets of 3 if there was limited time.

Page
Posted by: Reiki

Re: Precious set of 8 - 06/23/05 08:16 PM

thankyou all very much!

I wondered if they were one and the same and so it is.....
Posted by: ButterflyPalm

Re: Precious set of 8 - 06/24/05 05:24 AM


Yes, many sets of chi kung forms come in either eights or eighteens; the two favourite numbers in old chinese cosmology.

I've seen many eights in my time, but I practice only one of them, which incidentally is completely different from the more common Ba Duan Jin. There is no need to practice all of them; be good in one and derive the desired result and you have learnt them all.

The important point which I am sure you know is the specific visualisation that accompanies each physical movement; every external movement must have a corresponding internal (mental) equivalent (Yin / Yang -- remember?)

Once you have got the desired result from one set of eights, you can do any other sets and know right away what the movements in all the other sets are meant to give -- a kind of reverse-engineering.

You can tell, as you do the set, from the 'internal flow' generated which internal organs that movement is meant to "activate" -- which of course is where the health benefits come from.

As for martial arts application, having an intimate knowledge of and conscious control over this internal energetic flow, which can be generated at will, will serve as the basic raw material for whatever you wish to do with it; like for example in Iron Shirt training, for incorporating it into a dynamic tension kata, in yoga to "open" the chakras, in tai chi, ba gua, xing yi for focusing body alignment and tissue connectiveness, or in my case as part of my regime for medical purposes relating to cancer.

Just like wheat flour being turned into dough; with some eggs, butter, sugar and flavouring, there is really no end to what you can do with it. Chi is the wheat flour. All the arguments over the ages is just about what icing to put on top; what is underneath is all mostly wheat flour.

Harvesting the "precious" wheat flour is of course the hardwork part.
Posted by: Shae

Re: Precious set of 8 - 07/04/07 12:18 PM

I'm used to hearing them called the 8 brocade and they a real good physical training method one of my books that is out of my bookshelf said that a general developed these originaly 12 excersizes to help the physique of his soldiers
Posted by: ButterflyPalm

Re: Precious set of 8 - 07/05/07 02:36 AM

Quote:

I'm used to hearing them called the 8 brocade...




Ba Duan Jin.....Ba (8); Duan (section); Jin (brocade)

It is called 'brocade' because, like a fine multi-colored, multi-patterned piece of cloth/brocade, it has woven/interlaced within it multiple paterns and designs, each of which can be viewed/admired individually or as a composite whole, like a landscape painting.

In the practice of the Ba Duan Jin itself (or any other Chi Gung set), the important thing is the absolute stress-less continuity of "thought-action" flow from start to finish, without any break in the structured thought that accompanies the structured physical actions. Therein lies the secret of it's efficacy.

The important thing is the practiced ability (from start to finish) to keep in mind the 'specific thought' that accompanies a 'specific action', without which it is no different from any other non-chi based physical exercise. You'll be better off doing ballroom dancing.

The Ba Duan Jin is not an end in itself, but merely a small step in the long long road to developing consciousness, control and utility of the chi-flow in your body. After that you need to decide what to do with this consciousness and control; for martial or medical application. Just like flour that's turned into dough that's turned into bread, cakes, noodles, pizza, pasta etc, etc.

The difficult hurdle has always been, how do you obtain the dough (chi) in the first place and until you can feel and consciously control the flow of chi in your body, no amount of words or arguments will give you any real understanding.