Training tips: A Chinese proverb "first you crawl, then you walk, then you run."

The Mind; When it comes to controlling the mind, which is compared with a monkey (it hops all over the place and has a hard time settling down), the simplest things are the best way to start with. Sometimes simplicity is too simple to be real. Learning how to empty the thoughts and coming down to the "natural level" is what you are out after. This means repeating exercises till they become natural almost automatic. The seasonal, monthly and yearly changes all effect or thoughts. One can learn by studying the energy cycles derived from the five elements in traditional Chinese medicine. What we do and not do on the way to training helps or ability to concentrate. Don't take things with you to the training place, leave them outside and concentrate on the moment at hand, this helps with the training. Things will come up during training that is when you have to learn to let go. Letting go is a hard concept to grasp, we all have moments, thoughts, feelings that we keep bottled up. Being able to accept who you are at this moment in training and letting go of fear and ego will help a great deal.

Attitude: Xiulian, the deeper understanding and level of practice. This encompasses morality and the practice of pure thoughts, spiritual exercise and way of being. The balance of energy should be evenly distributed, this means the connection of heaven and earth, the yin and yang. We need to balance our yin and yang to stay healthy, this is in all aspects of life, food, work, play, spiritual and training. In the practice you will get nothing unless you use the yi to guide the qi, practicing means not physical sense, you have to practice “intention”. The qi flows where the yi concentrates, yet have to be quiet in the mind to be able to make the qi flow. This kind of training nurtures the inner qi and balance out the body’s energy. Spirit and practice is the main principle of this kind of practice. If you don’t have the feeling of Qi when you are practicing then you are training a external art. This is why concentration must be very tuned to learn this feeling.
One has to improve the heart and soul, in martial arts we call this de. This is called practicing the Tao. Being honest, not using the art to do damage to people are two such steps in de. You have to improve your mind, courage and body, this is a long process. Learning to let go of ones ego and sharing yourself, helping others not for your gain, not for your de but just to help. A example of this is leaving your left over parking ticket for someone else, or buying a parking place not knowing who will come. Picking up in a park just to make it more appealing to the next person. Helping someone without helping them direct is very beneficial, it makes you fell good inside. The whole practice of training neigong if done correctly will improve your xiulian. Peaceful harmony of organs, mind and soul. In taiji we are a big family we should share and learn from another not be closed and think or way is best. One should see several different kinds of teachers and learn from them. Do not get stuck on one group, one kind of training etc. this is a mistake. The teacher should be looked on as a older, wiser- brother, father or grandfather (can be feminine). One that can help you find the way. Always exhibit moderation and never excess this is the Tao.

• Head: xu ling ding jing; The heaven energy lifts up the head, the neck should be open and it should feel as if the top of the head is being suspended like a puppet.
• Shoulders: Should be level relaxed and down. Tension in the shoulders takes a while to get rid of, they should be level the whole time without changing during the movements. One of my teachers used to put sand bags on the shoulders to keep them level. Even when the arms come up should they stay down! If the shoulders come up the qi will rise.
• Chest: is relaxed so that the ribs and breath can sink down. Lay your hand on your chest and try to release the tension in the chest and feel the breath sink down to the center. “The chest must relax so the whole body is comfortable."
• Spine, waist and hips; the spine should be elongated while the waist is relaxed and the hips slightly tucked under. The spine should be relaxed not stiff. The waist should move freely. Learning to use the center the right way and not casting the hips and waist around is very important. The waist is the connection between the upper and lower part of body and a very important part to coordinate.
• Relaxed Kua and round Dang; the groin should be relaxed at all times, this is difficult until one has trained continual for sometime in the standing and neigong training. Understanding the opening and closing with the weight shift is important when training. The crotch should be rounded at all times creating a light and easy step so one can move smoothly. Maintaining the two bows of the legs.
• Legs, knees and feet; the legs should never lock the knees, maintaining the open and roundness of the knee allows the connection with the yong quan point of the feet. Thus one can connect with the yin power of the earth. We use the feet to push against the ground in order to create rebounding energy or adsorb the opponent’s energy.
• Arms. elbows and wrists; the arms should be exactly like the feet never locking the elbow joints extending in the shoulders and maintaining a open wrist. The hands should be open in all the joints, like holding onto a ball (palming a volleyball, handball for instance). When the arms are down to the sides the arm pit maintains roundness as if one could put a small bird egg under it.
  

Breathing: Regulating the breath is one of the keys in understanding the mind as the dominant factor in internal training. Slow deep breathing helps to regulate the inner energy, calm the brain and induce inner quiet of the mind. The main source of breathing is abdominal breathing; this promotes the flow of blood, nourishment and prevents obstruction of the respiratory process. Inducing an inner quiet helps body tissues to rest and recuperate. There are numerous positive processes that deep abdominal breathing effect, perhaps I will take this up in Chinese medicine part of this website. Here I’m more interested from a Taoist point of view. Deep breathing exercises promote the production, action and storage of the primordial energy thus giving one the ability to collect energy in the dantian and mingmen. The two most basic types of training are the natural breathing, trying to relax and let the abdominals open during respiration and sink during expiration or trying to reverse the process and when one breaths in the abdominal contracts and when breathing out relaxes and expands on expiration. The first is the best when one first starts internal training. Then after a long slow process can one begin to train the latter. Paying attention to how you breathe when exercising is the fundamental core, there fore it is good to do some sitting exercises and work with this process slowly. Going to fast can change the way you breathe causing problems in the body/mind. The body is not use to regulating the breath so this process should be taking step by step always coming back to the normal breathing at the end of exercises. With deep abdominal breathing the practitioner can work on pausal breathing, meaning to stop the respiratory process for a short time either in the inhalation (the most common) or exhalation. This gives the practitioner another aspect to work with. I suggest working the breath to equal it out by counting the inhalation process and trying to have the same number on the exhalation slowly building up this process. There should be no extra exertion when performing these practices, remember yin/yang means harmony without forcing the way. One has to look at one constitution, true fully facing here one is body wise. In the case of a syndrome of the excessive type, one should take exhalation as primary. In the case of a syndrome of the deficient type. One should take inhalation as the primary. In many cases when one starts out one is deficient, one has not trained excessively so the primary is to work on inhalation. This is not necessarily the case in all circumstances so it is good to have someone who has knowledge in these matters to ask. Inhalation for reinforcing, exhalation for reducing.