Breathing methods and control in Taijiquan

[Sifu Stier]

Re: Walking the Talk!

Hello Jeffrey:

Great post! I admire the wonderful comraderie among your membership. That's how kung-fu brothers and sisters can benefit one another in practicing the same methods from the same Master. You are all most fortunate in this regard. Thankfully, I can say the same of those in the Shen Men Tao Association worldwide as well. Like you and your brethern, we are able to inspire and motivate one another to higher levels of accomplishment and ever greater benefits from our training! Ain't it great!

I sincerely hope that everyone reading these posts noticed the bold type of your training tenet: Don't take anything on faith alone. Try it for yourself and see if it works for you.

Very well put and nicely said!

[Andrew]

Sifu Stier,

Once again I must ask you to refrain from these personal attacks and outbursts of aggression. Neither does anything to further your cause here --- whatever it may be.

Show us some of YOUR quality material! All I can remember reading from you is confusion and critical commentary. Is that all you have to offer? Please share from YOUR experience in training. I would very much like to read what YOU have to offer as a teacher.

Please search the forum for posts I have made. You will find plenty of material.

What do you wish to teach me? How do you propose to benefit me? What can you add to what I already may know?

Sifu Stier, it is not my aim specifically to teach you, benefit you nor add to what you know. As you have already said

I am here only to give my assests away.

I do not claim to be THE expert nor the ALL-KNOWING. But I will gladly share with those who wish to receive. I learn a lot from others on this forum (both of higher and lower levels within Shaolin Wahnam as well as from others outside our organisation) and hope others can benefit from what I have to offer.

Teach me as you would the beginner's in your class!

Beginners should come with an open mind and a willingness to learn. If they are out of line they are reprimanded.

Andrew

[Sifu Stier]

No Surprise!

Andrew:

No surprise in your reply! And I am saddened to have to write to you again, still no substantive material relative to this thread from you, only more critical commentary. My comments to you are certainly not a personal attack or anymore aggressive than your comments have been to me. So please take a very deep breath, hold it and center it, and then slowly release it along with any negative feelings which you may be attached to, and know that I am not your adversary. Look within to find the roots of your conflict! Address your own inner issues in silent meditation and move on to the next highest possible level of positive perception and experience. I have just done the same for myself. Through control of the breath, we can control our thoughts and emotions.

And so, please accept another invitation to add something of value to THIS thread which everyone here might benefit from receiving, if you choose to do so, but please refrain from making further critical comments on all of my posts! I know that you are not a beginner, so please take this as a respectful request, not as a reprimand. Wishing you only the best!

[Emiko H]

Dear Sifu Stier,

Andrew:

Show us some of YOUR quality material! All I can remember reading from you is confusion and critical commentary. Is that all you have to offer? Please share from YOUR experience in training. I would very much like to read what YOU have to offer as a teacher.

Would you kindly clarify how the capitalisation of words like "your" and "you" are helpful and conducive to the material being discussed on this thread?


Respectfully,

Emiko

[Emiko H]

Dear Jeffrey Si-hing,

Please accept my apologies for posting that question to Sifu Stier.

Since the passage I quoted above is the statement that created the thread's diversion in the first place, I merely wished to provide Sifu Stier with an opportunity to return to the topic at hand by asking him to clarify what he meant. I hope that he will provide us with a swift, worthy answer.

I look forward to learning more on 'breathing methods'.


Best wishes,

Emiko

[Andrew]

Sifu Stier,



Andrew

[Sifu Stier]

Your You!

Emiko:

I capitalized the words YOUR and YOU in order to clearly communicate my wish to hear about Andrew's own personal experience and learning, rather than the general, group or school 'you' and 'your' perspective in an effort to be simple and direct. It is oftentimes difficult to communicate in this medium without the assistance of facial expression, body language, and tone of voice. Wouldn't you agree?

[Sifu Stier]

Zen Me!

Dear Andrew:

Thank you for a Fabulous Response to my questions! What a wonderful Zen style reply! I have no further question or doubt about you. Nicely done!

[Emiko H]

Sifu Stier,

Would you kindly help to bring this thread back on topic, please?

Respectfully,

Emiko

[alexstedman]

PLEASE back onto topic

Dear All involved

I know this post is going to fill another space meant for breath control, but i think i need to post here.
Can we PLEASE get back onto topic? I have enjoyed reading this thread immensly for a few reasons.

1) I am new to Taijiquan, having just started learning in England. Although breath control is beyond my level at the moment, it is brilliantly interesting to read into the theory and have something to look forward to and train towards.

2) The very fact that Sifu Stier is in the thread. Whenever Sifu Stier has posted, it has always been a wealth of information that is always enjoyable to read because it has come from a different point of view. I enjoy seeing things in a different light.

So, as a student, I really want to read more about breath control, and how it can influence and heighten not only Taijiquan, but all martial arts. If you look, more than a quarter of this thread has now been taken up by bantering. If that's going to happen, can it at least be done in a PM so that a thread can debate on the topic in hand?

Warm regards to all
Alex

[Emiko H]

Dear Alex,

Can we PLEASE get back onto topic? I have enjoyed reading this thread...

Indeed, I quite agree. Thank you for that.

I enjoy seeing things in a different light.

That is wonderful. I share the same sentiment.

...more than a quarter of this thread has now been taken up by bantering.

Here, I must respectfully point out that it is not so much "bantering" that has taken place, but rather an attempt at tactful and polite "moderation" of certain posts that show a general lack of focus re: the topic at hand.

Thank you for assisting in this.

Best wishes,

Emiko

[Sifu Stier]

Breath Control ~ The Mind and Body Mediator!

Thanks Alex! Your comments were quite appropriate and well spoken!

My Chinese Tai-Chi-Chuan Master and my Indian Yoga Guru both taught that the ability to control one's breath is the key to controlling and regulating all other aspects of one's experience in this life. They used seemingly different culturally oriented terminology to say essentially the same thing.

By control of the breath, one can control virtually all physical functions including, but not limited to, heart and respiration rates, body temperature, energy levels, internal and external strength, physical labor or athletic stamina and endurance, external appearance and the aging process, sexual performance, overall health and longevity, and so forth.

Additionally, by control of the breath, one can control all mental functions including, but not limited to, conscious and subconscious modifications of thought and emotion such as spontaneous reactions and automatic responses, mental self-image, feelings of self-worth, learning ability, memory retention and recall, creative abilities and artistic talents, success in any endeavor from financial to spiritual self-cultivation, and so forth.

Although the respective breath regulating exercises of India and China look a bit different at first glance, there are in fact some common denominators to be seen in both Yoga Pranayama and Tai-Chi/Chi-Kung. These factors are Speed, Depth, Rhythm, and Awareness/Perception of the breath. Regardless of the specific technique of breath regulation, all methods require a cyclical rhythm, depth and speed of repetition which is oftentimes, but not always, monitored by a recommended 'count' that is synchronized with the heart rate as felt in the pulse at the radial artery of either wrist. This is to say that heart rate and respiration rate must be synchronized for maximum safety and efficiency in the practice. As both of these are normally autonomous physiological processes, a focused mental awareness and perception of their modifications in the practice is mandatory.

It is most often the case in Tai-Chi-Chuan practices that a 'mindful awareness' of one's breath alone will properly integrate and synchronize all of the other physical factors automatically. This is working in harmony with the autonomous nature of respiration, rather than artificially attempting to control it some way. This is usually best for beginners! More later!

[Jeffrey Segal]

Dear Sifu Stier,

While

It is most often the case in Tai-Chi-Chuan practices that a 'mindful awareness' of one's breath alone will properly integrate and synchronize all of the other physical factors automatically. This is working in harmony with the autonomous nature of respiration, rather than artificially attempting to control it some way. This is usually best for beginners! More later!!

is most interesting, don't you agree that it is quite similar to

You make a good point about allowing the chi to flow where and how it needs to within the body during a Tai-Chi Chuan Forms Set. The same holds true regarding regulation of the breath during a Forms Set practice, when it is best to naturally allow the speed and depth of the breath, as well as the speed and strength of the heart rate, to synchronize with the speed and rhythm of the movement pattern. Practicing a full routine of the exercises in this way, without any deliberate mental control, enables these normally autonomous physiological functions to adjust themselves naturally for maximum efficiency and benefit.

from which this thread took it’s initial impetus? Much ground has been covered since then and rather than start again with generalities, I’d like to invite you to read through the thread and respond to what has been written or continue from where we are in the discussion (Post#26)


While I’m on the subject of requests, as my last post on the thread devoted to Shen Men Tao somehow went unanswered, may I politely repeat my request for some photos (or videos) of you or any of your students performing Shen Men Tao?

Many thanks,

[Sifu Stier]

Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa!

Mr. Segal:

A thousand pardons for inadvertently repeating in my last little paragraph a bit of what was posted earlier in the thread. The remainder of my last post, however, I judged to be of potential value to those who have stated that they are new to these arts and inexperienced in practicing them. I understand that it may be 'old hat' to you and other more experienced and accomplished practitioners, but you were not the 'target' group for whom this information was posted! I have nothing to prove to you, Mr. Segal, or any of your associates, and have no need of your approval, so future demands that I should do so are not necessary.

Secondly, I have no photographs currently on a disk that can be downloaded onto this site, and truthfully, even if I did, I don't think that I would want to do so at this time since everything I post or submit seems to be met with more criticism. I have concluded that I am no longer welcome here, and that I should give serious consideration to departing altogether...at long last. I have made additional attempts to placate the argumentative disposition of several Wahnam members to no avail, and I am weary of trying to get along with folks who only wish to engage in a perpetual pissing contest while congratulating one another in doing so! What a hoot! Very mature indeed! I can hardly wait to see the overly sensitive, critical response to this post!

[Jeffrey Segal]

using your opponent's energy

Hello Everybody,

I’d like to continue our discussion of breathing and control in Taijiquan by focusing a little on the control element of our discussion.

I have also heard that in combat, the Taijiquan exponent uses the energy of the opponent for his own benefit, much like what you have described. He therefore borrows or steals the foe's qi away.

It is indeed true that in combat we make use of our opponent’s energy. We do not (as some people might think) wish to absorb the qi of our opponents, especially if they are aggressive and brutal. From our perspective it is not advisable to take on somebody else’s “negative” energy. When we talk about using our opponent’s energy it is in terms of using his momentum, techniques, force and intention etc.

If, for example an opponent grips my arm and pulls me towards him, instead of pulling back, I follow his energy by moving forward and, using a circular movement of my arm I release his grip and strike him with the side of my palm using the “peng” technique from Grasping Sparrow’s Tail.

Or, let’s say that a massive opponent pushes me backwards. Rather than resisting, I would use his energy by stepping back a step and, sweeping my hand using the “swing” technique from Single Whip, I would fell him forwards.

There are many other examples of this principle in Taijiquan. Would anyone care to share some of their own experiences in using their opponent’s energy?