I’ve started working a third qi gong form, namely the total stillness of the forms from The Way of Energy. This book, by Master Lam Kam-Chuen, was one of the first books I found interesting about Tai Chi. And I found myself totally unable to do most of the workings in the book. Now, after almost three years of daily tai chi practice, I find that I’m finally able to do this work. It’s lovely.
The first posture I’m working with is, I think, actually named “second posture”, and it’s functionally equivalent to the Opening posture from my tai chi form — the body in an opening position, the feet spread apart to frame the “bubbling well” directly under the spine and the energy centers distributed through the body, and the arms hanging loosely off the body with the fingers, elbows, and armpits slightly widened to make space for chi to flow.
I did four minutes of practice. It left me trembling and more than slightly breathless. But it was good. It feels great, and feels like I’ve got some widened channels for chi, which is good. I began this practice because of the recent knee injury, which seems to be mostly ok at this point, but I really find that I’m going to enjoy building this into my practice. At last, it feels, I’m ready to take on this practice.
