Chi
Kung means: the
cultivation and training of ‘chi’,
the vital force of life. It is an essential part of the Chinese
medical and martial tradition. For healthy people it offers a
method to keep and reinforce their health. Fot ill people it helps
to step by step regain their vitality. With Chi
Kung elderly
can keep in contact with youthfull resiliance. Young people can
tame their force and give direction to it.
Within the Chi
Kung tradition
there are many schools and interpretations. One of the most
authentic styles is called Zhan Zhuang
Chi Kung,
freely translated as ‘standing like a tree’. The training constists
of standing still in various postures, first for short, later on
for longer periods. Eventhough this method seems to simple to be
usefull, it is a fascinating and remarkable effective way of
training. Zhan
Zhuang (pronounce as: 'zham zhong') is a
complete system for the cultivation of chi.
In the art of Zhan Zhuang
Chi Kung healthpractice, martial art and
bodyawareness come together. The capacity of adaptation and
immunity are strengthened. It is the art of recharging
batteries.
The founder of Zhan Zhuang
Chi Kungs modern form was grandmaster Wang Xiang
Zhai, een famous practitioner of the martial arts (1885-1963). He
showed how stability, power en responsiviness could be trained by
standing still. Professor Yu Yong Nian was one of the close
students of master Wang. In the nineteenfifties as a medical
practitioner he introduced Zhan Zhuang
Chi Kung in
Chinese hospitals. Profesor Yu, now in his eightees, took
the Zhan Zhuang
Chi Kung out of
its martial art environment, and made it usable for health practice
and revalidation. His student master Lam Kam Chuen, born in Hong
Kong, lives in London and introduced Zhan Zhuang
Chi Kung in the
west. He wrote a number of books about this subject:
The Way of
Energy,
The Way of
Healing,
The Way of
Power,
Everyday Chi
Kung en
Walking Chi
Kung.
In the classes the training of standing postures are alternated
with moving Chi
Kung excercises. In a friendly way we train
to fuse inner discipline, alertness and relaxation. The best
training advisor is patience. Regular training, even only for a
quarter hour a day, will cause improvements of the physical and
mental health. In all basic classes beginning and more advanced
practitioners train together. Everyone does this on his or own
level, according to condition and experience.
The name of the complete martial art system is Da Cheng
Chuan. Over the
years three-quarter of the trainingstime is devoted to the
Zhan Zhuang
Chi Kung, the
postures which strenhgthen the internal bodystructure. Within
the Zhan
Zhuang the
standing postures form the largest part, and are alternated with
sitting and lying-down postures. On the foundation of the
Zhan
Zhuang are
build six other stages of the training. The training is not
lineair, from A to Z, but cyclical. Each aspect of training will
reappear sooner or later, each time in more depth. The seven parts
of Da Cheng
Chuan are:
1. Zhan Zhuang Chi
Kung.
Standing, sitting and
lying-down postures to strenghten internal body structure.
2. Shi
Li.
Litteraly ‘power testing’:
to test the regained inner force by means of slow and repetetive
body motions.
3. Zhou
Bu.
Step training, the
equivalent of Shi
Li for the
legs. Also during stepmovements the body stays balanced and
stable.
4. Fa Jing
of Fa
Li.
Litteraly ‘explosion
force’, an essential part in the martial training, now techniques
to improve bodycontrol and the ability to react.
5. Tui
Shou. Litteratly
‘push hands’, also translated as ‘circling hands’ or ‘sensing
hands’. Partner excercises to test practically how to deal with the
forces of somebody else and stress in general.
6. Shi
Zhan. The martial
applications of the above.
7. Jian
Wu.
To make the above
trainingparts your second nature.
The training is always preceded by a
thougough warm-up. It consists of three excercises, which free up
all major joints of unneccessary tension. Beside that, the Ba Duan
Jing, the Eight Pieces of Brocade, has an important role, along
with Tai Chi Chuan related excercises.
Classes:
Instituto
Macrobiótico de Portugal, Rua
Anchieta, 5 - 2ºEsq. (Subway Baixa-Chiado exit Largo de Camões -
Near the Governo Civil.) -
http://www.e-macrobiotica.com
Schedule
- since October 2000:
-Tue. and
Thu. from 12.30 to 13.30 - Beginners group
-Tue. and
Thu. from 11.00 to 12.25 - Advanced
group.